What it means to “do science.”
Classroom examples of helping students understand how scientific knowledge is produced.
For students as well as scientists, scientific knowledge is created through engaging in the practices of science. Scientists gather and use evidence skillfully to construct models and theories of the natural world. They communicate their thinking in a community that encourages analysis, debate, and revising of ideas to fit new evidence.
Effective science instruction guides students in generating, evaluating, interpreting and analyzing evidence to determine the merit of claims. Students who experience science as a meaning-making activity deepen their understanding of science ideas. They also come to value the nature and development of scientific knowledge.
1. Participate in online science expeditions (multiple grades)
The Internet offers unique opportunities for students to accompany scientists on their expeditions as well as to access and contribute to data sets. For example, the JASON Project (Operation Monster Storm), allows students and their teachers to participate in real research by interacting with NASA, NOAA, and National Geographic scientists. The core curriculum units, which change each year, last five to nine weeks and are available online. The free web site also includes digital labs, interactive events in which students collaborate with scientists, a digital library and a “Lesson builder” for teacher use. Professional development opportunities for teachers and hard copies of the curriculum are available at a cost.
http://www.jason.org/public/home.aspx
2. Learning about science through the stories of scientists (middle and high school)
It is important for students to learn how scientific understandings have developed over time to counter their tendency to think of science as a body of unchangeable facts. Discovering scientists’ stories—their motivations, ways of thinking, and persistence in overcoming challenges—helps students see beyond images of scientists as intuitive geniuses. Students come to understand the development of key scientific ideas as they learn about the very human beings who contributed to our current world view.
• “Story of Science” award-winning series (first three titles in a planned six-part Smithsonian Books series) by Joy Hakim.
o “The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way” (2004)
o “The Story of Science: Newton at the Center” (2005)
o “The Story of Science: Einstein Adds a New Dimension” (2007)
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Science-Newton-Center/dp/1588341615
• “A Science Odyssey” five-part series produced by WGBH in 1998. This series examines 100 years of scientific discovery. The Web site includes an online “game show” highlighting scientists’ lives and discoveries; an educator’s guide to the series; and interactive activities demonstrating the science and technology highlighted in the series. “A Science Odyssey . . . Short Trips” is a companion three-video set for middle school students that explores core themes in 20th-century science and technology through six, 10-minute video clips.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/
• “Using the History of Science in the Chemistry Classroom”
http://cse.edc.org/products/historyScience/
• “Using the History of Science in the Physics Classroom”
http://cse.edc.org/products/historyPhysics/
Teachers can use these sites to enliven and deepen particular parts of a physical-science curriculum drawing on content from the history of science—the colorful characters, miscues, triumphs, and unlikely sources of inspiration. The site includes brief historical entries describing the contributions and life experiences of individual scientists, links to web sites about those scientists, and a short list of general physics and chemistry history web sources. Unique strategies are presented for integrating the topics on this site into classroom instruction.