Supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. EHR-0315060 Before we begin….. Take a few minutes to reflect on impacts of the NCOSP project

Supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. EHR-0315060

Before we begin…..

• Take a few minutes to reflect on impacts of the NCOSP project in your building. Record your thoughts.


Welcome!

Learning Community Forum

Best Teaching Practices


LCF Schedule Changes:• The Notebooking LCF scheduled for December

has been moved to January.– The Partnership is developing a ‘general framework’

for notebooking.

– Peggy Willcuts, a key person involved in this work will be available in January.

– We would like to include your thinking and experience with notebooking in this preliminary work.

• The new December LCF topic: TBA


Things to consider…

• Research indicates that only 17% of teachers implement best teaching practices!

• Districts adopt curriculum, but fail to provide professional development in instruction.

» (BERC Group, Evaluation, Research & Consulting)


Lesson Learning Targets Developed from CTS Content:

– Mutations can be caused by radiation. – DNA molecules are the universal code of life.– Self care measures affect health.

Process:– Apply critical thinking skills.– Design and carry out a controlled experiment to test

their own question.– Communication of findings.

Today we will look at Instruction:


To meet these learning targets…

– What would good instruction look like?


Remember our Summer Institute?


Why is it important?

What do you remember about


What else do you know about

• How can it be dangerous?



Product Investigation:Read your advertisement

Record:• Identify the explicit (obvious) claims about UV sun

light and cancer.• Identify the implicit (implied) claims about UV sun

light and cancer.• What evidence is offered to support the claims?


Now you are the Scientist…• What do you think you would need to know

to be able to test the claims for these products? Share your ideas……– What are you curious about that might help you

research the claims for your product?– What terms have you heard that need

clarification?


Sun Radiation

Visible light – what we see– Wave length 380 nm to

760 nm


Invisible Light

• What we cannot see– Infrared: greater than 760 nm.

• Long waves – low energy• Feels warm

– Ultraviolet: shorter than 380nm.• Short waves - High energy• Can cause sun burn and eye damage


Cellular Effects of Ultraviolet

• High energy waves interact with DNA

• Can cause mutations

• Mutations can lead to skin cancer depending repeat exposure, age, genetic factors

• Can burn the fovea leading to blindness



Cells fight back• To be able to survive in a world with

sunlight, early cells developed ways to repair DNA

• Four different mechanisms have been identified

• Our cells use the exact same four mechanisms to repair sun damage as bacteria and yeast


DNA Repair



How can we use this info?• To be able to survive in a world with

sunlight, early cells developed ways to repair DNA

• Four different mechanisms have been identified

• Our cells use the exact same four mechanisms to repair sun damage as bacteria and yeast


Yeast?

• What do you remember about yeast from last summer?


Check for Understanding: Which of these petri dishes was exposed to sunlight?


Moving into Inquiry

• Using all of the materials provided and new knowledge, what would you have your students do next?

• Share your ideas at your table.


When we come back we will see what have we done.

Let’s take a short break!


How People Learn

• 1: “Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. Their initial understanding must be engaged before they can grasp new concepts and information.”


How People Learn• 2: “To develop competence in an area of

inquiry, students must a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge (content), b) understand facts and ideas in context of a conceptual framework,c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.”


How People Learn

• 3: “A metacognitive approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them.”


How Teachers Respond• “Teachers must draw out and work with

students’ preexisting understandings.”

• “Teachers must teach some subject matter in depth, providing a firm foundation of factual knowledge”

• “Teaching of metacognitive skills should be integrated into the curriculum”


Let’s take a look…..• List instructional strategies experienced in the

short lesson.• Compare with others at your table.• Analyze each strategy through the lens of How

People Learn.• What was the learning goal of the strategy:

– Identify preconceptions?– Develop Content? Context? Application? – Provide opportunity for metacognition?


Whiteboard Reflection• As a group, report on one strategy that you

experienced.

• Describe what was effective about this strategy.

• What could be improved?

• How does it relate to How People Learn?


What do you think….

What are the common characteristics of the strategies that you consider effective?


‘Bringing Order to Chaos’

How People Learn

(3 elements)

Technology Enhanced

Individual vs. Group

Lecture Based

Skills Based

Inquiry Based


• Take a minute to reflect:– What will I be teaching on Monday?– How can I apply what I have learned today to

that lesson?


Final Reflection

• How can your classroom practice influence others in your department or in your building?

• How can you apply this to your leadership role?


Works Cited• Donovan S, Bransford J, et al, How People Learn,

National Academy Press, Washington DC, 2000• Baker D, The BERC Group, Excerpted from

Lecture at LASER Networking, Bremerton WA, October 26, 2005

• BSCS and Videodiscovery, Sun and Cancer http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih1/cancer/guide/pdfs/ACT4M.PDF, 1999

http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih1/cancer/guide/pdfs/ACT4M.PDF

http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih1/cancer/guide/pdfs/ACT4M.PDF

Documents

Supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. EHR-0315060 Before we begin….. Take a few minutes to reflect on impacts of the NCOSP project