Science and Engineering Practices

Whether your school district has adopted the Next Generation Science Standards or not, the 8 science and engineering practices outlined in NGSS should not be overlooked.  The NGSS brings together 3 dimensions for teaching and learning science and engineering.  One of these dimensions includes these eight practices.  Teachers should be working towards giving their students opportunities to engage in these practices while learning science and engineering concepts.  It may seem a little overwhelming at first, but these practices are very doable with students as young as kindergarten.

One thing teachers should keep in mind when trying to incorporate the practices into lessons, is that it's just about impossible to include all the practices within one lesson.  The idea behind these practices is to provide students opportunities to engage in the practices over the course of a unit.  For example, in my Space Unit, students may be engaging in analyzing data and performing mathematical computations when investigating the relative distances of planets.  On another day, students may be planning and carrying out investigations when investigating the impact gravity has on different sized objects.  When designing my units or mini units, I try to get to all of the practices, but not necessarily in one lesson.

Of course, some practices are more difficult to implement than others; we all will have our favorites.   Check out the NGSS Appendix F found here to get ideas on how you can provide opportunities for your students to engage in practices that are used by real scientists and engineers.  There's a breakdown included to show teachers how the practices progress from Kindergarten through Grade 12 that I think you will find very useful.

Predict, Observe, Explain; An Effective Teaching Strategy You Should Try!

Through my job of teaching future teachers, I have researched and tested out a variety of effective strategies.  One of the latest is the Predict, Observe, Explain strategy.  Although I have seen literature regarding this strategy for students at the secondary level, I believe elementary students can handle this strategy as well.

Predict, Observe, Explain (POE) in a Nutshell

Predict, Observe, Explain, (POE).  is exactly what you would expect. Basically, students make predictions about what will happen in an experiment, observe the experiment, and then explain what happened and why.  This is especially effective with science demonstrations.   For example, if I want to mix baking soda and vinegar together in a demo, I would ask the students, "What do you think will happen when I mix these together?" Students would then take a few minutes to write down their predictions.  Once everyone has had a chance to predict, discussion can take place where students explain their predictions and their rationale for them.  This can uncover common misconceptions and help teachers direct their questioning appropriately.  Next the teacher conducts the experiment and students observe.  Students can record observations and then think about why the experiment produced certain results.  Finally, students  try to come up with their own scientific explanations. Teachers can then interject where necessary to make sure students have the correct scientific explanation.

In today's classrooms, we don't always have the time or materials for all students to be conducting experiments.  This is a great alternative to make sure they are getting exposed to key scientific concepts.  Predict, Observe, Explain also gives students the opportunities to engage in scientific practices such as engaging in argument, or drawing conclusions.

One of my more recent creations is a set of 10 demonstrations with Predict, Observe, Explain sheets for each one.  Give them a try; you won't regret it!