October+16,+2009+class+notes

Discovery vs. inquiry: With inquiry comes discovery, but discovery doesn't always lead to inquiry How can we use this in class Using driving questions Tying to local contexts: Duane--food webs in the Monroe area ecology is the study of organisms in their environment--not just human impacts You're part of the ecosystem Linda: likes the idea of students getting excited and finding things that they're interested in within the biodiversity project (RSS chapter)--they were so much more involved then Arguing about their evidence Some kids feel like they don't like science because they're not good at it--have a niche for everyone Biology capstone project: kids pick a research topic, conduct a full on experiment, present their findings
 * Discussion of readings:**

Challenges: management, organization, having kids create the useful products to a high standard, etc how do you grade something like that? (assessment?) where do you put the stop point to it?

Duane: 2 students, 1 that was struggling but did a great job on a project because, he says, it was more fun looking for the "right" answer during the interviews--they were trained that way, to look for the "right" definition of science Albert Einstein as the answer to "who is a scientist" one: family member that works at Fred Hutch, science is curing things wants science to be fun and engaging wanted more animals, because they're involved with animals (making it personally involved--things that are important to them)
 * Interviews:**

Nell questions: 1. what is science? 2. who are scientists? 3. how do you use science? 4. What do you like/dislike about science? 5. What should science be like in school? Students want teachers to be more interactive, involve students more, less lecture Likes when real world examples are introduced (dog food example)--putting it in perspective for kids

Linda: chose 1 girl and 1 boy girl: behavior wise she would do her own thing science is finding cures for stuff we're all scientists wants science to be more exciting, wanted material to be related to her life, know why it's important, why are they doing that albert einstein, Bill Nye, teachers as scientists Boy: very involved, participates, but doesn't always get the concepts right away. science is the study of the unknown (germs) he's not a scientist

their opinion doesn't seem to be asked often, they're not used to thinking that way

Where do they do their homework? Is it quiet? What are their other responsibilities? technology access? What can I expect from them? What is their family structure? Extended family? Where do they spend their time (do they split their time between different homes?) neighborhood? What is around them? Do they have friends nearby? Are they isolated? What do they do for fun--if we're relating science to their lives, what do I need to know about their lives that would be relevant? Is there evidence of what they find of interest? (sports trophies, etc) how much time do you spend at home? (but what they do and what they say might be different?) where do they hang around? view what is there, ask them if it matches up to your perception? different cultures--what cultures are they coming from? What's their frame of reference? (religious, peer?) Community gatherings or get-togethers? Family in the area? (it was good to know that Ramadan was going on, that they were leaving at a certain time of day to pray, etc)
 * Home visit:**

Questions: what is the structure? Is it required? Who does it?