We Set the Standards! EXEMPLARS Best of SCIENCE 1997-1999 Exemplars 3-5 Tasks ✏ Exemplars End-of-Year Assessment (3-5): What is Science? Throughout the year, we’ve been working as scientists, and now I’d like to ask you again what your ideas are about science. What does a scientist look like? What does “doing science” look, sound, and feel like? How have your ideas changed over the year? I’d like you to tell, draw, or write your ideas. Then, we’ll talk about how your ideas are the same and how they have changed or been expanded upon. Exemplars TM We Set the Standards! 271 Poker Hill Rd., Underhill, VT 05489 Phone 800-450-4050 End-of-Year Assessment (3-5): What Is Science? - Page 3- Science Exemplars Grade Level 3-5 End-of-Year Assessment (3-5): What is Science? Throughout the year, we’ve been working as scientists, and now I’d like to ask you again what your ideas are about science. What does a scientist look like? What does “doing science” look, sound, and feel like? How have your ideas changed over the year? I’d like you to tell, draw, or write your ideas. Then, we’ll talk about how your ideas are the same and how they have changed or been expanded upon. Big Ideas and Unifying Concept(s) Personal Perspectives about the Nature of Science Habits of Mind Scientific Literacy Time Required for the Task One 30-45 minute session for the task At least one additional session for sharing Context This activity originally appeared as a beginning of the year assessment task. It can be done several times during the year to see how and if perspectives change. If you have already tried this with your students, you may have found that some students limit their perceptions to stereotypes from movies and literature (the “mad” scientist). Others may have a very traditional view (the male rocket scientist); still others draw from personal experiences and describe what science has been for them, as learners. (These may include different areas of science – physics, chemistry, etc.; using a hand lens to gather data; and/or specific prior learning activities they’ve done in science.) The end of the year is a time to see if your students’ views have become more sophisticated with time, teaching, and science experiences. What the Task Accomplishes This is a post-assessment, giving the teacher a view of how students envision science. Do they recall science activities from this year? Do they include use of tools and mathematics? Are they limited in their thinking about what science is? Do students include science process skills and active learning in their drawings and writings? Or do students see science as Exemplars TM We Set the Standards! 271 Poker Hill Rd., Underhill, VT 05489 Phone 800-450-4050 End-of-Year Assessment (3-5) (cont.) - Page 4- Science Exemplars something that is done to them as passive learners? Do drawings show scientists wearing protective gear? Working in teams? Recording data? Raising new questions? Student responses will guide your own reflective process. How the Students Will Respond OPTION #1 Students can draw, write, and/or dictate responses to the questions: “What is science?” or “What does a scientist look like and do?” Cutting and pasting pictures and descriptive words and phrases can also be included. Use the benchmarks and student work samples from the beginning of the year What is Science? tasks to guide your assessment process. OPTION #2 If you have saved your students’ earlier responses as part of their science portfolios, ask your class to reflect on how they have changed/expanded their thinking over the year. They can write or tell about how views have changed or remained the same. Again, use the benchmarks and student work samples from the beginning of the year What is Science? tasks to guide your assessment process. OPTION #3 Share student responses from the benchmarks and student work samples (without the annotations) found in the beginning of the year What is Science? tasks and/or the samples provided in this issue. Ask students to: (a) identify characteristics of “good science” from the pictures viewed; (b) have small groups of students annotate the pictures; or (c) use the pictures to generate ideas for making two lists: “What science IS” and “What science IS NOT”. This could be a class discussion, small group activity, or individual task. Teaching Tips and Guiding Questions After completing responses, ask students to share their ideas. Then guide them to find some of the common threads – both the stereotypes and the perspectives you are attempting to develop in young learners. (See also Concepts to be Assessed section below.) Help them to identify how their thinking has changed. Try to create a class composite of ideas – or even a poem – from their responses. Exemplars TM We Set the Standards! 271 Poker Hill Rd., Underhill, VT 05489 Phone 800-450-4050 End-of-Year Assessment (3-5) (cont.) - Page 5- Science Exemplars Concepts To Be Assessed (Unifying concepts/big ideas and science concepts to be assessed using the Science Exemplars rubric under the criterion: Science Concepts and Related Content) The following general perspectives, values, and attitudes may be seen in student responses. These are stressed in all of the different versions of national standards and should be encouraged and modeled through the year as students “do” science with you. • Inquiry and investigation are at the heart of good science. In order to “do” science, you might have to go and look at a particular environment to see how things behave; you might have to record information (data); and/or you might set up an experiment to test a question (hypothesis). • Scientific Literacy/Science includes learning and understanding many different concepts from: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Design Technology, and Personal Health and Societal Perspectives. • Science is an active process. It involves asking questions, describing objects and events, collecting and organizing data, revising thinking, and communicating ideas. • Males and females can be scientists. Anyone has the ability to raise questions about everyday experiences, make predictions, and test ideas. Curiosity is part of science. • Science involves the use of a “special language” – scientific terms and special tools/ technology to collect precise information. • Scientists construct scientific knowledge over time, adding to and revising what they know when new information is discovered. Honesty in reporting what you have observed (not what you hoped or predicted to see, necessarily) and learned is part of good science. • Scientific Procedures and Reasoning Strategies involve: Observing, Predicting/Hypothesizing, Collecting and recording data, Manipulation of Tools, Measuring, Drawing conclusions, Communicating findings, Challenging misconceptions, and Raising new questions. • Scientists work together to solve problems and raise new questions. Sometimes they do a test again and again to be sure of what they have learned before they draw conclusions. Conclusions are based on data. • Mathematics is part of science. Using numerical data and precise measurements in describing events, answering questions, providing evidence for scientific explanations, and challenging misconceptions can be essential to scientific inquiry. Links to Science Standards Scientific Method: Students/scientists describe, predict, investigate, and explain phenomena. Students control variables. Exemplars TM We Set the Standards! 271 Poker Hill Rd., Underhill, VT 05489 Phone 800-450-4050 End-of-Year Assessment (3-5) (cont.) - Page 6- Science Exemplars Scientific Theory: Students/scientists look for evidence that explains why things happen, and modify explanations when new observations are made. Suggested Materials Student responses can be drawn, written, and/or dictated. Collages and posters are also possible, depending on how the final ideas are displayed. Students may want to first do an individual response for their science portfolio and later collaborate in small or class groups to create posters and/or bulletin boards. Provide sample responses from the beginning of the year What is Science? tasks (without the annotations) and/or some of the samples in this issue. These could be presented to students in a variety of ways: as overhead transparencies; stations in the room; posted on the walls and numbered, etc. Possible Solutions Included with this task, are samples of student work from a Kindergarten class, a 3-4 multi-age class, and a 5-6 multi-age class. General guidelines are below for each of the four assessment levels (Novice, Apprentice, Practitioner, and Expert). Please also refer to the “Concepts to be Assessed” section for more specific indicators. Teachers will gain insight into what science experiences have been most meaningful to their students from their responses. These responses can also be classified to point out different fields of science (physics, chemistry, etc.). Rubric and Benchmarks Novice Generally, the students’ responses are incomplete, lacking in detail, and/or show no evidence of understanding what science or a scientist is. Try interviewing any student who has difficulty putting ideas on paper. By sixth grade, no student should be at the Novice level. Apprentice The students attempt to describe what science/scientists look like through stereotypes. Most common are the “mad” scientists from movies and literature and the more traditional “white male in a lab coat” view. Often, there is some correctness in the response, but it is usually a persona that a student cannot identify with. Students “doing” science need to see themselves Exemplars TM We Set the Standards! 271 Poker Hill Rd., Underhill, VT 05489 Phone 800-450-4050 End-of-Year Assessment (3-5) (cont.) - Page 7- Science Exemplars as scientists, just as emerging writers need to publish work as writers do. By sixth grade, no student should be at the Apprentice level. Practitioner These students’ solutions often build upon prior knowledge and experience about the nature of science that they have engaged in. They may show science as testing a design, using tools (usually a hand lens or microscope), collecting and recording data (usually on a clipboard or chart), or going outside to observe something. Although the ideas may not be fully developed, they generally reflect that both sexes can be scientists and that it is an active process. Some science vocabulary should be used in the response. At all grade levels, if students have been engaged in active, hands-on/minds-on science, you should see evidence of it. Expert These students’ descriptions are more complete and detailed. Measurements and specialized tools are often shown. If a life cycle is being studied, then all parts of the life cycle are shown; if an environment is studied, then many aspects – living and non-living are included. Written responses might discuss new questions raised as a result of one idea tested. Often a hypothesis or testable question will be included along with a procedure (experiment or field study). Extensive science vocabulary should be used in the response. Students may also cite examples of actual scientists studied and what they researched or discovered. At the Expert level, this should be more than simply a recall of facts, but demonstrate genuine understanding of how the scientist’s work impacted society. Exemplars TM We Set the Standards! 271 Poker Hill Rd., Underhill, VT 05489 Phone 800-450-4050 End-of-Year Assessment (3-5) (cont.) - Page 8- Science Exemplars Sample 1 This student’s view of science includes: Drawing on experiences and Using tools. The view is correct though narrow. Sample 2 This drawing shows one aspect – invention – but makes no real conceptual links to science. Exemplars TM We Set the Standards! 271 Poker Hill Rd., Underhill, VT 05489 Phone 800-450-4050 End-of-Year Assessment (3-5) (cont.) - Page 9- Science Exemplars Sample 3 One aspect of science is depicted and is somewhat stereotypical. No tools are shown. Sample 4 Three aspects of science are depicted (astronomy, oceanography, and environmental). Environments shown in context of possible study. Exemplars TM We Set the Standards! 271 Poker Hill Rd., Underhill, VT 05489 Phone 800-450-4050 End-of-Year Assessment (3-5) (cont.) - Page 10- Science Exemplars Sample 5 A limited view of science is portrayed. One aspect is shown. A tool (microscope) is included but has no real purpose. Sample 6 Many aspects of science are depicted. Science terms are used appropriately. Data is recorded to write a report. Exemplars TM We Set the Standards! 271 Poker Hill Rd., Underhill, VT 05489 Phone 800-450-4050 End-of-Year Assessment (3-5) (cont.) - Page 11- Science
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