WOOD MASTER’S PORTFOLIO 1

Standard

Candidates know, understand and use fundamental concepts of physical, life and earth/space

sciences. Candidates can design and implement age-appropriate lessons to teach science, build

student understanding for personal and social applications and to convey the nature of science.

Science Framing Statement

Science education is designed to provide students with a comprehensive approach to the

study of the world around them. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) (2013) guide

teachers using a framework that categorizes three dimensions of science education: science and

engineering practices, crosscutting concepts that apply all to all the domains of science, and core

ideas within each discipline area. The multidisciplinary science unit designed to explore the

question about how water changes land that I created during my student teaching experience

illustrates components found in these standards; it includes inquiry-based lessons, the

development of core ideas within the discipline of earth science, and connections to the literacy

standards.

The unit I designed began with identification of essential questions. “NGSS questioning

practice emphasizes that students ask questions to help them identify what they need to figure

out to help explain phenomena” (Schwarz et al., 2016, p. 93). My lessons are designed as

explorations that allow students to construct knowledge related to the essential questions as they

use the scientific inquiry process. This helps them to “ … establish connections between their

current knowledge of science and scientific understandings; apply science concepts to new

questions; engage in problem solving, planning, reasoning from evidence, and group discussions;

and experience an active approach to learning science” (Contant et al., 2014, p. 8). Students

explore how water shapes the land by creating a model of a mountain and observing how rivers
WOOD MASTER’S PORTFOLIO 2

flow, simulate the process of erosion with tearing and moving paper rocks as they move

downriver, and apply the information and skills they learn to a real world problem related to the

construction of a sledding hill. Discussion and group work are utilized throughout the unit to

give students an opportunity to share their observations, and discuss the conclusions they draw

from the evidence. “Inquiry learning does not have to be a group project, but there must be

interaction with others to harvest the best learning” (Koechlin and Zwaan, 2014, p. 10). These

activities and instructional methods are based on the theory of constructivism, which believes

students create meaning as they investigate questions through the use of hands on activities and

peer interactions to arrive at understanding (Slavin, 2018). Through the inquiry-based activities

in the unit, students are also introduced to the science process skills of predicting when they

explore how water flows, and classifying and inferring as they examine images of rocks and sand

before and after weathering and erosion occurs.

Another component in the science standards are the disciplinary core concepts within the

different strands of science. The NGSS core ideas are designed to provide students experiences “

… to ensure that students learn enough about the core ideas in science so that they can continue

to learn and use scientific knowledge on their own throughout their lives” (Contant et al., 2014,

p. 21). Building and accessing background knowledge is a critical component of understanding

core concepts. My unit provides lessons that emphasize exploring the movement of water and its

effects on land through two explorations, rather then an emphasis on reading texts to understand

the concepts. Scientific terms related to the core concepts of the unit, such as erosion, are

introduced after the students have completed two of the inquiry activities, so that they can use

these experiences as background knowledge for understanding the terms. My unit also includes

references to local examples of the earth processes studied in the unit, since “ … students are
WOOD MASTER’S PORTFOLIO 3

more likely to be intellectually engaged in deep science learning when they find it relevant to

their daily lives” (Contant et al., 2014, p. 15).

Helping students understand scientific terms is also highlighted by the connections to

literacy standards noted within the science standards. Since “comprehension problems can arise

when there is a heavy concentration of technical words in a short chunk of text … ” students are

also introduced to vocabulary related to these core concepts. (Fang, et al., 2010). This is

particularly important in diverse classroom when students have limited English proficiency. “The

language of science can be confusing for English language learners because it uses many words

from everyday life that have different meanings” (Bresser & Fargason, 2013, p. 62-63).  I have

designed formative assessments using exit tickets to check for understanding after the content

area reading and vocabulary lesson. Students draw a picture of the earth process, including

details based on their background knowledge and the explorations they participated in. Reading

strategists note that “when kids illustrate and write about concepts in their own words, they are

much more likely to remember the information” (Harvey & Goudvis, 2007, p. 247). Studies have

concluded that the visualization strategy “… facilitates the selection and integration of

information underlying learning even more than creating a verbal explanation” (Bobek &

Tversky, 2016, p. 12). In addition to reading comprehension and vocabulary development,

teaching students how to read and interpret diagrams and other visual elements of science

content area materials is necessary to help them understand core concepts. Visual literacy is

important since “not only does visual literacy help students learn science, it helps us teach it”

(Moline, 2012, p. 11).

Science education that follows the guidelines of the Next Generation Science Standards

sets the stage for students to develop the skills and knowledge needed to apply their learning to
WOOD MASTER’S PORTFOLIO 4

real world situations. The opportunity to develop inquiry practices, explore core concepts, and

improve their overall literacy skills in the content area are several examples of effective science

education that I have demonstrated through my design of a multidisciplinary science unit.

WOOD MASTER’S PORTFOLIO 5

References

Bobek, E., & Tversky, B. (2016). Creating visual explanations improves learning. Cognitive

Research: Principles & Implications, 1(1), 1. Retrieved from

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=120038627&site=eds-

live

Bresser, R., & Fargason, S. (2013). Becoming scientists: Inquiry-based teaching in diverse

classrooms, Grades 3-5. Stenhouse Publishers. Retrieved from

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=630933&site=eds-

live&scope=site

Contant, T., Bass, J., Tweed, A., & Carin, A. (2014). Teaching science through inquiry based

instruction. Pearson. Thirteenth Edition.

Fang, Z., Pringle, R. M., & Lamme, L. L. (2010). Language and literacy in inquiry-based

science classrooms, grades 3-8. Corwin. Retrieved from

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=473685&site=eds-

live&scope=site

Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2017). Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension for

engagement, understanding, and building knowledge, grades K-8. Third edition.

Stenhouse Publishers. Retrieved from

http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1521987&site=ehost-live

Koechlin, C., & Zwaan, S. (2014). Q tasks:How to empower students to ask questions and care

about answers. (2nd edition.). Pembroke.

Moline, S. (2012). I see what you mean: Visual literacy k-8. Portland, Me: Stenhouse Publishers.
WOOD MASTER’S PORTFOLIO 6

NGSS Lead States. (2013). Next generation science standards: For states, by states. National

Academies Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=867791&site=eds-live&scope=site

Schwarz, C., Passmore, C., & Reiser, B. J. (2016). Helping students make sense of the world

using next generation science and engineering practices. NSTA Press. Retrieved from

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1460312&site=eds-

live&scope=site

Slavin, R. E. (2018). Educational psychology: Theory and practice. NY, NY: Pearson.