Makaila Saylor
Wright State University
OH

Mon, Nov 29, 2021 8:56 PM
Vocabulary and NGSS

I enjoyed this article because it connected the dimensions of the NGSS models with vocabulary building skills. I think this is important because it then turns a single content area into a multidisciplinary skill. Learning science vocabulary before the lesson takes place, during, and after must happen in order for students to fully grasp and understand the material. This article covered a PBL, where students grew cucumbers. It covered areas of the 5-E learning model, such as; engaging, explaining, exploring, elaborating and evaluating. It also showed how student engagement was much higher due to it being a hands-on exploration lesson. Students were able to plan, observe, investigate and research through all stages of the project. I think it was also very important that the article higlighted the fact that all schools may not have access to the same materials, which may pose some problems in the implementation portion of this lesson. However, it could be easily modified to serve various purposes.

Mon, Nov 29, 2021 8:45 PM
Community Garden

I really enjoyed this resource because it gave me so many ideas and inspiration for what I want to incorporate into my classroom and science learning content. I currently am student teaching in an urban school district, where science is not part of our core content area. I do plan on sticking in a urban district, and this article showed me just how easy it is to have my students help make their own school garden. The article listed all the steps that it takes to create the garden in a simplified manner. It also included lists of the native and invasive types of plants in certain areas. I use to work at a garden center and already have a pretty firm grasp on these topics. However, this article gave me ideas on how I could have local markets and garden shops donate the materials and plants to use for a local school garden.

Mon, Nov 29, 2021 8:38 PM
Outdoor Learning

I really enjoyed this article because it was relevant to the Outdoor Lesson and Virtual Lesson that we completed and participated in this semester. The article highlighted the importance of scientific inquiry that takes place outside of the classroom in an outdoor space. This provides students with real-life exploration and discovery in a space they are familiar with. It is also important that students have first hand experience with outdoor learning as it is can be easily integrated with other content areas. Some of my most favorite experiences in school were those where we got to go outside to a local nature preserve and talk about the habitat that is there and investigate naturally occurring science phenomena in our own community. This article also highlighted the ability for this to occur in urban settings as well, and how it can bring about community involvement.