Monday 14 May 2012

Sea Breeze @ Niwa: Paua Aquaculture

Sea Breeze @ Niwa: Paua Aquaculture: Graeme Moss works closely with the Paua breeding programme. You can't but help notice where his passion is! Once again, being in a watery en...

Sea Breeze @ Niwa: Ocean acidification- a purpose-built experimental ...

Sea Breeze @ Niwa: Ocean acidification- a purpose-built experimental ...: Graeme is at it again! ( I owe this guy a fruit cake!) Here he is explaining about a purpose-built experimental facility for testing Ocean ...

Sea Breeze @ Niwa: Fern Spore

Sea Breeze @ Niwa: Fern Spore: amazing video clip of Fern Spore...showing the release of the spore as the annulus dries

Sunday 13 May 2012

Niwa with Carol and Steve


The day was busy...looking both at Nga Manu and Niwa . plenty of photos and some great science along the way.Good company and a super lunch thanks to Carol.


the collection library and black coral

 mmm!!

gold coral

a sea slater from the ocean depths 7000m deep



brittle starfish

squid

sea snakes...not from our waters


Carol ...our expert scientist....a thing to collect sediment from sea water

things to collect sea water

Hapuku tanks - groper





sea cucumbers...trying to find out if they are any good under mussel or salmon farms as they eat detritus

Paua- growth/ feeding experiments




note the tag which grows into the shell

amazing room ...experimenting with pH in sea water to emulate global warming and what will happen to shells etc
wow what a day !!

Thursday 3 May 2012

NOS and curriculum days 3/4/ may


http://science.education.nih.gov teacher science partnerships

Nature of Science (Bruce & Astall, 2010)

Understanding about Science
Investigating in Science
Communicating in Science
Participating and contributing
Achievement Objectives Level 1 & 2
·         Appreciate that scientists ask questions about our world that lead to investigations and that open-mindedness is important because there may be more than one explanation.
·         Extend their experiences and personal explanations of the natural world through exploration, play, asking questions, and discussing simple models.
·         Build their language and develop their understandings of the many ways the natural world can be represented.
·         Explore and act on issues and questions that link their science learning to their daily living.
Achievement Objectives Level 3 & 4
·         Appreciate that science is a way of explaining the world and that science knowledge changes over time.
·         Identify ways in which scientists work together and provide evidence to support their ideas.
·         Build on prior experiences, working together to share and examine their own and others’ knowledge.
·         Ask questions, find evidence, explore simple models, and carry out appropriate investigations to develop simple explanations.
·         Begin to use a range of scientific symbols, conventions, and vocabulary.
·         Engage with a range of science texts and begin to question the purposes for which these texts are constructed.
·         Use their growing science knowledge when considering issues of concern to them.
·         Explore various aspects of an issue and make decisions about possible actions
This could be…
c   Knowing science knowledge is developed by different people
c   Asking a variety of questions
c   Being prepared to re-evaluate their science ideas
c   Being open-minded
c   Being honest
c   Making careful observations
c   Being aware science knowledge may change over time
c   Understanding that science knowledge is a way of explaining our world
c   Being aware of other cultures
c   Using a variety of investigation methods to provide evidence to support their science ideas
c   Using creative insight to aid explanation
c   Discussing their ideas with others
c   Having your science ideas challenged by other people
c   Understanding that a lot of science knowledge has been built upon over a long time
c   Being curious
c    
c   Being curious
c   Making careful observations
c   Asking questions
c   Exploring their ideas
c   Using a variety of investigative approaches: exploring, classifying and identifying, pattern seeking, fair testing, using models
c   Planning an investigative approach to test out their science idea
c   Gathering evidence to test their science idea
c   Understanding new knowledge generated is often new to the child
c   Developing explanations based on evidence
c   Discussing their ideas with others
c   Being open-minded
c   Thinking critically about their own and others ideas
c   Being honest
c   Using evidence to support their ideas
c   Looking for trends and patterns in data
c   Being creative
c    
c   Using scientific language
c   Building their scientific vocabulary
c   Being honest when communicating
c   Having experience of a range of science text types
c   Making predictions are based upon their existing science knowledge
c   Sharing explanations of experiences and observations
c   Realising science explanations must withstand peer review before being accepted
c   Using a variety of science texts (including symbols, graphs and diagrams) when explaining an idea
c   Questioning the accuracy of science texts (e.g. data, graphs, diagrams) they are using
c   Arguing a point of view
c   Using a variety of media (e.g. oral, visual, text) to explain their ideas
c   Questioning the validity of different science media (e.g. Internet videos, television programmes / adverts, movies)
c   Using the ‘passive’ voice in reporting
c    
c   Being aware of science in their world
c   Discussing issues of concern to them
c   Asking questions as a result of a current event
c   Understanding that investigations could be influenced by their communities
c   Using argument to discuss different viewpoints of an issue 
c   Exploring ways of taking informed action
c   Knowing science interacts with other cultures, globally
c   Being aware of the needs of others
c   Using their science knowledge when considering issues of concern to them
c   Being open-minded when exploring aspects of an issue
c   Making decisions based upon evidence
c   Making responsible choices based on science knowledge
c   Justifying an opinion based on their science knowledge
c   Showing how science interacts within other curriculum areas
c   Realising the relevance of science to their everyday life
c    





We NEED to BE EXPLICIT
 
 






‘It is our view that developing an understanding of the NOS (Nature OF Science) does not come naturally. It is highly unlikely that students and their teachers will come to understand that science is tentative, empirically-based, partly the product of human imagination and creativity, and is influenced by social and cultural factors through learning about the content of science or its processes. This is not to say that these two aspects are not essential to science teaching. The NOS, nevertheless, is equally crucial and deserves to be equally regarded. We believe that a concerted effort on the part of science educators and teachers to explicitly guide learners in their attempts to develop proper understandings of the nature of the scientific enterprise is essential. The notion of explicitness is imperative. It is critical that we target teaching the NOS if the desired impact on learners’ is to be achieved.’
Norman G. Lederman ‘Avoiding De-Natured Science: Activities that Promote Understandings of the Nature of Science’




NOS Unpacking it for children
Building a rocket propelled vehical
Balloon racer- given materials and then design and make- test and refine.
Did you discover anything new? What worked? What didn’t work? Change one thing to make it better. And retest.

A wonder table…what do you want to know? Use post its for wonderings.
Skull/ electronic buzzer track/ feathers/ stones/ insides of an electronis device.

How have we acted like scientists today? Kerri Harrison Eastern Hutt primary School
EDtalks – Inquiry as a disposition
http://science.education.nih.gov- teacher scientist partnerships


The world of a scientist
Critical
Interested in science
Specialist
Simple problems first
Schedule dictated by experiments
Access to resources
Control variables
Ok for experiments to fail


The World of a teacher
Nurturing
Dealing with different levels
Generalists
Can’t fail
Schedule dictated by bells and curricula
Limited resources





Worlds together
Passion for science
Learning environment
Research based
Prepared for the unexpected
Long hours

Science in inquiry


Excite -wondering
Explore- knowledge
Explain- comprehension
Examine- analysis
So what- synthesis and application
Express- evaluation
Space
Authentic learning/ presenting/ linked to other curricula/ drawing to annotate features in the bridge unit
Space what could live in space/ requirements of life/ life I a confined space/ how space is explored/ t(timeline) survival in space/ forces- getting from place to place/ flight/ navigation/ chemical world/





















Tuesday 1 May 2012

May already!

So it is now all about mounting the specimens and getting a presentation format in order. this means clear files and labels, cross checking the specimens against a WELT list and discovering which specimens they need from me. I still need to survey at the lagoon and also one more trip up the North end of Hemi Matenga.This week we have curriculum days in Wellington so am looking forward to catching up with everyone again. Leon is off on holidays so am on my own until he gets back....plenty to do.
One assignment to complete...am nearly there and the results in for assignment 1...all good! Not sure about the second one...a bit more thinking yet .Science leadership and my personality...I need to be sure about those values I espouse.
At Nga Manu last night in the cold and rain, two kiwis were put together and baby sat for the night to make sure there were no fights...i hope it all went well. '
We are also running a name the kiwi competition at school ...ends this week. hopefully there will be some good entries. Well Off to sort my clear files and spreadsheeting so will sign off for now ....no photos today!