Learning about hydroponics at the 2014 Summer Institute
The KBS K-12 partnership cordially invites you to our fall 2014 workshop! The theme is Co-evolution and Cross-cutting Concepts and will be held on Wednesday, November 12. As usual, the schedule will run from 8 AM to 4 PM.
Below you’ll find our daily agenda (pending) well as details on our plenary sessions and concurrent sessions. Events will continue to update as we develop content. Please rsvp to Sarah at bodbyl@msu.edu if you plan to attend. We look forward to seeing you!
*Agenda Drafts (click to view):
Concurrent Session Abstracts:
Session 1: 9:45am
Effective “talk moves” for helping students explain their ideas: Findings from our analysis of interviews. With Hannah Miller, Wendy Johnson, & Andy Anderson, Terrace Room, All Levels. As part of the Carbon TIME research in 2012-3 we asked each teacher to interview two students because we wanted to identify the range of student ideas about matter and energy in socio-ecological systems. We have learned a lot about students’ ideas from studying these interview transcripts, but we eventually realized that the students weren’t the only interesting people in the interviews! We noticed that even though teachers were using the same interview protocol, some teachers were using techniques during the interviews/teaching that were very effective in eliciting student ideas and making student thinking visible. We have compiled examples from transcripts in which teachers are using “talk moves” that we think are valuable tools for formative assessment. During the session, we will share examples of teacher exchanges with students that we think provide examples of effective methods of questioning. Workshop participants will be given interview transcripts to look for similarly effective talk moves: How do teachers ask questions and follow up after student responses? How do these strategies help students explain their ideas? Our goal is for teachers to leave the session with new strategies for questions and “talk moves” to use with students that will help elicit their ideas that will be helpful in formative assessment.
Not in my stream: The Asian Carp invaders. With Bonnie McGill, Di Liang, & Dani Fegan, Stack 138, Elementary. First, we will introduce students to the concept of food webs and invasive species—we will frame this concept using examples from around the world (including species native to North America that are invasive in other places, like goldenrod). Then we will introduce the Asian Carp, an invasive species that could become a threat to the Great Lakes watershed. Students will color a worksheet that shows an aquatic food web with and without Asian Carp. We will discuss what differences they find and how those differences could have ecological and social effects beyond the scope of the worksheet. Next we will discuss with the students how plants and animals are not static, that is, they can change their strategies to adapt to changes in their environment. To illustrate this point, we will give students a board game they will play in pairs where native species will compete against Asian Carp to get to the “survival” finish line. We will keep track of which species wins among each pair to use as a springboard for discussion of different potential ecological consequences when Asian Carp compete with native species.
Coevolving with crossbills: a tale of two pinecones. With Susan Magnoli, Andy Booms & Brendan O’Neill, Stack 140, MS/HS. Interactions between species can lead to coevolution. Even the interactions we observe in our own back yards, be they predator-prey interactions, species competition, or mutualism, can lead to two species reciprocally affecting each other’s evolution. In this session, we will learn about species interactions that lead to evolutionary arms races, using coevolution between crossbills, lodgepole pines, and red squirrels as an example. The session includes an activity to illustrate coevolution in action and a graphing activity.
Why do species cooperate? A card-based simulation of the ant-acacia mutualism. With Emily Dittmar, Pat Hanly, and Amanda Charbonneau, Stack 141, Late MS/HS. This lesson uses a card game to teach how coevolution can lead to both exploitative and cooperative relationships between species in nature. Using the ant-acacia system as a guiding example, pairs of students will simulate being either ant or acacia populations that are vying for the most resources for reproduction under different environmental conditions. As they play, students will record and graph the proportion of their respective populations that are either exploitative or cooperative to visualize how the traits of their populations are evolving. At the end of the lesson, groups will share the results of their simulations with the class to compare the coevolution of cooperation occurring across populations experiencing different selective pressures.
Session 2: 11:15 NGSS ‘Patterns’
Earth Sciences: Earth, Moon, & Solar System. With Marty Green, Marie Toburen & Russ Stolberg. Stack 138, EL/MS. The purpose of our session is to look at the NGSS cross-cutting concept of patterns and demonstrate how students can learn about patterns in the classroom during the study of Earth Science. Teachers will share sample lessons, activities, and assessments that help students use and make sense of patterns to build understandings.
Life Sciences: From dichotomous keys to finding differences in DNA. With Jill Withey & Elizabeth Bauer. Stack 140, Late EL/HS, with adaptation to MS. Part 1: As kids become aware of the world around them, they begin to sort and categorize and make generalizations about what they see. The purpose of this lesson is to make classification logical. We will look at how a dichotomous key works, practice using various keys, then discuss scenarios where scientists might use this tool. If there is time, we will brainstorm how teachers may apply this in their own districts with available plants/wildlife. Part 2: Transitioning to high school learning, we’ll do two activities which allow students to compare sequences of DNA to identify mutations responsible for changes in mouse coat color and analyze the amino acid data to draw conclusions about common ancestry.
Physics: Is your laptop making you sterile? Modeling waves and energy. With Shaun Davis & Liz Ratashak. Stack 141, MS/HS. Part 1: The objective of this high school lesson is to evaluate the validity and reliability of claims in published materials of the effects that different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation have when absorbed by matter. Part 2: We’ll be looking at middle school NGSS performance expectations regarding waves. Specifically, we will explore ways to use mathematical representations to describe a simple model for waves that includes how the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy.
Session 3: 1:30 PM
Ping Pong, Zombies, and Influenza: Let’s Build a Model! With Anne-Marie Hoskinson & Diane Ebert-May. Terrace Room. MS/HS. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) claim that K-12 students – especially middle- and high-school students – should be able to build models to make explanations and predictions of phenomena. What does it mean to build a scientific model – and can young people really do that in rich, non-trivial ways? This session is designed to give participants a taste of what scientific models are, what they do for our students, and how we can think about teaching this scientific practice. You’ll have a chance to build your own models and brainstorm with colleagues about the many possible applications of models across all the sciences. We will discuss how to find and create substantial, non-trivial scenarios, Then, using a series of fun, accessible, but important scenarios, we will begin to develop a systematic approach to teaching scientific modeling in our science and math classrooms. I will also introduce a professional-learning opportunity tentatively beginning in summer 2015 focused on learning and teaching scientific modeling for MS & HS teachers. You’ll never think about a ping-pong ball or the flu the same way after this workshop!
Not in my stream: The Asian Carp invaders. With Bonnie McGill, Di Liang, & Dani Fegan, Stack 138, Elementary.
Coevolving with crossbills: a tale of two pinecones. With Susan Magnoli, Andy Booms & Brendan O’Neill, Stack 140, MS/HS.
Why do species cooperate? A card-based simulation of the ant-acacia mutualism. With Emily Dittmar, Pat Hanly, and Amanda Charbonneau, Stack 141, Late MS/HS.
Email Sarah Bodbyl (bodbyl@msu.edu) if you would like to be added to this list.
Comstock/STEM: Elizabeth (Emmy) Kimmer, Shirley Gilland, Mary Grintals, Canaan Groff
Delton-Kellogg: Dale Grimes
Galesburg-Augusta:
Gobles: Becky Drayton
Gull Lake: Kari Freling, Laurie Klock, Ashley Carroll, Michelle Mahar, Beth Keller, Matt Hawkins, Blair Rogers, Beth Rhodes, Jennifer Boyle, Kim Clancy
Harper Creek: Thom Shipley, Erik Crooks, Sandy Erwin, Emily Subers, Meredith Hawkins
Hastings: Jill Withey,
Kalamazoo Area Math Science Center: Chris Chopp
Lawton: Marcia Angle
Martin:
Olivet: Terri Morton, Michael Boehmer, Elliot London, Marie Toburen, Charles Bucienski, Russ Stolberg
Parchment: Jodie Lugar-McManus
Plainwell: Lisa Wininger, Jackie Warners, Marty Green
Thornapple-Kellogg: Shaun Davis, Jamie Bowman, Beth Bauer, Luann Schnur
Vicksburg: Lisa Harbour, Liz Ratashak, David Nette
KBS & Staff: Tom Getty, Andy Anderson, Sarah Bodbyl, Dani Fegan, Emily Dittmar, Susan Magnoli, Bonnie McGill, Andy Booms, Brendan O’Neill, Pat Hanly, Di Liang, Amanda Charbonneau, Anne-Marie Hoskinson, Wendy Johnson, Hannah Miller
WMU Evaluation Staff: Bob Ruhf and Eva Ngulo