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Activities for learning

By Mary Bigelow

Posted on 2012-11-15

In my sixth grade science class, I try to involve the students in fun activities. But they don’t take them seriously unless I require something in writing or give a quiz. And then the students don’t seem to be able to connect the activity with the content. What can I do?
—Nina from Idaho
I once worked with a teacher who used his own action research to investigate a similar situation. He surveyed his students to find out what class activities they enjoyed the most. He was not surprised when the students mentioned hands-on investigations, games, small group discussions, and simulations. He then asked what activities they thought were most important in learning science. Expecting to see the same activities, he was surprised (and puzzled) when the students identified worksheets as the most important.
He followed up on this response with the students. They noted that worksheets (often assigned as homework) are graded and if they were not completed the students were kept in at recess to finish them. To a fifth-grader, this consequence meant the task was very important. The worksheet grade was then factored into the course grade, which the students saw as the teacher’s evaluation of their learning. They considered the “fun” activities to be a diversion or a reward for doing the worksheets.
This finding troubled the teacher. He had chosen investigations and other activities related to the learning goals and assumed students would see the connection. His research showed this was not happening, so he began to introduce each activity with an explicit reference to the learning goals (which he kept posted on the board during the unit). For example: In this lab, we will investigate the relationship between…. The purpose of this word game is to check your understanding of the key vocabulary for this unit. As you use this online simulation, pay attention to….
I shared his research with another teacher, who added a short discussion at the end of an activity to debrief with the students on how it helped them achieve the learning goal(s).  She also used an exit slip or a notebook entry in which students summarized what they learned.
If in previous years, your students were used to science as seatwork, they will need some extra help, guidance, and modeling to understand how learning can occur in a variety of situations.
 
Photo: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/2942099404_1a7248a39a.jpg

In my sixth grade science class, I try to involve the students in fun activities. But they don’t take them seriously unless I require something in writing or give a quiz. And then the students don’t seem to be able to connect the activity with the content. What can I do?
—Nina from Idaho

Even science fair enthusiasts may dread grappling with these two questions:

1. How can you organize many students doing many different projects at the same time?
2. How can you help students while giving them the freedom of choice and independence of thought that characterize genuine inquiry?
Even science fair enthusiasts may dread grappling with these two questions:

1. How can you organize many students doing many different projects at the same time?
2. How can you help students while giving them the freedom of choice and independence of thought that characterize genuine inquiry?
Even science fair enthusiasts may dread grappling with these two questions:

1. How can you organize many high school students doing many different projects at the same time?
2. How can you help students while giving them the freedom of choice and independence of thought that characterize genuine inquiry?
Even science fair enthusiasts may dread grappling with these two questions:

1. How can you organize many high school students doing many different projects at the same time?
2. How can you help students while giving them the freedom of choice and independence of thought that characterize genuine inquiry?
Even science fair enthusiasts may dread grappling with these two questions:

1. How can you organize many middle and high school students doing many different projects at the same time?
2. How can you help students while giving them the freedom of choice and independence of thought that characterize genuine inquiry?
Even science fair enthusiasts may dread grappling with these two questions:

1. How can you organize many middle and high school students doing many different projects at the same time?
2. How can you help students while giving them the freedom of choice and independence of thought that characterize genuine inquiry?
Even science fair enthusiasts may dread grappling with these two questions:

1. How can you organize many middle school students doing many different projects at the same time?
2. How can you help students while giving them the freedom of choice and independence of thought that come with genuine inquiry?
Even science fair enthusiasts may dread grappling with these two questions:

1. How can you organize many middle school students doing many different projects at the same time?
2. How can you help students while giving them the freedom of choice and independence of thought that come with genuine inquiry?

Science Fair Warm-Up, Teachers Guide: Learning the Practice of Scientists

Even science fair enthusiasts may dread grappling with these two questions:
1. How can you organize many students doing many different projects at the same time?
2. How can you help students while giving them the freedom of choice and independence of thought that characterize genuine inquiry?
Answer the questions—and face science fairs without fear—with help from the Science Fair Warm-Up series.
Even science fair enthusiasts may dread grappling with these two questions:
1. How can you organize many students doing many different projects at the same time?
2. How can you help students while giving them the freedom of choice and independence of thought that characterize genuine inquiry?
Answer the questions—and face science fairs without fear—with help from the Science Fair Warm-Up series.

Scientific Argumentation in Biology: 30 Classroom Activities

“Individuals who are proficient in science should be able to understand the language of science and participate in scientific practices, such as inquiry and argumentation. Empirical research, however, indicates that many students do not develop this knowledge or these abilities in school. One way to address this problem is to give students more opportunities to engage in scientific argumentation as part of the teaching and learning of science. This book will help teachers with this task.” —Authors Victor Sampson and Sharon Schleigh
“Individuals who are proficient in science should be able to understand the language of science and participate in scientific practices, such as inquiry and argumentation. Empirical research, however, indicates that many students do not develop this knowledge or these abilities in school. One way to address this problem is to give students more opportunities to engage in scientific argumentation as part of the teaching and learning of science. This book will help teachers with this task.” —Authors Victor Sampson and Sharon Schleigh
Launch a new generation of students into catapult- and boat-building—plus glove- and greenhouse-making—with this newly refreshed resource. Four sets of well-loved activities have been repackaged in one convenient volume that seamlessly combines hands-on experience with intriguing engineering concepts.

Perfect for inspiring interest in STEM topics, the activities encourage high school classes to learn by doing. The activities will get your students fully engaged in meaningful explorations of concepts such as
• buoyancy and friction (through boats);
Launch a new generation of students into catapult- and boat-building—plus glove- and greenhouse-making—with this newly refreshed resource. Four sets of well-loved activities have been repackaged in one convenient volume that seamlessly combines hands-on experience with intriguing engineering concepts.

Perfect for inspiring interest in STEM topics, the activities encourage high school classes to learn by doing. The activities will get your students fully engaged in meaningful explorations of concepts such as
• buoyancy and friction (through boats);
"No one would find it strange to see a geologist poring at length over a single rock, or an entomologist over a moth, or botanist over a leaf. Examining a specimen closely can help scientists develop new understandings. That’s just what we hope to achieve in poring over moments of student thinking.”
—from Becoming a Responsive Science Teacher
"No one would find it strange to see a geologist poring at length over a single rock, or an entomologist over a moth, or botanist over a leaf. Examining a specimen closely can help scientists develop new understandings. That’s just what we hope to achieve in poring over moments of student thinking.”
—from Becoming a Responsive Science Teacher

Science Fair Warm-Up, Grades 8–12: Learning the Practice of Scientists

To the teacher:

Although this book is intended as a guide for your students, NSTA has you covered as well! Science Fair Warm-Up, Teachers Guide: Learning the Practice of Scientists provides all of the information you need to guide your students through the activities included in this book.

To the student:
To the teacher:

Although this book is intended as a guide for your students, NSTA has you covered as well! Science Fair Warm-Up, Teachers Guide: Learning the Practice of Scientists provides all of the information you need to guide your students through the activities included in this book.

To the student:
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