Science Talk Analysis

Assignment Overview
The goal of this assignment is to support you in the important work of talking with children about
science and finding out how they make sense of a scientific phenomenon and about the ideas,
lived experiences, and family and community knowledge they bring to the learning of science.
You will conduct one science talk with children in your field placement. You will video record
your science talk. Your science talk may occur:
● Independent of your lesson sequence;
● Prior to the first lesson in your sequence or as the first lesson in your sequence
—e.g., to elicit children’s ideas and resources for learning;
● During the second or third lesson in your lesson sequence—e.g., to engage
children in “figuring out” work; or
● As a follow-up to your lesson sequence—e.g., to engage children in (re-)
considering a phenomenon based on investigation(s) during the lesson sequence.
● Note: Your “Science Talk Plan” must be approved before you conduct your
science talk in your field placement classroom.

Then you will use the Science Talk Analysis Assignment Template (below) to complete
your analysis. You will include:
A) Science Talk Excerpt(s)
Select approximately 10 minutes of your science talk that shows a lot of what children are doing to make
sense of/figure out the phenomenon and what resources they are using to do that. You may select a 10-
minute continuous segment or 2-3 smaller segments that add up to 10 minutes.
● Share your selected 10 minutes by either
o Providing the video recording of your science talk on GoReact and identifying (using
the timestamps) the 10 minutes you have chosen or
o Transcribing the segment(s), using pseudonyms in place of the children’s names. (You
can let them choose their own pseudonyms!)
● Write a 1-2 paragraph description of what happened right before your (first) segment and
right after your (last) segment. If you have multiple segments, also write a brief (1-2 sentence)
description of what happened between the segments.

B) Response to Analysis Questions

Respond to the six prompts in the science talk analysis assignment template.

Grading/Evaluation

Points Components

1 Science talk plan that reflects attention to feedback

 1 Approximately 10 minutes of the science talk (via transcript or video
recording), focused on children’s sense-making and accompanied by
descriptions of what happens before and after each segment.

2 Well-justified response to Question 1, supported with evidence (from a

transcript or detailed description) and reasoning.

4 Well-justified response to Question 2, supported with evidence from the

science talk.

2 Well-justified response to Question 3, supported with evidence (from a

transcript or detailed description) and reasoning.

4 Well-justified response to Question 4, supported with evidence from the

science talk.

4 Elaborated response to Question 5, with specific references to children’s

resources/ideas identified in Questions 2 and 4.

2 Well-justified response to Question 6, supported with transcript evidence

and reasoning.

20 Total

Your grade on this assignment will be based on the rubric above. In addition, your science talk
analysis will serve as evidence for the TE 804 key assessment. This evaluation is strictly for
program-level data collection. Your performance will not impact your status in the program in
any way, and you are not expected to earn the top score on the rubric at this point in the
program. The key assessment rubric is available here if you are interested in this second
evaluation of your work.

Science Talk Analysis Assignment Template

● Please rename the document “STA_YourLastName_YourFirstName.docx” and
turn it in to the D2L dropbox.
● Please also upload your assignment to Student Learning & Licensure.
Science Talk Plan
Paste the plan that you used to conduct your science talk. (Please paste the text here, rather
than providing a link to your plan.)
NGSS Performance Expectation: 4-PS3-1 Energy: [SA1] Use evidence to construct an
explanation relating to the speed of and object to the energy of that object.
Disciplinary Core Idea: PS3.A: Definitions of Energy The faster a given object is moving, the
more energy it possesses.
Topic: Sledding hill at school. There is energy and motion on the sledding hill.
Sub-Topic: Roller coasters
Explaining how the speed of the sled and the students relate to the motion and energy from the
students and steepness of the hill. Different points may have more or less impact on the speed
and motion.
Scientific Phenomenon
There is energy used when using the sledding hill. This phenomenon can add a variety of
questions. Why do we sled in the snow? Can I sled on grass? What does the angle of the hill
have to be for it to be functioning properly? Is there friction involved? Would my weight and
height affect the speed I sled at? Why does it take energy out of me to climb up the sledding
hill?
Discussing something that is so familiar to us will help us understand how roller coasters are
similar when it comes to energy.
Background Information:
Provide a teacher-level explanation of the topic and phenomena. What information is it helpful
for you to know about the ‘big picture’ of your topic?
● Showing the students a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYxyTybLxhs
will help them with understanding the overall unit of roller coasters. This will help them
think about their prior experiences or see what sledding looks like, if they haven’t. This
video's purpose will overall help students sense-making.
Artifacts and/or experiences to illustrate the phenomenon and launch the talk
● Materials
○ Whiteboard and marker. (I will write out on the board with a line down the
middle)
■ What do you know about roller coasters?
■ What do you want to learn about roller coasters?
○ Sticky notes and writing materials (pencil/ pens)
○ Camera - to capture students initial thoughts about the subject (day 1) and
for the concluding thoughts of the unit (day 3).

● Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYxyTybLxhs

This video will help them with thinking about the sledding hill. This science talk will be
the initial start to our lesson sequence. Having this video clip to show the students will
help them with their sense-making towards the topic of sledding.
Driving question
How does the speed of the sled impact the energy it has (possess)?
How does energy impact speed?
Questions to elicit children’s lived experiences (especially outside of school) and family
and community knowledge
1. Have you ever been sledding before?
Follow-up questions
● Where have you gone sledding before?
● How is sledding at school different from sledding elsewhere?
2. What do sledding hills look like?
Follow-up questions
● Do all sledding hills look the same?
 ● In what ways are sledding hills different from one another?
● What makes one sledding hill better than the other?
● Does the sled also change the experience?
3. When do you usually sled?
Follow-up questions
● Is there a specific time of the year you can go sledding?
● Why do you prefer to go sledding that time of the year?
● What makes your sledding experinee different?
● How does the number of people you sled affect the speed?
Questions to elicit children’s ideas and reasoning
Ask questions in relation to the sledding video:
● When you watch the video, what did you notice?
● How fast or slow were the sleds going?
● What makes the sleds go faster (or slower)?
● Did you see any similarities or differences in how these kids sled?
● What did they do (how did they use their bodies) to speed up their sleds?
● How do you think _____ (refer to what student says) makes the sled faster?
Why?
● How steep was the hill?
● Do you think not would impact the sledding experience? If yes, why?
● What might be the relationship between the speed of the sled and the energy it
possesses?

1. How does the height of the sledding hill affect how fast or slow you go? affect our
experience? (Maybe draw a model or show a picture for the students).
a. Why does height impact our experience?

2.How does the weight of the sled or ourselves affect our experience?
a. Why does weight impact our experience?
3. Why do we sled during the winter?
a. How does snow impact our sled experience?
4. How do you feel when you go down the sled versus having to make it to the top of
the hill?
a. Why do you think you feel this way?
b. Is the feeling different or the same?
5. How fast do you think you could sled on a smaller hill?
a. Why does height matter?
b. Why does distance matter?
6. Why can’t we sled during the summer on grass?
a. Does the material matter?
b. Does the temperature matter?
c. Why does the weather impact our sledding experience?
Talk moves to help children express their ideas and reasoning
*Write at least three talk moves in these spaces here. (Hint: Choose talk moves from pp. 332-
333 of the Practices book.)
1. Press students to work with the reasoning of others.
● Agree or Disagree and Why?
○ Do you agree or disagree? And why?
○ Are you saying the same thing as Jeyla or something different, and if
different, how is it different?
● Who Can Add On?
○ Who can add on to the idea that Jamal is building?
○ Do others have things to add?
○ Do some people see it a different way?
2. Encourage individual students to share, expand, and clarify their own thinking.
● Partner Talk
○ Talk to the person next to you for one minute.
● Say More
○ Can you say more about that?
○ What do you mean by that?
○ Can you give an example?
● Verifying and Clarifying by Revoicing
○ So, let me see if I’ve got what you’re saying. Are you saying ...?
○ Always leave space for the original student to agree or disagree and say
more.
3. Press for deeper reasoning.
● Ask for Evidence or Reasoning
○ Why do you think that?
○ What’s your evidence?
○ How did you arrive at that conclusion?
○ How does your evidence relate to your claim?
● Challenge or Counterexample
○ Does it always work that way?
○ But how does that idea square with ____ example?
○ That’s a good question. What do you think?
○ Where in your model do you see that part of the phenomenon?

A possible ordering of questions in your science talk

1. Have you been sledding before?
2. Do all sledding hills look the same?
3. What season do you usually sled in?/ When do you usually sled?
4. Why don’t we sled during the summer when the grass is out?
5. How do you feel when you sled down the hill versus getting to the top of the hill?
6. How does the height of the hill affect our sledding experience?
7. How does the weight of the sled or ourselves impact the experience?
8. Do we sled the same on a smaller hill?
Science Talk Excerpt(s)
1 paragraph describing what happened right before your segment(s)
Right before my science talk, I was able to have a nice transition into the vocab cards and see
which terms my students have heard about before. I decided to wait until the second day to go
over what they meant because I didn’t want to take the learning and definitions away from the
students. This allowed me to get a general feel of where my students were with these terms. I
was also able to help slowly guide them to our topic about roller coasters and sledding hills.
After the vocab cards, I was able to have my class watch the 2 minute sledding clip of two kids
sledding down a hill. Before I got into the deeper questions of my science talk, I asked the
students, “Why did I show you a video on sledding?” This got many comments because I could
tell that the students had something to relate to with the video and how it is somewhat similar to
our topic in science.

GoRect Video: STA2_Almcrantz_Karen

Science Talk - Full Transcript

(0:00)
Me:How is sledding at here, you know right, we have our sledding hill *points to the direction of the
sledding hill* different from… maybe at home or somewhere else that has a sledding hill? Is it different?
Oliver: Ummm, so, possibly some sledding hills could be like more dangerous maybe?
Annabelle: I’m not saying it is, but maybe the type of sled matters?
Me: Maybe the type of sled matters. OK, that’s true. Again, that could change your experience. Because
we have the thin plastic ones, the roll-ups. And you might have one that is round, thicker, has more plastic
on it. Right, it could be different. It could change how fast you’re moving and how comfortable you are.
Abi: So, it also depends on the dynamic. The way you’re going, how fast you’re going, the way you’re
sitting. So, on the roll-up sleds there isn’t a lot of places you can move with it, but when you do get on it
comfortably, Once you start going, if it spins there’s nothing you can do about it unless you put your feet
up. Umm, which also slows you down on your sled and also makes you crash too. But if you’re in one of
those… sleds where they have strings attached to them and they have walls, if you’re one of those you
can use the strings to turn yourself. Which also makes it a safer and more comfortable way of slowing
down.
Nolan: If you have a bigger sled, is that you might go a bit more slower but you’re guaranteed to be a lot
more safer. And with one of those school sleds, because if you slip a little bit and someone hits you, that’s
going to hurt.
Me: OK, can I ask you a question? So, you said the bigger sled might slow you down.
Nolan: That’s because there’s more impact on the sled.
Me: So, in your experience, you’ve had it when it’s slown you down?

(2:20)
Me: Does anyone have a different experience? If your sled’s heavier or bigger? Has it been different?
Eli: So, over at a park near my house, like the hill is about the exact same length as our hill (school hill)
except our hill is a bit more steep.
Me: OK, so it’s a steeper hill. Right?
Eli: Yeah. It’s a lot more icy in the winter. So, I have a really big sled and it being big, plus the ice, makes
it slide.
Me: So, it slides… Would you say faster or slower?
Eli: I’d say faster.
Me: OK. Ben, what were you thinking?
Ben: I was thinking like the more weight on something, the faster it would fall.

(3:03)
Me: Right. So usually… I kinda like that connection, that idea, does anyone have something to add on to
that? With what Ben had said? That idea, if there’s more weight on something, the faster it would fall, the
faster it would move. Does anyone have something to add to that specifically?
Tucker: *Forgot his thought*
Me: Don’t worry, I’ll come back to you if you get that thought again. OK, Oliver. What were you thinking?
Oliver: Ummm, I’m going to use a waterslide for this example.
Adding On to Classmate
Me: Is it going off of Ben’s idea?
Oliver: Yes.
Me: OK.
Oliver: Umm, so let's say you only have kids. Like…
Me: Only like little kids. Right?
Oliver: Has anybody gone to Kalahari, in Ohio? *classmates raise their hands that have gone* So umm,
let's say Virginia Falls at the Kalahari. So, if you only had kids you would still go fast but not as fast as if
you had like full adults.
Me: Or if they had all adults. Right?
Oliver: Because like, gravity would like hold it down fast enough.
Me: So it’s kind of like relating back to when Ben said earlier. Right? He was thinking about gravity and
now we’re relating that to weight of an object. Right? So, if something’s heavier it’s going to have more
gravity against them. Right? Which means it might have more… *motion with my arms* speed… and
more…

(4:37)
Me: What do you know about speed and energy? Are they connected in any sort of way? Are they not
connected in any sort of way? Is it just there? Like, what is speed and energy? Why do we even talk about
that? Nolan.
Nolan: Because, you need energy to have speed. Because, if you don’t have any energy you will not be
able to go fast.
Me: OK. So, if I don’t have energy I can’t go fast?... OK… OK, interesting. Would anyone like to add on to
that? Ben?
Ben: Also, gravity helps you go fast.
Me: OK. Gravity. I like how you’re putting in gravity. Do you know anything else about gravity?
Ben: It makes us go fast down.
Me: It makes us go fast down. Right? OK. I liked how you also mentioned that angle of downwards. That
motion of downwards. Okay, what else Oliver? What were you thinking?
Oliver: Umm, this is what I was thinking of the sled. If the sled has too much energy and goes too fast and
runs into something, you can get seriously hurt.
Me: You can get really hurt. Right? Yeah, depending on what the speed is of the sled. OK Abi, what else
do you want to add?
*Real life example*
Abi: Umm, I’m going to base this off of running. So, let's say you’re running for a really long time. You run
out of energy, so you go slow. And basing off like the running to when you’re going down. When you’re
catching your breath, you’re going up the hill. It’s kind of a weird way of putting it, but it kind of makes
sense.
Me: It’s a good example. It’s something to relate to, on top of sledding and roller coasters.
(6:21)
Me: OK. How does the height of the sledding hill affect how fast or slow you go? Does height matter?
Does the tallness of how tall the hill is, does that matter? Turn and talk with your partner. Does it matter?
Turn and Talk - *Video cuts*
Me: … Is it important? Why or why not? Lexi.
Lexi: Yes, because if you have this kind of small hill, it will just go slow. You won’t be going as high. And if
you go high, it’s just straight.
Me: *drawing hills as Lexi is speaking* So, if you have like a taller hill…
Lexi: You could go faster since there’s more length of straight.
Me: Right. So, there’s more distance between it right? There’s more distance. Also, the steepness of it too
matters, the angle at which the hill is going matters. Right? Abi, what else?
Abi: Umm, can I point something out up there?
Me: Yeah!
Abi: So, the way that you drew those hills. They look very different. Because that tiny hill is like a bump
and there’s a tiny little slide. But the bigger hill has the top and then it goes like straight down and then
does like a curve at the bottom. It has way different angles and the height of the hill does matter because
let’s say you were at this tiny itty bitty mountain. *no expression* Nothings going to happen. But, if you’re
on a huge hill, you’re going to go “wee!”. And it’s going to be a lot more fun and go a lot more fast.

(8:06)
Me: Yeah. OK. Great observations. Oliver, what were you thinking?
Oliver: I was thinking like.. possibly like acceleration. Like, if you say… you take our school sledding hill,
you go pretty fast. Umm, but you don’t. You still gain some speed over time but you still don’t gain as
much. Like, if you were to go to a public sledding hill, those are usually like way bigger than our school
sledding hill. It would gain a lot more speed from… you know.
Me: Speed and acceleration. Yeah. Okay, I like that. Okay, Nolan.
*Connection to other classmate*
Nolan: I’m going with Oliver here. Is that, if you’re just going on a smaller sled you’re going a bit fast but
then you’re just going to have to slow down because you’re already like down the hill. But on a bigger
sled, you could go faster and faster then you just keep on going faster because…

(9:20)
Me: Why do we sled pretty much, like during the winter only? Why do we only sled during the winter?
(Turn and Talk) *Video cuts*
Me: Let’s hear from Mabel. What were you thinking?
Mabel: Snow, ice, faster, done.
*Say more - Talk Move*
Me: Snow, ice, faster. Okay, I like those points. Can you say more about that though?
Mabel: Yes. Uhh, because of the snow, well uhh, fluffy snow, it will kind of sink, if you don’t really do
much, uhh like fresh snow. But if it were sled down a bunch, it’ll pack snow to the point where it is
basically ice. So, when you slide down it, it is much quicker, no brakes, and at that point some people
even build tiny ramps, like the public one. So, you can go like up and down.
Me: Like hop. Yeah. Okay, nice! Thank you for explaining more about that, Mabel. I liked that idea.

(10:08)
Me: Okay, now let’s also tie this to why we can’t really sled in the summer. Think about that too. So tie
them both in together (the idea of sledding in the winter versus the summer). So, why do we sled in the
winter? Okay, Abi.
Abi: The reason why we don’t go sledding in the summer is because there are a lot more clumps of mud
that are up there because the dirt gets all worked up and it gets muddy up there. You’ll get dirty, unless
you wear your snow gear. If you’re wearing all your snow gear, you’d get very very hot, very very quickly.
And the reason why you’d want to sled more during the winter is because all of that extra water and mud
gets frozen into the ice, which makes it way more slippery. And you don’t overheat in your snow gear
because it’s the right temperature for it and you don’t get as dirty because it’s just ice and snow.
Me: Okay, thank you. Lexi.
Lexi: The snow is made out of water and the water can get a little bit slippery. And slippery enough for
hills. The grass can get really dry and it’s not the best to slide down. And snow has water and water is
really slippery and when it freezes, it’s ice. And ice is slippery.
Me: OK, nice. Nolan.
*Connection to Abi*
Nolan: Umm, so the thing is that the grass, when you’re going down the hill… when you're on snow, it’s
flat so the sled can go straight down. But if it’s going on grass, first of all… like Abi said, like the mud, that
stuff is going to make it get caught up and then the grass is going to keep on stopping it. Because sleds
are lower to the ground so, it’s going to make the bottom of it go slower and slower.
Me: Okay. Shanveer and then Oliver.
*Connection to Nolan and Abi*
Shaanveer: So mine, was like connected to Nolan’s and Abi’s idea how the mud can get stuck with the
sled so when you go down it would go normal speed, not that fast, and it would get caught up at the end
of it, but close to the end of it.
Me: Oh, okay. Oliver last thing.
Oliver: Umm, so two things. One, a reason why you wouldn’t be able to go sledding in the summer is
because the grass would create way too much friction for the sled. So, the sled would just immediately
stop.

Briefly describe what happened between segments if you include more than one segment.
In between segments, I just edited out the turn and talk conversations happening around the
classroom. I wanted to maximize the time of hearing the actual science talk instead of 1-2
minute chunks of the turn and talks.

1 paragraph describing what happened right after your transcribed segment(s).

At the end of the science talk, I thanked my class for a great discussion. I was able to learn so
much from their discussions and this led to my next part of the lesson that was perfect after the
talk. We had done our class wonder board with two columns on the white board of what the
students knew about roller coasters and what they wanted to know about roller coasters.
Response to Analysis Questions
This part of the assignment should be about 3 pages, single spaced.

1. Identify an exchange that allowed you to learn about the participating children’s ideas
and sense-making beyond vocabulary and correct ideas they might know. This should
include what you said to prompt children’s sharing of ideas and the children’s
responses. Complete the table for this exchange, using direct quotes (transcribed from
your science talk) as evidence.

Component Analysis
 Claim
I was able to learn about the participating children’s ideas and/or sense-making
about the phenomena by asking, “What do you know about speed and energy?
Are they connected in any sort of way? Are they not connected in any sort of
way? Is it just there? Like, what is speed and energy? Why do we even talk about
that?” After this initial question and each new conversation, I would re-emphasize
what my student/s were sharing and ask them more questions to go along with
the original question topic.

Evidence (4:37)
Me: What do you know about speed and energy? Are they connected in any sort
of way? Are they not connected in any sort of way? Is it just there? Like, what is
speed and energy? Why do we even talk about that? Nolan.
Nolan: Because, you need energy to have speed. Because, if you don’t have any
energy you will not be able to go fast.
Me: OK. So, if I don’t have energy I can’t go fast?... OK… OK, interesting. Would
anyone like to add on to that? Ben.
Ben: Also, gravity helps you go fast.
Me: OK. Gravity. I like how you’re putting in gravity. Do you know anything else
about gravity?
Ben: It makes us go fast down.
Me: It makes us go fast down. Right? OK. I liked how you also mentioned that
angle of downwards. That motion of downwards. Okay, what else Oliver? What
were you thinking?
Oliver: Umm, this is what I was thinking of the sled. If the sled has too much
energy and goes too fast and runs into something, you can get seriously hurt.
Me: You can get really hurt. Right? Yeah, depending on what the speed is of the
sled. OK Abi, what else do you want to add?
*Real life example*
Abi: Umm, I’m going to base this off of running. So, let's say you’re running for a
really long time. You run out of energy, so you go slow. And basing off like the
running to when you’re going down. When you’re catching your breath, you’re
going up the hill. It’s kind of a weird way of putting it, but it kind of makes sense.
Me: It’s a good example. It’s something to relate to, on top of sledding and roller
coasters.
Reasoning The transcript excerpt provides evidence of children’s ideas and sense-making
because after I had asked the initial question, it spiraled into having me ask
several questions throughout the talk. It is clear to see that the students have an
idea of what speed and energy is and have added more to the discussion with
“gravity”. Ben really connected with Nolan’s initial idea that, “you need to have
energy to have speed”. You can tell that when he mentioned gravity he connected
that to speed. He didn’t mention much about energy, but it was clear to see the
connection he had with gravity and speed. Oliver went back to our topic about
sleds and he somewhat got to our future concept about collisions. He knew that if
a sled had too much energy and ran into something, the person or people in the
sled would get seriously hurt. He brought up a concept that relates to collisions
and that connected to having speed and energy. What I really liked during this
science talk was the fact that Abi related roller coasters and the sledding hill to
 running. It allowed me to see how she thinks about energy transfers within our
own bodies. This is something the students experience daily!

2. What can you infer from your science talk about the ideas the participating children
have about the phenomenon and about how they use those ideas to make sense of the
phenomenon? Include evidence from your science talk to support each inference. Go
beyond your response to Question 1 to consider the rest of your science talk.
I can infer that many of my students formed their initial thoughts through their own life
experiences. I can also see that once a student has made a significant point in the discussion
(gravity and sledding in the summer) I can see that my other students like to build off their
peers. This allows me to see that they have experienced phenomena that are similar to the topic
that we are currently learning and discussing. In the first example, I could see that Ben had an
opposing idea that conflicted with what Nolan had stated. This gave me insight to see that Ben
knew about gravity and that gravity pulls us down (especially if the object is heavier). In the
second example, I can see that Nolan is going off of Oliver’s idea and these types of
interactions help me connect with the student’s understanding and experiences. You can tell
that they’ve either had similar experiences or different ones based on each other's ideas. These
all help me understand which students may know about certain topics versus others in the
class. For the third example, I liked how Shaanveer was able to connect with two of his peers
and their initial ideas. Again, these experiences connect with more than just one student in the
class. The ideas that these students share clearly impact and affect what other students may
add on to their ideas. The overall questions that I have asked turn into such amazing
conversations for the students to share their thoughts and ideas. They have more to bring to the
discussions because they’ve experienced various phenomena. So, they are able to build off of
the main question and add their experiences with the given phenomena while also adding their
phenomena to the overall discussion. Again, this allows for all my students to connect with the
ideas and concepts being discussed even if they have various experiences.

Example 1
Nolan: If you have a bigger sled, is that you might go a bit more slower but you’re guaranteed to
be a lot more safer. And with one of those school sleds, because if you slip a little bit and
someone hits you, that’s going to hurt.
***More discussions in between (Ben’s hand was raised after Nolan’s comment)
Ben: I was thinking like the more weight on something, the faster it would fall.

Example 2
Oliver: I was thinking like.. possibly like acceleration. Like, if you say… you take our school
sledding hill, you go pretty fast. Umm, but you don’t. You still gain some speed over time but you
still don’t gain as much. Like, if you were to go to a public sledding hill, those are usually like
way bigger than our school sledding hill. It would gain a lot more speed from… you know.
Me: Speed and acceleration. Yeah. Okay, I like that. Okay, Nolan.
*Connection to other classmate*
Nolan: I’m going with Oliver here. Is that, if you’re just going on a smaller sled you’re going a bit
fast but then you’re just going to have to slow down because you’re already like down the hill.
But on a bigger sled, you could go faster and faster then you just keep on going faster
because…

Example 3
Abi: The reason why we don’t go sledding in the summer is because there are a lot more clumps
of mud that are up there because the dirt gets all worked up and it gets muddy up there. You’ll
get dirty, unless you wear your snow gear. If you’re wearing all your snow gear, you’d get very
very hot, very very quickly. And the reason why you’d want to sled more during the winter is
because all of that extra water and mud gets frozen into the ice, which makes it way more
slippery. And you don’t overheat in your snow gear because it’s the right temperature for it and
you don’t get as dirty because it’s just ice and snow.
***Took out Lexi’s comment for this example***
*Connection to Abi*
Nolan: Umm, so the thing is that the grass, when you’re going down the hill… when you're on
snow, it’s flat so the sled can go straight down. But if it’s going on grass, first of all… like Abi
said, like the mud, that stuff is going to make it get caught up and then the grass is going to
keep on stopping it. Because sleds are lower to the ground so, it’s going to make the bottom of it
go slower and slower.
Me: Okay. Shanveer and then Oliver.
*Connection to Nolan and Abi*
Shaanveer: So mine, was like connected to Nolan’s and Abi’s idea how the mud can get stuck
with the sled so when you go down it would go normal speed, not that fast, and it would get
caught up at the end of it, but close to the end of it.

3. Identify an exchange that allowed you to learn about the participating children’s
resources for science learning (e.g., lived experiences, family and community knowledge).
This should include what you said to prompt children’s sharing of ideas and the
children’s responses. Complete the table for this exchange, using direct quotes
(transcribed from your science talk) as evidence.

Component Analysis

Claim I was able to learn about the participating children’s resources for science
learning by asking, ‘How is sledding at the school different from sledding at
home or elsewhere?’ I was able to get a lot of examples that realted the
students ideas and experiences.

Evidence (0:00)
Me:How is sledding at here, you know right, we have our sledding hill
*points to the direction of the sledding hill* different from… maybe at home
or somewhere else that has a sledding hill? Is it different?
Oliver: Ummm, so, possibly some sledding hills could be like more
dangerous maybe?
Annabelle: I’m not saying it is, but maybe the type of sled matters?
Me: Maybe the type of sled matters. OK, that’s true. Again, that could
change your experience. Because we have the thin plastic ones, the roll-
ups. And you might have one that is round, thicker, has more plastic on it.
 Right, it could be different. It could change how fast you’re moving and how
comfortable you are.
Abi: So, it also depends on the dynamic. The way you’re going, how fast
you’re going, the way you’re sitting. So, on the roll-up sleds there isn’t a lot
of places you can move with it, but when you do get on it comfortably, Once
you start going, if it spins there’s nothing you can do about it unless you put
your feet up. Umm, which also slows you down on your sled and also
makes you crash too. But if you’re in one of those… sleds where they have
strings attached to them and they have walls, if you’re one of those you can
use the strings to turn yourself. Which also makes it a safer and more
comfortable way of slowing down.
Nolan: If you have a bigger sled, is that you might go a bit more slower but
you’re guaranteed to be a lot more safer. And with one of those school
sleds, because if you slip a little bit and someone hits you, that’s going to
hurt.
Me: OK, can I ask you a question? So, you said the bigger sled might slow
you down.
Nolan: That’s because there’s more impact on the sled.
Me: So, in your experience, you’ve had it when it’s slown you down?

(2:20)
Me: Does anyone have a different experience? If your sled’s heavier or
bigger? Has it been different?
Eli: So, over at a park near my house, like the hill is about the exact same
length as our hill (school hill) except our hill is a bit more steep.
Me: OK, so it’s a steeper hill. Right?
Eli: Yeah. It’s a lot more icy in the winter. So, I have a really big sled and it
being big, plus the ice, makes it slide.
Me: So, it slides… Would you say faster or slower?
Eli: I’d say faster.
Me: OK. Ben, what were you thinking?
Ben: I was thinking like the more weight on something, the faster it would
fall.
Reasoning By asking this question at the start of my science talk, I was able to gather
a lot of information about student's experiences sledding in various areas.
Even though this isn’t on the video, I had asked my class to raise their
hands if they had been sledding before. I was surprised to see that
everyone has had this chance and experience. This allowed me to hear
that they connected their ideas and examples from their own personal
experiences. From Eli’s response, I liked how he brought up an area (park)
close to his house for his example. This allowed me to see that the
students have several experiences other than just sledding at the school.
He was able to compare the sledding hills at the school and the park and
this allowed others to also think about comparing the school’s sledding hill
to those that they are familiar with/ can relate to best with.
 4. What can you infer from your science talk about the participating children’s resources
(e.g., lived experiences, family and community knowledge)? Include evidence from your
science talk to support each inference. Go beyond your response to Question 3 to consider
the rest of your science talk.
I can infer that my students have several experiences with the general ideas/topics of speed and
energy. Besides the example from Eli, I was able to see connections between real life examples
from Oliver and Abi. Hearing these students relate the science talk to their personal lives was a
great way to show me and others that there’s more science in our lives than just the topic we are
focusing on (roller coasters and sledding hills). In Oliver’s example, he is asking the class their
relationship to going to a specific water park and how at water parks, the speed at which you
can go, varies depending on who’s on the ride with you. This gave me and others a new way to
think about weight, speed, and gravity (that Ben had pointed out earlier). From listening to Abi’s
thoughts, I could tell that she took on a day-to-day activity (running) that most, if not all students
have experienced before. This even allowed me to see how she took the parts of running and
broke them down to how our bodies react. She made connections about the sledding hill/actions
of sledding to the actions of running. When others are able to hear examples like this, this can
help them form thoughts and relationships with the concept/target being learned and discussed.
Even at the start of the talk, I asked the students about their homes and where they have
sledded before. This allowed me to hear about their prior experiences with the concept of
sledding or going on a roller coaster. And as said before, it allowed me to see how they
connected that experience with other similar activities that have the same concepts.

Example 1
Oliver: Has anybody gone to Kalahari, in Ohio? *classmates raise their hands that have gone*
So umm, let's say Virginia Falls at the Kalahari. So, if you only had kids you would still go fast
but not as fast as if you had like full adults.
Me: Or if they had all adults. Right?
Oliver: Because like, gravity would like hold it down fast enough.

Example 2
Abi: Umm, I’m going to base this off of running. So, let's say you’re running for a really long time.
You run out of energy, so you go slow. And basing off like the running to when you’re going
down. When you’re catching your breath, you’re going up the hill. It’s kind of a weird way of
putting it, but it kind of makes sense.
Me: It’s a good example. It’s something to relate to, on top of sledding and roller coasters.

5. Imagine that your science talk was the first lesson of a unit designed to engage the
participating children with your performance expectation. During your science talk, you
learned about these children’s ideas and resources for learning. What (specifically) would
you do to build on these specific ideas and resources in your next lesson (of this unit)? [Be
sure to refer specifically to ideas you identified in Question 2 and resources for
learning that you identified in Question 4.]
NGSS Performance Expectation: 4-PS3-1 Energy: [SA1] Use evidence to construct an
explanation relating to the speed of and object to the energy of that object.
Disciplinary Core Idea: PS3.A: Definitions of Energy The faster a given object is moving, the
more energy it possesses.
I would want to take what I’ve learned from this science talk and add more questions that dive
deeper into the why and more. I would want my students to give me more examples that they
have experienced and to tell me how their experiences relate to the topic about speed and
energy. I would also perhaps use more terms within my questions to help the students think
about the next lesson and how that evolves/relates to the lesson we recently have completed on
roller coasters, sleddings, speed, and energy. Having questions such as ones with key words
may help the students think about the word and how they’ve formed experiences with the term. I
would also want to incorporate more discussions between agreements and disagreements
because it was clear to see that my first discussion had a few, but it wasn’t directly clear for the
students to pick up on. Hearing agreements and disagreements allows for students to always be
wondering and questioning if their phenomena was common or rare. It allows for more
explanation when sharing ideas and thoughts. Having science talks allows for many to open up
about their ideas and experiences. I want to be able to extend that for the next unit lesson and
relate the next talk to expand on our first science talk. The concepts would be similar in the
relation and it would help the students have that reference as well. Being able to help guide the
students to the best of their abilities is going to help the overall class the best. Again, coming up
with questions that support reasonings and evidence from the students will help the overall
class. It helps me to evaluate where the class is and what needs to be touched on more during
the overall lessons to come. From the discussions that arise, I can properly assess where the
lessons need to be heading in order for the students to make the most sense of the
performance expectations and the disciplinary core idea/s.

6. Identify two teacher talk moves that were effective in promoting productive academic
talk (i.e., children expressing and exploring ideas). This should include your talk move
and how children responded. Complete one table for each talk move, using direct quotes
(transcribed from your science talk) as evidence.

HINT: Teacher talk moves are listed on pp. 332-333 and described in further detail on
pp. 319-326 of the Practices book. Productive academic talk is defined on pp. 314-317
of the Practices book.

Talk Move #1
Component Analysis

Claim A teacher talk move that was effective in promoting productive academic
talk during my science talk was pressing students to work with reasonings
of others. Ex: Agree or Disagree and Why and Who Can Add On

Evidence Nolan: If you have a bigger sled, is that you might go a bit more slower but
you’re guaranteed to be a lot more safer. And with one of those school
sleds, because if you slip a little bit and someone hits you, that’s going to
hurt.
Me: OK, can I ask you a question? So, you said the bigger sled might slow
you down.
Nolan: That’s because there’s more impact on the sled.
 Me: So, in your experience, you’ve had it when it’s slown you down?

Agree or Disagree
(2:20)
Me: Does anyone have a different experience? If your sled’s heavier or
bigger? Has it been different?
Eli: So, over at a park near my house, like the hill is about the exact same
length as our hill (school hill) except our hill is a bit more steep.
Me: OK, so it’s a steeper hill. Right?
Eli: Yeah. It’s a lot more icy in the winter. So, I have a really big sled and it
being big, plus the ice, makes it slide.
Me: So, it slides… Would you say faster or slower?
Eli: I’d say faster.
Me: OK. Ben, what were you thinking?
Ben: I was thinking like the more weight on something, the faster it would
fall.

(3:03)
Me: Right. So usually… I kinda like that connection, that idea, does anyone
have something to add on to that? With what Ben had said? That idea, if
there’s more weight on something, the faster it would fall, the faster it would
move. Does anyone have something to add to that specifically?
Tucker: *Forgot his thought*
Me: Don’t worry, I’ll come back to you if you get that thought again. OK,
Oliver. What were you thinking?
Oliver: Ummm, I’m going to use a waterslide for this example.
Adding On to Classmate
Me: Is it going off of Ben’s idea?
Oliver: Yes.
Me: OK.
Oliver: Umm, so let's say you only have kids. Like…
Me: Only like little kids. Right?
Oliver: Has anybody gone to Kalahari, in Ohio? *classmates raise their
hands that have gone* So umm, let's say Virginia Falls at the Kalahari. So,
if you only had kids you would still go fast but not as fast as if you had like
full adults.
Me: Or if they had all adults. Right?
Oliver: Because like, gravity would like hold it down fast enough.
Me: So it’s kind of like relating back to when Ben said earlier. Right? He
was thinking about gravity and now we’re relating that to weight of an
object. Right? So, if something’s heavier it’s going to have more gravity
against them. Right? Which means it might have more… *motion with my
arms* speed… and more…
Reasoning By asking the class if anyone has had a different experience and if they had
something to add onto their classmates, have helped the class share their
thoughts. They all have different experiences and it helps classmates see
 that others may have a different experience. You can see that it changes
how others respond and view the idea of the topic. The class also had
several points throughout the whole science talk where they had gone off of
a classmate's ideas/thoughts. This promotes students the opportunity to
grow and expand their thoughts while also keeping in mind the ideas that
align with their own and their peers.

Talk Move #2
Component Analysis

Claim A teacher talk move that was effective in promoting productive academic
talk during my science talk was encouraging individual students to share,
expand, and clarify their own thinking. Ex: Partner Talk and Say More

Evidence (9:20)
Me: Why do we sled pretty much, like during the winter only? Why do we
only sled during the winter? Turn and talk with your partner.
(Turn and Talk) *Video cuts*
Me: Let’s hear from Mabel. What were you thinking?
Mabel: Snow, ice, faster, done.
*Say more - Talk Move*
Me: Snow, ice, faster. Okay, I like those points. Can you say more about
that though?
Mabel: Yes. Uhh, because of the snow, well uhh, fluffy snow, it will kind of
sink, if you don’t really do much, uhh like fresh snow. But if it were sled
down a bunch, it’ll pack snow to the point where it is basically ice. So, when
you slide down it, it is much quicker, no brakes, and at that point some
people even build tiny ramps, like the public one. So, you can go like up
and down.
Me: Like hop. Yeah. Okay, nice! Thank you for explaining more about that,
Mabel. I liked that idea.
Reasoning In the video, I incorporated turn and talks every time the video cuts. There
were great discussions that were formed from sharing their thoughts and
ideas with their peers. I really wanted to focus on, “Can you say more?”
because Mabel had given me 3 great points and ideas, but hadn’t
elaborated on them. Asking her to, “say more…” had changed her initial
points to several sentences. She broke down her thoughts in depth and
shared them with the whole class. Even the class was confused in the
video when she quickly shared her initial 3 thoughts. Once I asked her to,
“say more” that allowed the class to understand what she meant.
 Resources (APA)

Schwarz, C., Passmore, C., & Reiser, B. J. (2016). Helping Students Make Sense of the World
Using Next Generation Science and Engineering Practices. NSTA Press.