Visualizing Growth:
Changing the Way We Teach Science
| Series
Information |
Curricular
Areas:
Science |
| Length: 10/30-Minute Programs
CC |
Grade Levels:
Professional Development
|
| Web
Resources |
Video
On Demand |
|
Follow the professional development of elementary teachers
who have partnered with curators at a local science museum, and go exploring
with them in the field. Then visit the classrooms where teachers share
this new way of learning science with their students, encouraging their
curiosity about the natural world as a springboard to scientific inquiry.
Embedded in each story are important issues of science teaching, such
as assessment and helping students develop inquiry skills.
Episode Descriptions
1. Introduction
This short sampler offers a comprehensive overview of Visualizing Growth
with clips from the library and ideas for forming local partnerships.
2. Can A Worm Lift an Elephant?: Building Science Confidence
Third-grade teacher Delores Dahn works with a museum curator to better
understand physical science, giving her the confidence to present simple
machines to her special needs students. A field trip to a local construction
company provides students with a valuable connection between school and
the outside world, and allows Delores to assess her students’ understanding.
3. Finding Patterns From the Past: Developing Inquiry Skills
An archaeologist introduces a group of teachers to the proper techniques
used at an excavation. As a way of understanding the meaning of artifacts
and the patterns they create, the group travels to a reconstructed Indian
village. In a sixth-grade classroom, Wayne Smith and his students observe,
record, and analyze data gathered on a neighborhood field survey. Students
conduct research to answer questions about their community and its past.
4. Ducks Can Fly?: Bringing the Field to the Classroom
Teachers use their own fieldwork to provide authentic field experiences
for their students. After traveling to a gull colony with a curator, first-grade
teacher Carol Stewart takes her students to a nearby duck pond. Students
observe and explore this natural setting, gathering information for continued
exploration in the classroom.
5. Click, Buzz, Whirr! Insects Are Everywhere: Forming New Partnerships
An entomologist shares his knowledge of insects with teachers, as well
as his enthusiasm and respect for living things. Teachers Donna Kellum
(first grade) and Carm Perri (fifth grade), along with their students,
collect and observe insects at a local park, while others conduct fly-trapping
experiments in the classroom. Finally, teachers and the entomologist discuss
the outcome of their lessons and share ideas to improve them.
6. Planting the Seeds for Teacher Growth: Cultivating Reflective Partnerships
This program explores the relationships formed when museums partner with
schools, and when teachers partner with other teachers. Mentor and kindergarten
teacher Margaret Somerville and third-grade teacher Kathy Casalinuvo work
with a botanist at a local nature preserve. The two teachers learn from
each other as they build a mutual support system, with self-reflection
playing an important role.
7. Stepping Stones to Inquiry: Learning From a Collection
With a museum geologist, Marianne Rotolo and Ruth Major, third and fifth
grade teachers at the same school, use fossils as the basis for learning
through inquiry. Students collect fossils and work together to categorize,
identify, and assemble their collections, together they visit a museum
to seek answers to their questions.
8. Seasons Don’t Go Backwards: Assessing Student Learning
A team of elementary teachers are committed to sharing and developing
their ideas through collaborative planning and teaching. They struggle
to find new ways to improve student learning as they work with new materials
and teaching methods. On-going assessment of student learning leads them
to expertise found at the local science museum.
9. A Garden in the City: Unifying the School Community
Preschool teacher Judy Fix works with parents, colleagues, and the community
to build an outdoor learning center. Judy uses her schoolyard laboratory
for student exploration and the study of ecology. Over the course of a
year, Judy’s growth as a teacher parallels that of her students and
the garden is used as an educational resource by more teachers.
10. Building a Better Learning Community: Systemic Change—A Closer
Look
The Buffalo, New York, educational community wants to move toward more
interactive, inquiry-based learning. Project TEAM (Teacher Education at
the Museum) was developed at the science museum to foster new partnerships
within and beyond the school system. This documentary talks about the
program’s accomplishments and the challenges it still faces.
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