Primary Science Exam Prep PDF

Exam Prep Observation and Recording Data Collections 1) Describe what it means to ‘think and work scientifically’. In your response, discuss the importance of evidence...

Exam Prep Observation and Recording Data Collections 1) Describe what it means to ‘think and work scientifically’. In your response, discuss the importance of evidence and describe some of the scientific skills students should develop in an ECE or Primary science classroom. (Week 5) - Thinking scientifically involves using logical reasoning, critical thinking, and systematic problem-solving to understand the natural world. It includes asking questions, making predictions, observing patterns, interpreting data, and drawing conclusions based on evidence. - Working scientifically refers to the practical aspect of science, where students engage in experiments, observations, and data collection to investigate scientific questions. It involves skills such as planning investigations, conducting experiments, analyzing results, and communicating findings. (investigative and elaborate phase) What are some activities to develop thinking and working scientifically? - Inquiry-Based Investigations: Encourage students to ask their own questions about a topic and design simple experiments to find answers. - Hands-On Experiments: Conduct experiments where students can manipulate variables and observe outcomes - Observation and Recording - Data Collections What kind of environment is conducive to working and thinking scientifically? - Student centered - Relevant to students - Engaging hands-on activities - A safe space where students are willing to make mistakes Describe some inquiry activities - Worm farms - Floating ice - Bird watching Write some notes about the importance of teaching investigations: - Scaffolds students regarding the process of finding answers - provides the skills for future problem solving and experimentation to come to reasonable solutions - Allows students to figure out whether a result is reasonable - Hands on, interactive learning process - immersion in terminology Test out findings How does effective questioning support teaching science? List some question starters: helps to recall prior knowledge guides inquiry based learning Encourages critical thinking engages students in the content Checks understanding hypothesis Question starters “What would happen if..?” “describe what you think this is..? “What predictions can we make based on..?” who what when why… Scientific inquiry: Creativity. How does creativity align with thinking and working scientifically? Being able to solve problems and coming up with new ways to do things look at existing problems/phenomenons in new and creative ways. Scientific inquiry promotes critical and creative thinking by encouraging flexibility and open-mindedness as students speculate about their observations of the world and the ability to use and design new processes to achieve this. Allows for innovation  Allows for the exploration of alternative explanations opens up new possibilities 2) Explain the difference between the concepts of scientific literacy and the literacy products of science. In your discussion, provide examples of literacy strategies you would use in science lessons in either the ECE or Primary setting. (Week 3) Scientific Literacy: The use of ‘everyday literacies’ to learn science and the development of the ‘literacies of science’ to learn about, communicate and represent science understandings. It is the overall goal of science education. Literacy Products of Science: Literacies of science are the specific literacy activities required in science- such as report writing, speaking and listening, labelled diagrams, etc. Literacy in Science is not the same as scientific literacy, but the two are interconnected. Literacy in Science: Refers to the literate practices and strategies that enable individuals to understand, synthesise and communicate Science content knowledge It relates to students' reading, viewing, writing, speaking, and listening practices to access, understand, and communicate scientific knowledge. Refers to the tangible outputs of scientific works Scientific literacy refers to: An individual’s understanding of scientific concepts, phenomena, and processes and their ability to apply this knowledge to new and, at times, non-scientific situations (PISA, 2018). Scientific literacy is understanding, engaging with, and applying scientific concepts and processes. It encompasses knowledge of scientific facts and principles and the skills needed to think critically, evaluate evidence, and make informed decisions about scientific issues. A scientifically literate individual can: Understand scientific terminology and concepts. Interpret scientific information from various sources. Analyse and draw conclusions from data. Communicate scientific ideas effectively. Examples: Science Journals Storytelling Graphic organisers Hands-on experience with reporting Role Play Interactive read aloud Group discussions and debates Multimedia presentations To develop scientific literacy, students must first engage in literate practices to develop their understanding of scientific concepts. In another way, improving students’ literacy in science will help them to develop their scientific understanding and scientific inquiry skills, which will increase their scientific literacy. 3) Discuss the attributes of an effective science teacher in primary schools. Outline how you aim to demonstrate these skills when you begin teaching. (Week 9) - Teachers should have an explicit understanding of all the concepts in science. Create learning environments that promote/ support students critical and creative thinking skills. Make lessons that are engaging for the students and align with their interests in science. - Effective teaching in science involves a combination of hands-on activities, contextual connections and relation to real life for students. Creating and supporting engaging and interesting lessons to make sure students absorb as much information as possible. Of course, knowing your students as well. - Connecting science lessons to real-life applications and students personal context to assist them in recognising the importance and impact of scientific knowledge in the world around them. 4) Koch (2010) states that assessment in a constructivist science classroom will focus on exploring “students’ understanding in terms of their ability to make sense of a situation or a problem” (p. 298). State and discuss the characteristics of three (3) assessment methods as they apply to the science learning area, referring to the assessment principles that underpin the WA Curriculum. (Week 6) Characteristics of this strategy: Electronic presentations - graphics, videos, sounds PowerPoint, iMovie Applications to the science learning area: Elaborate or Evaluate Provide graphics for data - graphs/ tables - communicate findings Show understandings in interactive way Reporting process - provide rubric can be integrated in other learning areas Formative Assessment Examples in Science: quizzes, Brainstorms, drawings, Summative Assessment Examples in Science: Test, Investigation, Report, Presentation Performance Assessment Examples in Science: investigation, portfolio, demonstrations, role plays, performing an experiment Assessment Method: Investigation: (Type: performance) Purpose: To assess student understanding and skill development (outlined in the science content) Takes place over multiple lessons - is hands-on and requires multiple components - doing the planning for the investigation, doing the investigation, recording and evaluating the data, making conclusions. Teacher data collection: observational notes and the physical documents marked via a rubric or checklist. Relationship to the WA Curriculum Assessment Principles Assessment Principle Comments 1. Assessment should be an integral part of Teaching and Learning 2. Assessment should be educative 3. Assessment should be fair 4. Assessments should be designed to meet their specified purposes 5. Assessment should lead to informative reporting 6. Assessment should lead to school-wide evaluation processes EXAM question: Continued FOCUS ON THE Method/assessment tool: Diagnostic- example of method to match Summative- example of method to match Formative- example of method to match Alignment with scsa principles Assessment in Science: POINTS TO CONSIDER​ · So important for accountability. Your assessment forms the basis of reporting.​ · Must be done regularly to be authentic​ · It is one of the underlying principles of the Primary Connections program- it is done in each of the 5E’s with a different purpose.​ · ENGAGE- diagnostic assessment (find out what they know)​ o EXPLORE AND EXPLAIN- formative assessment (ongoing assessment)​ o ELABORATE- summative assessment of science inquiry skills (overall)​ o EVALUATE- summative assessment of conceptual understanding​ · Use ACARA Student Portfolio summaries ​ · https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/science/​ and the Judgment Standards from the SCSA site to design assessment tasks suitable to the age group.​  · https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/assessment/judgingstandards - not accessible to all anymore – need login – see the link here and further information.​ THINK ABOUT:​ How will you gather information about student achievement?​ o Observing students​ o Work Samples/ portfolios​ o Conferencing/ discussion​ o Self/ peer assessment​ o Testing​ o Presentations​ How will you record this information?​ o Checklist/ annotated checklist​ o Anecdotal Notes​ o Rubric​ o Video/ audio recording​ 5) Explain the terms ‘ethics’ and ‘values’ as they apply to science education. Discuss some of the ethical considerations that would be relevant to either an ECE or Primary science classroom. (Week 11) Using animals in science Ethics: - The moral principles that guide how society acts - Societal based view - Consider implication of human actions - Complex issues that require responses which take into account ethical consideration, such as human rights, animal rights and environmental issues - Students behave ethically as they explore ethical issues and interactions with each other - Identified in all areas of the curriculum Values: - Beliefs that are important to a person and that influence their behaviour and thoughts (personal-based morals) - Every individual has a set of values through which he looks at all things and also at the world. - most people will never deviate from their values. - guiding principles in one’s life. - ‘Value’ can be defined as a bridge by which an individual makes a decision regarding good and bad, right or wrong, and most important or less important. - Child’s view- often influenced by parents, family, culture & religion - EG primary level- not advised to challenge religious beliefs but as child ages, get them to think about the topic holistically. Ethics refers to principles that guide behavior and decision-making, ensuring that scientific practices and learning activities are conducted with integrity, fairness, and respect for others. Ethical principles help students understand not only the facts of science but also the impact of scientific actions on society and the environment. Ethics in science education involves teaching students about honesty, respect for evidence, and the responsibility to use scientific knowledge for the greater good. Ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. How would you define values? A set of beliefs that individuals have that influence their behaviors, thoughts and how they look at the world. How an individual regards right from wrong, good and bad, important and less important, within their lives. Values, particularly in students, are influenced by the people around them Examples of values include: Equity Ethics Justice Helps students distinguish right from wrong in hopes to build active and informed citizens within areas such as science. E.g., upholding sustainability within science practices Students bring in their own values ‘Value’ can be defined as a bridge by which an individual makes a decision regarding good and bad, right or wrong, and most important or less important. How does this apply to science education? Ethics in science when conducting experiments such as honesty in collecting data and reporting findings Animal testing Students develop the capacity to form and make ethical judgments in relation to experimental science and codes of practice Religious beliefs should be acknowledged/respected without hindering education. Acknowledging that some past experiments and studies are no longer considered ethical (eg. Little Albert) and what could be done now to make the experiment more ethical. Use scientific information to evaluate claims and to inform ethical decisions about a range of social, environmental and personal issues, for example, land use or the treatment of animals. Brainstorm how each of the following issues may be relevant in an ECE/ Primary Classroom. Any other areas? Animals/Living things Look after Country How to care for animals, show them respect Making sure things don't die Death How we talk about it Food chain Impacts of endangered species and its effects on the environment Life cycle Cultural aspects of dealing with death and grieving Religion/ Cultural Differences Consideration for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples culture and lore. Respecting diversity in the classroom Appreciating different cultures Energy Mindful of different approaches to sustainability - coming down to belief systems, affordability Renewable energy - oil and gas bad. Sustainable forms of energy Waste - Sustainable disposal of waste Impact of waste on the environment Recycling 6) Discuss the importance of eliciting prior knowledge before commencing a new topic in science, describing at least two (2) strategies that could be used to probe the students’ understandings. (Week 2) Activating prior knowledge helps students see the connections between previous learning and new instruction, builds on what students already know, provides a framework for learners to better understand new information, gives instructors formative assessment information to adapt instruction, helps teacher itentift misconceptions ​Connecting to past experiences - making it more relevant to the students Understand where the students stand, how much knowledge they already know All students get a revision on what they have previously learnt Don’t cover topics they already know well Strategies Discussions Diagnostic Assessments Questioning/Quiz’s - Concept mapping - Using prior knowledge - - KWL charts