Tue, Apr 08, 2014 3:05 PM
Using Physical Science Gadgets & Gizmos
Phenomenon-Based Learning opens with side-by-side notes on pedagogy to both the teacher and the student. The authors describe PBL as K-W-L learning, a modality that has been an effective teaching tool for decades as well as a probe for rooting out student understanding through their presentations of their ideas through their journal/lab writings and their experimental design processes. Application of concepts underpins the authors’ presentation of goals for both the student and the teacher. Regurgitation is not ‘de rigueur!” Fortified with this learning platform, the authors offer gizmos for investigations into the nature of Wave Motion and Sound, Visible Light and Color, Thermodynamics, Air Pressure, Density and Buoyancy, Force, Motion and Energy, and It’s Science Not Magic. The experiences of the authors as presenters of wonderful physical science demonstrations allow them to select gizmos that are readily available in toy or science stores. These gizmos entice the students and offer real-world opportunities to explore the nature of science concepts through PBL learning. This book serves as a ready albeit a short encyclopedia of toys available for teaching science. Each chapter presents specific ways to explore concepts and allows the teacher to take the ideas and fashion lessons to reflect the learning styles of the students. The teacher easily may incorporate safety and various levels of learning into lessons from the material. Constructive learning encompasses this PBL approach quite effectively. This is a worthy purchase for any teacher’s library.