Madison Niemiec's Elementary Science Methods Blog

What did you learn this week? This week I learned the difference between phenotype and genotype. Also, I gained much more understanding about what the difference between DNA and RNA is. Before this past lab, I knew that they were different, but now I am able to clearly define each and I know how to distinguish the nitrogen based pairings as well. Additionally, I learned a lot more about how chromosomes make up the genome and DNA makes up the chromosomes so making those connections to bridge my learning was awesome! How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future? I can apply my learning to future activities that I want to use with my students. I think that the interactive activities of building the double helix and the build your own baby face are activities that young students would really enjoy. I want to use these activities in my classroom because it puts the concepts of DNA its structures, genes and probability all in one lesson! What are new or remaining ...

What did you learn this week?      I learned a lot more facts about turtles specifically in lab this week. I did not know how low survival rates were, or that raccoons or cats hunted turtles. I think that is so interesting. I knew that humans rate of creating plastic was harming turtles, but I learned that we endanger them so much by driving as well when turtles get stuck in the tire tracks. Also, it is hard to believe that only 1 in 1000 turtles survive. Also, I liked learning more about bees and how they pollinate. That experiment kind of grossed me out, but it was interesting to see how the pollen sticks to the bees and then moves to the next flower so that it can make seeds. Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew?     I am able to relate what I learned to all that I have researched about how to protect our oceans and wildlife. I am an avid recycler, use recyclable bags, cut my plastic before throwing it away, and avoid using plastic...

  What did you learn this week? This week our lab was on zoom and I learned more in depth what the 5E model looks like and how each function. In our breakout room's we all went over the phases of each E phase and also created a table (pictured above about the teacher role and student role). I was able to expand my perspective and find more examples of what each phase is from my peer's presentations and also from collaborating with my group to create a clear definition. Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew? I was able to relate my prior knowledge on the NGSS structure and apply it to the 5E modeling. I think both at their core want students to do more than memorize their science facts and actually experience and work through their new knowledge in a hands-on manner. I was able to relate how well these work together.  Which parts did you find clear and which were confusing? I found that it was confusing to understand the main ideas of each group's ...

 

       This week in lab I learned and got clarification more so on how similar the life cycle is for different insects: beetles, mealworms, and butterflies. I think that as a learner I tend to overthink life science processes, but today I was able to simplify those and feel much more confident of all that I have learned in the past. Also, when we focused on the different parts of the mealworm I did not know how complex and how many parts each bug consists of! It was much more complicated than I thought, but it makes sense!     After our lentil seed beginning last week our group's did not grow very much, and we planted another plant today. I think that by my past knowledge my group mates and I were able to determine that a couple factors that could have affected our slow growing plant could be seed quality, amount of seeds planted, and the amount of water given to the plant. With out prior knowledge we were able to figure this out, and added more water to it...

       This week in lab I was able to relate my past elementary school knowledge of living things and nonliving things to my more advanced knowledge today. I was able to remember what constituted a living thing as living because it has cells. However, today in class, it is even more clear why a living thing is constituted as it is. It was a great refresh to go over the characteristics of living things and really understand why these are so important. Also, I think that our debate using the argumentation was a great refresh on the three parts of it. I remembered so vividly from school-age but it was good to get a fresh foundation! Today in lab we made an Anchor Chart of the characteristics of living things. I want to incorporate Anchor Charts for my students for science subjects throughout the year because I think that these show the foundations of what the topic is each unit/theme. I think that with the help of words and pictures - ideas become much more clear and le...

  1. This week in Lab I learned and was reminded of the difference between how we learn science, and topics that this is applied to. We went over how to learn science like experiential learning, researching, inquiry, modeling, and more! Then I realized learning topics like weather, biology patterns, the life cycle are all topics that can be learned through the "how"! 2. A part of Lab today that I found confusing are the different components of NGSS and the performance expectations, three dimensions and what all the different coding means. I did not know what NGSS was until today, so I have a lot of learning to do when it comes to all of the different aspects of this resource. 3. Today, I learned and was inspired by Dr. You and my peers to continue to learn and have a new mindset on science to keep learning and allowing my students to express their learning in different ways. I learned a lot about modeling today and inquiry going hand in hand to work together for science. I wa...