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Hard-to-Teach Science Concepts: A Framework to Support Learners, Grades 3–5


By: Susan B. Koba with Carol T. Mitchell

$27.16 - Member Price  
$33.95 - Nonmember Price



$35.31 - Member Price  
$44.14 - Nonmember Price

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Details

Type of Product:NSTA Press Book (also see downloadable PDF version of this book)
Publication Title:Hard-to-Teach Science Concepts Series
Publication Date:5/31/2011
Pages:256
Stock Number:PB238X2
ISBN:978-1-936137-15-2
Grade Level:Elementary School
Read Inside:Read a sample chapter: Understanding Changes in Motion

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Description

Authors Susan Koba and Carol Mitchell introduce teachers of grades 3–5 to their conceptual framework for successful instruction of hard-to-teach science concepts. Their methodology comprises four steps: (1) engage students about their preconceptions and address their thinking; (2) target lessons to be learned; (3) determine appropriate strategies; and (4) use Standards-based teaching that builds on student understandings. The authors not only explain how to use their framework but also provide a variety of tools and examples of its application on four hard-to-teach foundational concepts: the flow of energy and matter in ecosystems, force and motion, matter and its transformation, and Earth’s shape. Both preservice and inservice elementary school teachers will find this approach appealing, and the authors’ engaging writing style and user-friendly tables help educators adapt the method with ease.


Ideas For Use

Additional Info

Science Discipline: (mouse over for full classification)
Gravity
Photosynthesis
Energy transfer
Food web
Energy transfer
Momentum
Speed
Velocity
Physical properties
Gases
Liquids
Solids
Analyzing data
Asking questions
Classifying
Collecting data
Experimenting
Hypothesizing
Interpreting data
Measuring
Modeling
Observing
Predicting
Scientific habits of mind
Using mathematics
Using scientific equipment
Intended User Role:Elementary-Level Educator, Teacher

Contents

Foreword by Linda Froschauer
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Introduction
• Science Education Reform and Conceptual Understanding
• Difficult Topics—Why Are They Hard to Teach and Learn?
• Organization of the Book

Part I: The Toolbox—A Framework and Instructional Tools

Chapter 1. The Instructional Planning Framework to Address Conceptual Change
• Why Are Some Science Concepts Hard to Teach?
• Introducing the Instructional Planning Framework
• Comparing the Framework to Other Models
• Putting the Instructional Planning Framework Into Practice

Chapter 2. Implementation of the Framework Using the Topic “The Flow of Matter and Energy in Ecosystems”
• Overview
• Application of the Predictive Phase to “The Flow of Matter and Energy in Ecosystems”
• Application of the Responsive Phase to “The Flow of Matter and Energy in Ecosystems”
• Instructional Tool 2.3: Instructional Strategy Selection Tool
• Time for Reflection
• Resulting Lessons for Learning Targets #1–#4
• Instructional Tool 2.1: Teaching the Five Essentials of Inquiry
• Instructional Tool 2.2: Three Strategies That Support Metacognition
• Instructional Tool 2.4: Sense-Making Approaches: Linguistic Representations—Writing to Learn
• Instructional Tool 2.5: Sense-Making Approaches: Linguistic Representations—Reading to Learn
• Instructional Tool 2.6: Sense-Making Approaches: Linguistic Representations: Speaking to Learn
• Instructional Tool 2.7: Sense-Making Approaches: Nonlinguistic Representations—Five Models
• Instructional Tool 2.8: Sense-Making Approaches: Nonlinguistic Representations—Visual Tools
• Instructional Tool 2.9: Sense-Making Approaches: Nonlinguistic Representations—Drawing Out Thinking
• Instructional Tool 2.10: Sense-Making Approaches: Nonlinguistic Representations—Kinesthetic Strategies

Chapter 3. The Framework and Tools at the Elementary Level Responding to the Needs of All Learners
• Ties to Literacy and Numeracy (Mathematics)
• Variations in Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade
• Build Your Library

Part II: Toolbox Implementation—Using the Framework and Instructional Tools with Hard-to-Teach Science Topics

Chapter 4. Matter and Its Transformation: Gas Is Matter
• Overview
• Why This Topic?
• Using the Instructional Planning Framework
• The Lessons: Teaching and Learning About “Gas Is Matter”
• Time for Reflection
• Ties to Literacy and Numeracy (Mathematics)
• Consideration Across the Grades
• Build Your Library

Chapter 5. Welcome to Planet Earth: Earth’s Shape and Gravity (by Cary Sneider with Susan Koba)
• Overview
• Why this Topic?
• Using the Instructional Planning Framework
• The Lessons: Teaching and Learning about “Earth’s Shape and Gravity” Time for Reflection
• Responding to the Needs of All Learners
• Ties to Literacy and Numeracy (Mathematics)
• Consideration Across the Grades
• Build Your Library

Chapter 6. Force and Motion: Understanding Change (by Rand Harrington with Susan Koba)
• Overview
• Why This Topic?
• What Makes These Ideas Difficult?
• Using the Instructional Planning Framework
• The Lessons: Teaching and Learning About “Force and Motion: Understanding Change”
• Time for Reflection
• Responding to the Needs of All Learners
• Ties to Literacy and Numeracy (Mathematics)
• Consideration Across the Grades.
• Build Your Library

Appendix A. Planning Template for the Predictive Phase
Appendix B. Strategy Selection Template
Appendix C. Planning Template for the Responsive Phase
References

Index


Book Series
View other books in the Hard-to-Teach Science Concepts Series.
Hard-to-Teach Biology Concepts: A Framework to Deepen Student Understanding

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National Standards Correlation

This resource has 55 correlations with the National Standards.  
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This resource has 55 correlations with the National Standards.  
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  • Physical Science
    • Properties of objects and materials
      • Objects have many observable properties, including size, weight, shape, color, and temperature. (K-4)
      • The observable properties of objects can be measured using tools, such as rulers, balances, and thermometers. (K-4)
      • Objects are made of one or more materials, such as paper, wood, and metal. (K-4)
      • Objects can be described by the properties of the materials from which they are made. (K-4)
      • The properties of objects can be used to separate or sort a group of objects or materials.
      • Materials can exist in different states--solid, liquid, and gas. (K-4)
      • Some common materials, such as water, can be changed from one state to another by heating or cooling. (K-4)
    • Position and motion of objects
      • The position of an object can be described by locating it relative to another object or the background. (K-4)
      • An object's motion can be described by tracing and measuring its position over time. (velocity) (K-4)
      • The position and motion of objects can be changed by pushing or pulling. (K-4)
    • Motion and Forces
      • The motion of an object can be described by its position, direction of motion, and speed. (5-8)
  • Life Science
    • The characteristics of organisms
      • Organisms have basic needs. For example, animals need air, water, and food; plants require air, water, nutrients, and light. (K-4)
    • Organisms and environments
      • All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants.
    • Populations and ecosystems
      • Populations of organisms can be categorized by the function they serve in an ecosystem. (5-8)
      • Plants and some micro-organisms are producers--they make their own food. (5-8)
      • All animals, including humans, are consumers, which obtain food by eating other organisms. (5-8)
      • Decomposers, primarily bacteria and fungi, are consumers that use waste materials and dead organisms for food. (5-8)
      • Food webs identify the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem. (5-8)
      • For ecosystems, the major source of energy is sunlight. (5-8)
      • Energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by producers into chemical energy through photosynthesis. (5-8)
      • Energy passes from organism to organism in food webs (5-8)
  • Earth Science
    • Earth in the solar system
      • Gravity is the force that keeps planets in orbit around the sun and governs the rest of the motion in the solar system. (5-8)
      • Gravity alone holds us to the earth's surface and explains the phenomena of the tides. (5-8)
  • Science as Inquiry
    • Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
      • Ask a question about objects, organisms, and events in the environment. (K-4)
      • Plan and conduct a simple investigation. (K-4)
      • Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses. (K-4)
      • Use data to construct a reasonable explanation.
      • Communicate investigations and explanations.
      • Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations.
      • Design and conduct a scientific investigation.
      • Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
      • Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence.
      • Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations.
      • Communicate scientific procedures and explanations.
      • Use mathematics in all aspects of scientific inquiry.
    • Understandings about scientific inquiry
      • Scientific investigations involve asking and answering a question and comparing the answer with what scientists already know about the world. (K-4)
      • Scientists use different kinds of investigations depending on the questions they are trying to answer.
      • Types of investigations include describing objects, events, and organisms; classifying them; and doing a fair test (experimenting).
      • Simple instruments, such as magnifiers, thermometers, and rulers, provide more information than scientists obtain using only their senses.
      • Scientists develop explanations using observations (evidence) and what they already know about the world (scientific knowledge). Good explanations are based on evidence from investigations. (K-4)
      • Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations. Some investigations involve observing and describing objects, organisms, or events; some involve collecting specimens; some involve experiments; some involve seeking more information; some involve discovery of new objects and phenomena; and some involve making models. (5-8)
      • Current scientific knowledge and understanding guide scientific investigations. (5-8)
      • Mathematics is important in all aspects of scientific inquiry. (5-8)
      • Scientific explanations emphasize evidence, have logically consistent arguments, and use scientific principles, models, and theories. (5-8)
  • History and Nature of Science
    • Nature of science
      • Scientists formulate and test their explanations of nature using observation, experiments, and theoretical and mathematical models. Those ideas are not likely to change greatly in the future. (5-8)
      • Although all scientific ideas are tentative and subject to change and improvement in principle, for most major ideas in science, there is much experimental and observational confirmation. (5-8)
      • It is part of scientific inquiry to evaluate the results of scientific investigations, experiments, observations, theoretical models, and the explanations proposed by other scientists. As scientific knowledge evolves, major disagreements are eventually resolved through such interactions between scientists. (5-8)
      • Evaluation includes reviewing the experimental procedures, examining the evidence, identifying faulty reasoning, pointing out statements that go beyond the evidence, and suggesting alternative explanations for the same observations. (5-8)
  • Process Standards for Professional Development
    • Research-Based
      • Prepares educators to apply research to decision making. (NSDC)
      • Occur in a variety of places where effective science teaching can be illustrated and modeled, permitting teachers to struggle with real situations and expand their knowledge and skills in appropriate contexts. (NSES)
      • Use inquiry, reflection, interpretation of research, modeling, and guided practice to build understanding and skill in science teaching. (NSES)
      • Provide opportunities to learn and use the skills of research to generate new knowledge about science and the teaching and learning of science. (NSES)
      • Address teachers' needs as learners and build on their current knowledge of science content, teaching, and learning. (NSES)
  • Content Standards
    • Quality Teaching
      • Deepens educators’ content knowledge, provides them with research-based instructional strategies to assist students in meeting rigorous academic standards, and prepares them to use various types of classroom assessments appropriately. (NSDC)
  • Teaching Standards
    • Teachers of science plan an inquiry-based science program for their students.
      • Select science content and adapt and design curricula to meet the interests, knowledge, understanding, abilities, and experiences of students.


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