STEPS to STEM STEPS to STEM A Science Curriculum Supplement for Upper Elementary and Middle School Grades – Teacher’s Edition Aaron D. Isabelle and Gilbert A. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: 978-94-6300-789-4 (paperback) ISBN: 978-94-6300-790-0 (hardback) ISBN: 978-94-6300-791-7 (e-book) Published by: Sense Publishers, P.
Box 21858, 3001 AW Rotterdam, The Netherlands https://www.com/ Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved © 2017 Sense Publishers No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. TABLE OF CONTENTS Prefaceix Introductionxi Chapter 1: Electricity & Magnetism 1 Step 1: Series Circuits 1 Step 2: Parallel Circuits 4 Step 3: Electricity and Heat 7 STEM Center 1.1 10 Science & Engineering Practices 13 Step 4: Static Electricity 14 Step 5: Electromagnetic Poles 17 Step 6: How Steady is Your Hand? 20 STEM Center 1.2 22 Science & Engineering Practices 25 Step 7: Charged Balloons 26 Step 8: Making Magnets 29 Step 9: Magnetism and Electricity 33 STEM Center 1.3 36 Science & Engineering Practices 39 Chapter 2: Air & Flight 41 Step 1: Air Pressure 41 Step 2: Out Goes the Candle 44 Step 3: Pop! 46 STEM Center 2.1 48 Science & Engineering Practices 51 Step 4: Which Way? 52 Step 5: Particles in the Air 55 Step 6: Propeller Flights 58 STEM Center 2.2 60 Science & Engineering Practices 63 Step 7: Oxygen and Burning 64 Step 8: Control of Flight 68 Step 9: Air in Your Lungs 72 STEM Center 2.3 75 Science & Engineering Practices 78 Chapter 3: Water & Weather 79 Step 1: Water to the Rescue 79 Step 2: Ice Cubes 81 Step 3: Measuring Rainfall 84 STEM Center 3.1 86 Science & Engineering Practices 89 Step 4: A Bathysphere 90 Step 5: Crystal Shapes 92 Step 6: Candy Wrapper Hygrometer 95 v TABLE OF CONTENTS STEM Center 3.2 97 Science & Engineering Practices 100 Step 7: Hard and Soft Water 101 Step 8: Water and Weight 104 Step 9: Water Finds Its Level 107 STEM Center 3.3 110 Science & Engineering Practices 113 Chapter 4: Plants & Animals 115 Step 1: Pollen Grains 115 Step 2: Mealworms 118 Step 3: Leaf Vein Patterns 121 STEM Center 4.1 123 Science & Engineering Practices 126 Step 4: Root Hairs 127 Step 5: Growing Molds 129 Step 6: Hatching Brine Shrimp 133 STEM Center 4.2 135 Science & Engineering Practices 138 Step 7: Salt and Cells 139 Step 8: Moth or Butterfly? 141 Step 9: Collecting and Preserving Flowers 144 STEM Center 4.3 146 Science & Engineering Practices 149 Chapter 5: Earth & Space 151 Step 1: The Good Earth 151 Step 2: Surface Changes 154 Step 3: The Earth’s Shape 157 STEM Center 5.1 160 Science & Engineering Practices 163 Step 4: Sunlight and Heat 164 Step 5: Limestone and Shale 167 Step 6: Satellites in Orbit 169 STEM Center 5.2 172 Science & Engineering Practices 175 Step 7: Star Sighting 176 Step 8: Mineral Streak Test 179 Step 9: A Simple Telescope 181 STEM Center 5.3 183 Science & Engineering Practices 186 Chapter 6: Matter & Motion 187 Step 1: Molecules in Motion 187 Step 2: Objects at Rest 190 Step 3: A Balancing Act 192 STEM Center 6.1 195 Science & Engineering Practices 198 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Step 4: Testing for Starch 199 Step 5: Gears 202 Step 6: Roll Back 204 STEM Center 6.2 207 Science & Engineering Practices 210 Step 7: Finding the Center 211 Step 8: Vinegar and Calcium 214 Step 9: Transfer of Energy 217 STEM Center 6.3 220 Science & Engineering Practices 223 Chapter 7: Light & Sound 225 Step 1: Vibrations and Sound 225 Step 2: Watch the Rebound 227 Step 3: Canned Sounds 230 STEM Center 7.1 233 Science & Engineering Practices 236 Step 4: Speed of Vibrations 237 Step 5: Seeing 240 Step 6: Up Periscope 242 STEM Center 7.2 245 Science & Engineering Practices 248 Step 7: Light and Water 249 Step 8: Groovy Sounds 251 Step 9: A Kaleidoscope 254 STEM Center 7.3 257 Science & Engineering Practices 260 Conclusion261 vii PREFACE A science program that ignores process skills development is like a reading program that ignores the basics of reading and writing. – Colvill & Pattie Welcome to STEPS (Science Tasks Enhance Process Skills) to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), an inquiry-based science curriculum supplement focused on the development of students’ science process skills and problem- solving skills. This program has been created in response to the high-stakes testing environment in schools across the United States in which there has been a departure and de-emphasis on science instruction.
We specifically designed this science program to allow your students to learn key science concepts while gaining experience with the basic science process skills through “structured inquiry” STEP activities. Furthermore, with the increased emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) experiences as illustrated in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) (Lead States, 2013), students not only need to have a strong foundational understanding of the “big ideas” in science, but also need to be expert critical thinkers and problem solvers prior to the high school years. STEPS to STEM will provide your students with these valuable and essential experiences in science. The vast majority of inquiry-based science curricula used in Elementary and Middle Schools are referred to as “skills- based” curricula.
Science process skills or abilities reflective of the behavior of scientists and engineers (e. observing, inferring, predicting, measuring, etc.) are used while students are engaged in the active exploration of science concepts. The use of science process skills and the learning of science concepts become inseparable when a skills-based curriculum is implemented. Colvill & Pattie (2002) state that a “skills-based” science program is necessary if teachers base their lessons on problem-solving or inquiry-based learning experiences; “nothing can be more frustrating in a problem-solving program if the work is held up by a lack of skill in the basic processes” (pp.
Problem-solving activities require scientific reasoning and critical thinking abilities which, in-turn, require proper use of the basic science process skills. Therefore, teachers must not take for granted that students have adequately developed these skills; rather, “we must be deliberate in how we instruct students and encourage their development of these skills” (Froschauer, 2010, p. Providing students with a wide range of meaningful, hands-on science experiences to develop their process skills should be a primary objective for all science teachers. Accordingly, STEPS to STEM has been specifically designed to nurture the use of the science process skills while students actively participate in meaningful and engaging science activities.
Throughout the program, students Investigate everyday materials, develop Hypotheses, and then Test their ideas related to a particular science concept; this occurs in STEP 1 (Investigate–Hypothesize-Test). In STEP 2, students extend their learning from STEP 1 when they Observe a new but related set of materials, Record ideas, and then make a Prediction (Observe-Record-Predict). In STEP 3 students Gather additional everyday materials to Make an experimental set-up which will allow them to Try out their ideas (Gather-Make-Try) (Note: meaningful connections to Mathematics are commonly made during the STEPS either using measurement or mathematical calculations). Lastly, students are ready to engage in a STEM Center where they will be more fully focused on problem-solving and/or engineering practices; students extend what they learned in the previous STEPS by focusing on a problem to solve (i.
Students first conduct Research using Technology to gain more background information and facts about the problem (as well as information about scientists/inventors who worked on a similar problem); work together to devise a Plan to solve the problem (Note: this will include discussion, preliminary designs, sketches, or building models); and then try to Solve the problem by testing their design/solution. This sequence can certainly be followed by re-design and re-testing if necessary. This three-phase format of the program will help your students develop a genuine understanding of each science concept while nurturing their process skills and problem-solving abilities. Students will learn to think and act not only like scientists, but also like engineers.
STEPS to STEM combines both “structured” and “guided” experiences for your students. After a set of “structured” STEP activities is completed (which will help students learn prerequisite content knowledge and skills), your students will be engaged in STEM Centers which are “guided” problem-solving experiences. These center-based experiences focused on a problem will allow your students to not only practice and refine their problem-solving skills, but also explore their own ideas while thinking/acting like engineers. Using a STEM Center approach, you will be able to actively support and assess students’ understanding and use of science and engineering skills, while nurturing students’ problem-solving abilities.
This, in-turn, will help to inform you about your students’ readiness to advance to the next science concept in your curriculum. ix PREFACE Lastly, students are asked to identify which NGSS Science & Engineering Practices were utilized during the problem- solving process. This type of self-reflection will further emphasize that the students are using key practices that reflect the behavior of both scientists and engineers. We firmly believe that quality science instruction, characterized by building process skills in the context of learning big ideas in science, is critical for students’ academic development.
On the one hand, the use of process skills is not limited to science; rather they will assist students in all academic areas. On the other hand, we live in a highly technological, democratic society which demands that individuals be independent, critical thinkers who are able to make good decisions while working collaboratively with others. As stated by White & Harrison (2012), these skills are not confined to the science classroom, but can be learned and used in other disciplines, as well as transferred to real-world situations; they serve as the foundation for helping students to become effective and responsible citizens capable of making informed decisions on a variety of important issues. Therefore, teachers need to make it a top priority to nurture the development of these practices—not just in the science classroom, but across the curriculum.
STEPS to STEM will help you to prepare your students for the real-world by first stimulating their interest and curiosity about the world around them. Once students realize that science (and engineering) is all around them, you will have taken the first step to help them develop into life- long learners, a fundamental disposition for success in our global and highly technology society. Science skills: The building blocks for scientific literacy (Part 1). Editor’s note: Inquiry—process skills.
National Research Council. A framework for K–12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. NGSS Lead States.
Next Generation Science Standards: For states, by states. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. UK school students’ attitudes towards science and potential science-based careers. Acta Didactica Napocensia, 5(4), 1–10.
x INTRODUCTION Teacher’s Guide for STEPS to STEM The learning experiences in STEPS to STEM are specifically designed to stimulate the interest of your students and enable them to explore specific areas of science at their own pace. Each activity provides opportunities for the students to develop the skills of observation and an understanding of the basic science process skills characteristic of how scientists think and act. Through these activities, students gain experience in manipulating materials, observing changes, measuring objects, recording results, predicting effects, inferring causes, and communicating ideas. Once students have completed a set of three (3) STEPS focused on a “big idea” in science, students are ready to collaborate using an STEM Center Approach.
STEM Centers provide students with the opportunity for extended investigations focused on a single problem.