Let Them Be Scientists! by Sara Yeh

Let Them Be Scientists!
Our science classes are transitioning to places where our students have the opportunity to be the scientists. We are grabbing hold of a new way of approaching science education. Let’s do this work together!
We can learn from each other’s successes and struggles during this transition, and become better teachers in the process! My focus this year is on the Science and Engineering Practices for my students. Join me as we work to develop scientifically literate, critically thinking students.
	I wonder, if we plan instruction around the practices, using our content as a necessary tool, will our students flourish as scientists?
Let’s transition our science classes to rooms where our students are the scientists!
	How can we help our students improve their ability to be scientifically literate, critical thinkers? It starts with the Science and Engineering Practices! These are the vehicle to get us there and the DCIs are our map. We have certain stops along the way; places like “Contact Forces” and “Genetic Mutations”, but the Science and Engineering Practices are going to get us to these places. Here is the link to the CA NGSS Framework if you would like to check out your grade: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/sc/cf/scifwprepubversion.asp One strategy that I have found particularly helpful in transitioning my students is called “Inquiry Boards”. Here’s a video showing a teacher using them to introduce experimental design to her students:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RuXjrGrggY These have really helped my kiddos understand how to design fair experiments and then how to analyze their data. In fact, our team changed our start to our year, using this strategy to introduce variables, collecting and analyzing data, adding in resources to our notebooks as we went through each step. This saved us time and materials since our introduction lab was part of our first instructional segment (unit) but allowed us to introduce these concepts and set up our notebooks. NGSS has high expectations, but completely possible if we reflect on small changes we can make in our instruction that can have big impacts on the learning in our rooms. Stay Curious, Sara Yeh