Analyzing Claims and Supporting Evidence, Modeling with Mathematics

International Association of Great Lakes Research 2017

I attended the International Association of Great Lakes Research conference in Detroit on Wednesday (thanks IL-IN Sea Grant!!). It was awesome.  I'm literally living the dream of a science minded, Great Lakes lovin', life-long learning, teacher, husband, and father.

 I hadn't been to a science research conference since being a senior undergrad in 2005. Whatever subject you teach, I highly encourage you to attend a professional conference in field that you teach. Highlights for me...

 1.) After a 18 minute presentation and 3 main conclusions, an audience member raised their hand and said, "I have about 50 experiments that contradict your 2nd conclusion." Blunt scientists in action. The presenter handled it well, "We'll have to talk more about it out in the hall." let's go nature of science in action.

 2.) Cities in Ontario are starting to charge by the area of their land that is impervious to storm water. This is in contrast to paying for stormwater systems based on property tax assessments. I thought the idea it awesome and would incentivize smarter land use.

 3.) A researcher from Toledo went a bunch of bait shops (80? I think) to do species analysis. However, they paid for the bait with U. of Toledo purchase orders. Therefore, they are going to do the whole experiment again with cash to see if they can find different bait fish.

 4.) I met a NOAA Education program evaluator and learned more about how to work with other adults in their professional development. Gently nudge, talk, converse, nudge, not so much positive reinforcement with teachers (we know that game).

 5.) I made contact with Paris Collingsworth who referred me to Bernie Ingle who will be useful in our Anderson Road Property project to use BMP in hopefully converting land into a local county park. I was also introduced to "Tipping Points Planner" which helps communities in getting sustainability projects going.

 6.) I found a book I want to get my dad for Christmas. It has historical land maps of Michigan with modern roads and towns overlaid from Michigan State University.

 7.) Getting back on the Lake Guardian and confirming the demarcation between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

 8.) Learning about DNA barcoding to determine exactly this species an organism.

 9.) Northern snakehead and grass carp updates as potential future invaders. Northern Snakehead released ceremoniously into Chesapeake watershed?

 10.) The are highly detailed images of the shoreline of the Great Lakes (Great Lakes Oblique Imagery).

 11.) Updates on quagga mussels, round goby. We may by near the peak of quagga? At least we hope to be.

 12.) The Friends of Detroit River have blazed the trail in getting projects funded and completed to restore habitat and improve the watershed in which they live. I need to join the Friends of St. Joseph River.

13.) Tsunami's on the Great Lakes.  What?

14.) Grand Slam at Comerica Park.

Two Growth Mind-Set Activities to Help Motivate All Students and Teach Nature of Science NSTA 2017

If you want to start the year building relationships, engaging in inquiry, planting the seeds of growth mindset, and learning about the nervous system...this is for you!!!

The inspiration for the first set of activities is based on the NPR story Students' View of Intelligence Can Help Grades while the inspiration for the second of activities is based on the research done at four urban high schools by researchers at the Teachers College, Columbia University.

Here is a link to all of the slides.

Here is a link to the science struggle stories lesson plan.

If you have questions, please let me know. Thanks for looking!!!

Setting the Tone of Efficiency and Spaced Practice (Cell Part Chart)

Spaced practice shows greater learning gains than mass practice.  For example, studying six times for ten minutes is more likely to lead to success than studying once for an hour. Therefore, I look for opportunities to get my students spaced practiced at the beginning of the school year.

What does this mean in my classroom?  

I give students a chart of cell parts on the first day of school, that I allow them to work on studying and connecting with on the first day of school.  This provides me with a level of relaxedness because this can be used throughout the beginning of the year whenever the plans for the day may go more quickly than anticipated.  Students can always be reviewing the cell parts for ten minutes at a time with zero downtime at the end of class, which can lead to trouble.  Here is a link to the cell part chart I use.  

This chart forces students to make personal connections to the cell parts and determine the limitations of their connections to those cell parts.  Additionally, students can compare their completion of the cell part chart with other students as a variation on simply reviewing cell parts.

Throughout the year, we review at the beginning and end of class the key concepts and terminology from earlier in the year. Students are told the spaced practice is better, and I remind them why we are reviewing. They become accepting of this and appreciate this habit when finals come along.

CELL ORGANELLES: The Cell has many parts that function together to keep the cell alive.

Name: Block: _____________________________

Cell Part	Structure	Function	Reminds me of...	Justification of Analogy	Limitation of Analogy
Plasma Membrane	Phospholipid Membrane	Controls what comes in and out of the cell.
Cell Wall*	Rigid wall	Protects and Supports cell
Mitochondria (Energy)	Double Membrane sac	Transform Energy for the cell. Burn sugar in respiration. Creates ATP.
Chloroplasts* (Energy)	Double membrane sac	Traps energy from sunlight during photosynthesis to make sugar.
Nucleus (Control)	membrane sac	Controls cell function because it contains the DNA
Nucleolus (Control) (Hon)	Dark site inside nucleus	Makes ribosomes which makes proteins.
Chromosomes/ Chromatin (control)	DNA wound with protein	Organizes Genetic material
DNA (Control)	Long molecules	Holds genetic information for the cell. (recipe for protein)-1
Ribosome (Control/Assembly)	Little ball of RNA and Protein	Makes protein-2
Endoplasmic Reticulum	Highly folded membranes	modifies protein with reactions-3
Golgi Apparatus (packages)	Flattened sac of tubular membranes	Packages proteins-4
Vesicle (Transport),	Little Sac, made of membrane	Carries stuff (usually protein) throughout cell to another cell-5
Enzyme	Specially shaped protein	Helps reactions happen faster, less energy (catalyze reactions)
Vacuole*	membrane sac	Storage (water, glucose) for the cell
Lysosome (recycling)	membrane sac	Contain digestive enzymes, digest worn out cell parts, food, and engulfed virus and bacteria
Cytoskeleton (support)	Tiny rods and filaments	Provides a framework for the cell
Centriole**	Protein tubes	Play a role in division
Cilia	protein hairs	Cell Movement
Flagella	Long protein projection	Cell Movement

BIG Picture

The cell needs to maintain__________________________ in order to survive.  Those cells with the best ______________________ are able to survive more and pass on their traits.  This survival and reproduction of those with the best traits is called ___________________________________.  All of those reactions that a cell does while living are referred to as ____________________________.

My first day of school prep and lesson plan...

I still get nervous for the first day, eleven years in.  I reread a bullet summary of “Teaching With Love and Logic,” say the Prayer of St. Francis, and take many deep breaths.  

I start with a thought out seating chart, placing students based on info gathered from IEP paperwork and previous teacher recommendations to try to set up students with positive experiences in their first day.  I have lab tables in pairs, I try to mix gender and play off of typical awkwardness in the first day.  

Students are expected to complete a notecard of information about themselves as a way for me to engage students while there may be confusion in the first couple of minutes.  I use the app InstaEditor to record images, names, and passions of each student, for my studying to learn quickly.  I know all students names and passions by day two of school.

I go over the norms I've stolen and tweaked from Dr. Kloser and the Trustey STEM teacher fellowship.  Norms: we're in this together, no riding the bench (appropriate cell phone use), in the trust tree (it's okay to be wrong, this is how we grow). I show these as images and post in my room.

I am also using a build a boat engineering activity (student sheet) where students are challenged to save as many threatened organisms by building a flotation device for as many pennies as possible. They have a set amount of supplies and then present their strategies and results.  The key idea is that they would build a better boat because they listened to the results of others.  

I go over basic expectations. Being nice and what that means. Materials for class. The use of productive talk moves. Basic procedures.

I rush in a quick cell parts activity to leave students with a little homework and get adjusted to fact of vocabulary as a necessity.  As the finale, I have students work through a list of materials and they work to determine their rule for what makes something alive through productive classroom discourse.  Additionally, each student gets a bean that they must make travel 2 meters with a box fan set to medium on day two.

The second day includes more discussion about what makes something alive, students designing an experiment testing seed germination in various conditions, and continue work on cellular level background information. Students also test their bean devices for first time, laying the ground work for natural selection and the use of models.

An interpretation of the ISTEP 10 Science from an experienced Indiana biology teacher.

 ECA Biology has now been changed into the ISTEP+ 10 Science test.  There will be two parts.  

ISTEP+ Grade 10 Science PART ONE (Late February-Early March)

Part one will be earlier in the year, over “The Nature of Science” standards.  Here are the Indiana Nature of Science Standards to focus on as “Critical Content” (Standards 1, 3, 8, and 9) …

1.) Develop explanations based on reproducible data and observations gathered during laboratory investigations.

3.) Clearly communicate their ideas and results of investigations verbally and in written form using tables, graphs, diagrams, and photographs.

8.) Explain that the body of scientific knowledge is organized into major theories, which are derived from and supported by the results of many experiments and allow us to make testable predictions.

9.) Recognize that new scientific discoveries often lead to a re-evaulation of previously accepted scientific knowledge and of commonly held ideas.

There are 11 total nature of science standards, only 4 are critical.  Nature of Science standards 2, 4-6, 10-11 are “important content” but not critical.  Standard 7 is only “additional content”.  

Other notes on Part One:

1. PART ONE is an “applied skills (open-ended) assessment.
2. Does not use “High school-level Biology content as context in any nature of science items”

ISTEP + Grade 10 Science PART TWO

Part two of the ISTEP+ 10 Science appears to be “Multiple-Choice and Technology-Enhanced item Assessment.”

Here are the “Critical Content” standards from the biology standards.

B.3.2 Describe how most organisms can combine and recombine the elements contained in sugar molecules into a variety of biologically essential compounds by utilizing the energy from cellular respiration.

B.3.4 Describe how matter cycles through an ecosystem by way of food chains and food webs and how organisms convert that matter into a variety of organic molecules to be used in part in their own cellular structures.

B.4.2 Describe how human activities and natural phenomena can change the flow and of matter and energy in an ecosystem and how those changes impact other species.

B.5.1 Describe the relationship between chromosomes and DNA along with their basic structure and function.

B.5.2 Describe how hereditary information passed from parents to offspring is encoded in the regions of DNA molecules called genes.

B.6.1 Describe the process of mitosis and explain that this process ordinarily results in daughter cells with a genetic make-up identical to the parent cells.

B.6.4 Describe and model the process of meiosis and explain the relationship between the genetic make-up of the parent cell and the daughter cells (i.e., gametes).

B.7.1 Distinguish between dominant and recessive alleles and determine the phenotype that would result from the different possible combinations of alleles in an offspring.

B.7.4 Explain the process by which a cell copies its DNA and identify factors that can damage DNA and cause changes in its nucleotide sequence.

B.8.5 Describe how organisms with beneficial traits are more likely to survive, reproduce, and pass on their genetic information due to genetic variations, environmental forces and reproductive pressures.

Sources:

Overall ISTEP 10 Website http://www.doe.in.gov/assessment/istep-grade-10

ISTEP Science 10 Blueprint http://www.doe.in.gov/sites/default/files/assessment/grade-10-science-blueprint2015-16final.pdf

ISTEP Science Instructional and Assessment Guidance

http://www.doe.in.gov/sites/default/files/assessment/istep-sciencegrade-10instructional-and-assessment-guidance2015-16final-v2.pdf

Field Trip Tips and Tricks

Outdoor field trips, tips and tricks…

This fall I organized two field trips.  The first was 96 early college sophomores, and the second was ~270 9th grades going to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Here are a set of tips to make field trips go more smoothly.  

1. If your trip is a hike, bring a cooler of ice and plastic bags.  I’ve needed the ice the last three field trips. (insect bites, rolled ankles, cactus thrown at the back of a student)  
2. Put a sign on each bus to label the bus.  We took 7 buses and I labeled the buses 1-7 using cardstock on the dashboard to keep kids straight.
3. Call ahead (Obviously?).  But I state it here, because about half of the time, there is another group at the Dunes that didn’t call ahead. Then, they have to deal with our big groups walking through their small group data collection.
4. Give driving directions to every bus driver. We had 7 buses all travel together.  This takes a long time.  
5. Bring apples (or alternative easy/cheap food). Students forget lunches and you have the opportunity to make a difference to hungry students.
6. Plan one trip for the Fall.  There is nothing like a field trip to establish rapport with students.  This rapport pays dividends throughout the rest of the year.  Also, it breaks up the grind between Labor Day and Thanksgiving.
7. Work the bus. Don’t sit in just one spot.  Ask kids about the music they listen to, last field trips, and break up make out sessions.  
8. Provide a folder of necessary information for each teacher going on the trip.
1. The folder can contain…
1. Bus lists for every bus
2. Lists of students who are getting a lunch from the cafeteria
3. Itinerary

9. Put alternative locations on your permission slip.  We once had to turn a group of five buses around because of an unexpected 4 inches of snow.  We couldn’t go somewhere else more local because it wasn’t on the permission slip.  Therefore, we just went right back to school. That sucked.

10. Feel good.  There is a good chance this is the first time some of your students have been where you are taking them.  Getting students out of school is a good thing, this helps them transfer the knowledge they are working on constructing in their brains.

Other Fall highlights to be blogged about later…

1. Field trip to St. Joseph River for data collection.
2. Data collection at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and classroom follow up..
3. Family field trip to Pennsylvania to see Pope Francis.
4. Labs: Enzyme Inquiry, agar cube diffusion, corn seed growth, fly population growth, celery osmosis demonstration, potato homeostasis.