We Are All The Same

Sometimes young children over generalize about living things and think that they have the same organs that humans have. This probe called “Pond Water” help understand how elementary childre... See More

Sometimes young children over generalize about living things and think that they have the same organs that humans have. This probe called “Pond Water” help understand how elementary children view microscopic one celled pond organisms. This sort of probe is what the author calls ‘a friendly talk’ probe where students are asked why they selected what they did and sometimes asked to draw what they think they would see if you could look inside a single cell organisms. Once data is compiled then the educator can use this information to decide how best of proceed with instruction to alter the misconceptions into more meaningful truths.

Probing for Understanding Under the Mic

Page Keeley is author of numerous assessment probes and her book chapters can be found in the NLC (NSTA Learning Center). She is also writes a monthly column in the Science and Children jou... See More

Page Keeley is author of numerous assessment probes and her book chapters can be found in the NLC (NSTA Learning Center). She is also writes a monthly column in the Science and Children journal. This article is about her probe for uncovering students’ misconceptions about single-celled organisms. The probe is shared in the column along with detailed explanations of how and why to use it. Ms. Keeley reminds us “if a picture is worth a thousand words, perhaps drawing and visualizing will help science students enhance their learning potential.”