Daily Archives: June 16, 2009

One of my students decided to bring a surprise and new friend back from Mount Hotham. He packed him in an esky,  put him in a fridge and brought him to school. Here he is!

Many of my students have not seen or felt a snowman, so this was very exciting. They touched him and talked about how cold he was, how solid he was and how long it would take him to melt. Student Question: How long would it take for our snowman to melt? We took photos every hour and recorded  how he changed.

First he lost his arms and an eye and started to shrink. He was still ‘hanging in there’ at 3.30pm when the children had to go home. They said their goodbyes to our snowman and we think he disappeared.

The children discussed a number of science concepts and new language was discovered!

Cheers Nina

‘PrimaryConnections: Linking Science with literacy is an innovative programme linking the teaching of science with the teaching of literacy in primary schools. The programme includes a professional learning component and curriculum units. The PrimaryConnections units span all years of primary school. Topics are drawn from a summary of the curriculum documents of all states and territories. The outcomes are based on the National Scientific Literacy Progress Map. Each unit may be used individually or as part of the full suite of PrimaryConnections materials.’ Source: PrimaryConnections- Department of Education, Science and Training

Primary Connections uses the 5Es teaching and learning model. Students progress through 5 stages within each inquiry- Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate.  

Great resource: Follow link for more information: PrimaryConnections. I think there are 19 topics covered with each book reasonably priced. Cheers Nina

Today was Day 3 of my Primary Science Matters PD. What was memorable?

The Brief: Presentation to group- you could present in any form e.g. song, poem, video, PowerPoint etc… on a lesson, how you reflect, basically ‘something’ related to science teaching and learning.

I chose to create a wiki for our staff to share their science ideas and needs. Having never created a wiki, it was a great opportunity to learn something new with an authentic purpose and a knowledgeable partner. Will it be used? I can’t say yet. Will I create wiki’s for other purposes? – definitely!

The feedback I received was, that before teachers share ideas, they need to be teaching science. Well, I can’t disagree with that! Am I teaching science?-Yes! Are my colleagues teaching science?-Yes! Can we do it better? Yes!  

Wiki address: If you want to have a peak. It’s only in its infancy, so ignore the errors. When I work out how to fix them, I will.  Hmmmm!

 http://primarysciencematters.wikispaces.com/

 The point of this post!

I can enthuse, promote and model science, but if it’s not planned and embedded thoroughly into the curriculum, it will not be sustainable. Planning is the key!

 Discussion notes for wiki:

Purpose: Planning a Cohesive Science Curriculum.

Teaching & Learning Outcomes:
Accountable to the VELS in terms of assessment
Embedding – PYP Scope & Sequence
Awareness of the resources required for future budget considerations
Strategic approach towards implementing a whole school approach to Science teaching through the PYP.
Assessment schedule and protocol
Whole School Science Professional Development
Create a culture of collaborative teaching of science, to impart ownership of the science curriculum to the teachers

School Program Implications:
Explore science in everyday life
Engage boys, and encourage girls by using science as a tool to build interpersonal skills
Science to be ingrained across the school profile
Improved understanding of science concepts and applications
Continual monitoring, though analysing ongoing data including VELS ratings, student perception surveys, PoLT surveys, etc.

Future Directions:
Develop a cohesive science curriculum
Meeting the PYP accreditation standards
Science integrated into all Domains
Teachers to develop their skills, in teaching practice and content knowledge
Raise the profile of science
Develop a resource plan as a part of the whole school budget
Explore the ICT applications

 I would like to thank the presenters (Amanda & Emily) for three enjoyable and ‘awakening’ days.

Where to from here? Not sure yet! Cheers Nina