Science Standards and Me

1.     Describe what is meant by Three Dimensional Learning.

Three dimensional learning refers to the main points of practices, cross-cutting concepts ,and disciplinary core ideas. These three ideas overlap and interact with each other. It helps make science more meaningful and applicable rather than just stating facts and information. The idea of pulling the three concepts together is new and helps with application. Cross-cutting concepts has 7 sub categories (cause and effect, structure and function, system and system models, scale, proportion and quantity, stability and change, energy and matter, patterns). The subsections helps students observe and organize what is being studied,  and to help their explanations. The science and engineering practices are what children do to engage in the learning. It motivates and makes them curious. The core ideas (earth and space, engineering technology and applications, physical science and life science) should be used for explanations and arguments. They are revisited through every grade instead of just one grade.

2.     How are the Wisconsin Standards for Science (WSS) connected to other disciplines such as math and literacy?

This is called interdisciplinary learning and is found in every subject. Students are using resources, reading articles and looking at books to understand concepts more. In order to do this, they need to have strong literacy skills. Students are also able to look at work done before them to see what has been found. For example, if students are completing the hot and cold water experiments I completed at the start of this blog, they can read and analyze my data to see what has been done. Science and math also work together all the time. Students need basic math and computation skills to create successful experiments and observations. They also need it to understand the concepts. Looking at the engineering and technology students are doing calculations and math work.

2. Go to the Google Doc: Standards document split up by specific elementary grades instead of grade bands and access the Grade 2 page of the Google Doc and under column D (Performance Indicator) describe something that you have done either in this class or outside of this class, perhaps in previous classes, that indicates that you have met the Performance Indicator. Each of these descriptions should be at least a paragraph long. There are many for the Engineering, Technology, and the Application of Science category, so choose only three of those Performance Indicators for your blog.

SCI.ETS2. A k-2 Science and engineering involve the use of tools to observe and measure things.

In this class, we have sued tools and simulations to observe. This helped me understand elements and chemical compounds can be in different states of matter and have different properties. It also helped me observe both quick and gradual changes. When doing the first activity I used multiple tools such as a timer, thermometer, stovetops and calculators. I was able to observe how fast hot and cold water boiled and froze. I also used a tablespoon to measure out salt to see how fast saltwater boiled.

SCI.ETS1. B K-2  Designs can be conveyed through sketches, drawings or physical models. These representations are useful for communicating problems and solutions to people.

When I was in elementary school we used both physical and computer simulations to observe how land was changed by elements. We had set up sand and rocks together to create a small landform and we would pour different amounts of water on our land to see how it would change. We would also use fans to see how air affected the land. We would use computer simulations and time-lapse videos in later grades to see large changes over time. This helped us understand changes from weather and climate change.

SCI.ETS1.C K-2 Because we all know there is more than one solution to a problem, it is useful to compare test designs.

In elementary school, we would all learn about a concept of the idea and then work to create an experiment to test our ideas. One experiment was creating a small ecosystem using an old soda bottle. There were plants and grass in the top and a small pond with fish in the bottom. Each group was able to decide what they wanted in their ecosystem and how it was going to look. The possible solutions for this experiment were things would grow and be successful or they would not survive the month we ran the experiment. We looked at other groups and discussed their processes. We also got to observe their ecosystems. This helped us see that there is no one way to be successful in this experiment.