STELLAR

Claudio Vargas B. & Diana VélezJuly 25, 2012

The Nature of Science

•What do you observe?•What do you think is going on here?•What do you see that makes you say that?

Visual Thinking Strategies

•What thinking processes did you use to interpret this image?

Visual Thinking Strategies

•Prior Knowledge•Reasoning•Creativity•Emotion

Visual Thinking Strategies

observation analysis inference

•diagram represents a conceptual model•visually describes a system•helps us understand how the circuit is connected

Conceptual Model

Schematic of two light bulbs and batteries in a series circuit.

•Now, it’s your turn to build a conceptual model.

Conceptual Model

Challenge Question•What do black boxes look like inside?

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Rules for Exploration•The boxes must remain closed.•No drawing on the boxes.

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Collaborative Groups•Work with a partner.•Each pair will investigate one box.

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Record Ideas and Observations

•Draw diagrams•Write descriptions

Record and Present

1. For each pair working with a box, choose one diagram to share.

2. Use the dark pen and large colored Sticky Notes to draw your diagram.

3. Label your diagram with the letter on your box (A, B, C, or D).

Report Ideas and Observations

•Share your drawings with your table group.•What do you notice? •What can you infer?

•Compare your drawings with others who have the same letter.

Consensus

•Collaboration

•Black Box Conferences

•Form groups A, B, C, and D•Work together to reach consensus on a model for your box

• observation• discussion• testing of ideas• evidence

Go to the chart with your corresponding color and letter.

•Black Box Conferences

•Form groups A, B, C, and D•Work together to reach consensus on a model for your box

• observation• discussion• testing of ideas• evidence

•Think-pair-share•What processes did you use to explore and generate a model of the black box?

Science Processes

Science Processes

•observe to gather information.•construct a model based on observations (by drawing).•evaluate how the model works compared to the object.•revise the model, based on new information or feedback.

•How does this activity model the process of science?

•Conceptual model – describes things that can’t be fully observed

The Black Boxes

The Black Box of Science

•Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty — some most unsure, some nearly sure, but none absolutely certain.

- Richard Feynman 

The Black Box of Science

It is the Nature of Science 

•The word science comes from Latin scientia, meaning "knowledge.”

• It’s a body of knowledge – all the discoveries contributed by all peoples throughout the centuries.

What is Science?

“Scientific knowledge is built of facts the way a house is built of bricks:” but…

What is Science?

“…but an accumulation of facts is no more science than a pile of bricks is a house.”

Poincare.

What is Science?

•For Scientists science is more than just bricks - it also refers to a way of pursuing knowledge, not only the knowledge itself.

What is Science?

•Science is a method of finding things out. This method is based on the principle that observation is the judge of whether something is so or is not.

What is Science?

What is Science?

• It involves not only making observations,  but also testing ideas, considering evidence, communicating, and holding on to those ideas that work.

What is Science?

•Science is about building the house

•Students usually get just the bricks

What is Science?

• It is through the process of discovery – how to build that house, how to ask and answer the questions, that our students learn to think and reason.•Science is in our nature: Curiosity•“Play is the work of children”

The Spark for Science

National Research Council (NRC 2002)•Teaching and learning through inquiry promotes deep understanding of science concepts, active communication and high engagement in learning science.

Discovery

•STELLAR has been stellar on this account.

•Discovery

& Language

& Culture

Discovery

• Language is central to shaping our constructions of the world around us. •Words and language are used as a way of trying to make meaning from our experiences, trying out a framework for understanding.

The Connection to Language

• Provides a contextualized environment for learning language structure and functions•Uses language for a meaningful purpose ~ learners engage in authentic communication• Promotes collaboration ~ thinking takes place in communication• Provides meaningful experiences ~ motivation is key in learning

Science & Language

•We use science to understand our world.•We use language and literacy to understand science.

Science & Language & Science

The STELLAR Project:Building the House Together

“You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing -- that's what counts.”

― Richard P. Feynman

  “Education is a progressive discovery of our own

ignorance.”

William James Durant