Science in the New Zealand Curriculum
Achievement objectives
Level 4: Making Sense of Planet Earth and Beyond
Students can investigate major factors and patterns associated with the weather, and use given data to predict weather.
Science in the New Zealand Curriculum, page 114
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/science/curriculum/p114_115_e.php
Level 4: Developing Scientific Skills and Attitudes
Processing and interpreting: Students can identify trends and relationships in recorded observations and measurements making links within organised data.
Science in the New Zealand Curriculum, page 46
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/science/curriculum/p44_51_e.php
Level 4: Making Sense of the Nature of Science and its Relationship to Technology
Students can investigate examples of simple technology to clarify some scientific ideas.
Science in the New Zealand Curriculum, page 32
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/science/curriculum/p32_33_e.php
The teacher's intended outcomes were for the students to:
- explain the cause of seasons, using models and evidence
- clarify their own scientific ideas.
The intended outcomes were aligned to the following "big ideas":
- The cause of seasons is due to the tilt of Earth remaining the same as it orbits the Sun.
- Scientists use evidence to justify their theories to others.
A team of teachers planned a unit to teach day/night, seasons, and moon phases. They identified several key basic understandings that underpin these concepts and planned an "initial view" diagnostic task to evaluate the students' understandings. Their responses indicated they needed introductory activities on the relationship of light and shade, understanding models and perspectives of Earth, and the notion of scale.
The teachers used an "investigating with models" approach to teach the concepts of day/night and seasons to the students. They found that an explanation of seasons is very difficult to understand and model, so they got the students to work in groups of 5-6 and use models of planet Earth and globes. The groups used an astronomy planetarium, computer program (Starry Night) to collect and record data and the teachers 'encouraged them to use data to support or refute their explanations for the cause of day/night and seasons.
Teacher-student conversation
Rachel's written explanation shows she needs further supporting evidence, but, in the "modelling" of her written answer, shown in the video clip and in this conversation, Rachel recognises conflicting evidence when clarifying questions are asked.
| Teacher: |
What differences do you notice between the ideas you had at the beginning and the ones you have now (see Rachel's "after" view)? |
| Rachel: |
At first I thought it was the moon that caused the seasons, so that first drawing doesn't have the Sun around in it. Also I didn't know the Earth had a tilted axis. It's the tilted axis that gives us seasons.
|
| Teacher: |
Looking at your final picture, do you think all parts of the Earth have the same seasons?
|
| Rachel: |
No. The parts in the middle, around the equator, aren't tilted much so they get the same amount as sunlight all the time. The two poles get either lots of sun or hardly any. |
To move Rachel to the next learning step the teacher could ask her:
- "Can you use your model to demonstrate what time the sun rises at mid-summer?" (developing and communicating scientific understanding)
- "Can you construct another scientifically acceptable model to provide a fully coherent explanation for the cause of seasons?" (thinking in scientific ways).
The teacher could:
- encourage the class to discuss how useful it is to use models or diagrams in constructing explanations (developing and communicating scientific understanding)
- suggest the class develop models that offer an explanation consistent with the use of evidence in the next science unit (thinking in scientific ways).
Reference
Ministry of Education (1993). Science in the New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.
TKI Science community
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