Structures of Life -2

Structures of Life -21/20/11

Unusual Jigsaw PuzzleAs you enter take a piece of the puzzle and begin putting it together.

Opening: Puzzling debriefWhat was unique about the puzzle?

What might be the assumption made when putting it together?

What was the key to finding a solution?

Creativity and breaking through Paradigms of thoughtThe brain isn't divided into compartments. In fact, creativity -- which I define as the process of having original ideas that have value -- more often than not comes about through the interaction of different disciplinary ways of seeing things. Sir Ken RobinsonSo why does the system educate in silos or compartmental subjects? How might this affect our students?

Creative people are curious, flexible, persistent, and independent with a tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play-Henry Matisse French painter 1869-1954

Often times our current way of thinking about teaching and learning is based on how we have been taught. We make assumptions based on past experiences that at times stifle creativity, innovation, and progress in making our teaching better.

What assumptions, (or ways of thinking) might educators make about students, instruction, and learning? How might these assumptions impact how we teach?

The 3 year old perspective Kids will take a chance- If they don't know, they'll have a go. They're not frightened of being wrong. (Look silly, or ridiculed) I don't mean to say that being wrong is the same thing as being creative. What we do know is, if you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original.

And by the time they get to be adults, most kids have lost that capacity. They have become frightened of being wrong. And we run our companies like this, by the way. We stigmatize mistakes. And we're now running national education systems where mistakes are the worst thing you can make. And the result is that we are educating people out of their creative capacities.

Picasso once said this. He said that all children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up. I believe this passionately, that we don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out if it. - Sir Ken RobinsonSo why is this? What do we do that educates students out of a love for learning and creativity?Considering FOSS and STEMHow do we prepare students for a future and world that is undergoing exponential change due to technology?

How do we prepare students for a future when we dont know what it will look like even 5 years from now?

How do we maintain a way of living for our kids that we enjoy today?

How does Inquiry based instruction rooted in learning through experienceaddress these concerns and questions?

Sousa 2006- Where does Inquiry based learning and FOSS land on this continuum?Sir Ken Robinsonwww.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms.html

Changing Paradigms worth viewing-

Agenda Welcome and Introductions

-The puzzling problem and life cycles

- Clip from Sir Ken Robinson Changing Paridigms

Review Investigation 3 Meet the Crayfish and interdisciplinary extensions and Math Notes Science Stories and Language arts-

Looking at student work

Investigation 4 Bess Beetles

Water Module (discussion)

Meet the Crayfish again!

Meet the CrayfishHandling and respect for the living Organisms10 minutes to handle the crayfish and make observationsHave you noticed any interesting parts on your crayfish?How are the Pincers and walking legs different? Alike?The parts you observed are called structures.Use the Crayfish structures sheet to guide the rest of the investigation observations.What are the structures of a crayfish?Discuss observations Crayfish belong to a class of animals called crustaceansRecord content inquiry questions for the students *Crayfish have observable structures likeFind differences among crayfish- Male/femaleWord Banks -Crustaceans- are a class of mostly aquatic animals that have hard, flexible shells, jointed legs, and two pairs of antennae -Bristles-are short hairs on the crayfish that help them sense things in their environmentCarapace is the main body shell of crustaceansCrayfish have small leg like structures under the tail called swimmeretsPincers are the big jointed leg like structures in the front of the crayfish What structures have you observed on the crayfish?Crayfish HabitatWhat do we need to know in order to keep Crayfish in the Classroom? Students record ideas on white boards come back to conference-Feeding: How much how often?-Water: how deep, temperature how often do we change it?-Air? Is an air bubbler necessary?-Space-?Togetherness?The place where an animal lives is called habitat.

Post the Crayfish log chart

What do crayfish need for a Healthy Habitat?-Clean cool water; food from plants and animals and shelter (Science content Inquiry)Word Bank-Habitat, ElodeaFOSS Science Stories: Crayfish,Crawfish, Crawdaddy-Science Stories Section review-Crayfish at HomeObserving Crayfish behavior- see guided handout

What do Crayfish do when something happens to them?

Things that animals do are called behaviorsReview the response sheetCrayfish TerritoryOne 20 minute session5 minute observations for 4 days then a 20 minute session to discuss the observation

Do all Crayfish hide in Houses?Does each Crayfish have its own house?Do two crayfish hide in the same house?How can we find out for sure?

Design an investigation and planHow would we go about answering these questions?Record observations for four daysDid any crayfish establish a territory?How do you know when an animal has established a territory?What other animals behave like crayfish in some ways?Review Interdisciplinary extensionsMaeves Questions about crayfish

What are the pincers for? Will they hurt me?Do crayfish pee and poop?Do they eat cheese sticks?Why dont they close their eyes?Do crayfish sleep?Do they sing? Make noise?Why do the put their pincers up?What happened to its leg?Where do they go when they die? Do crayfish have families?What are the babies like?What does their tail do?How fast can the swim?How do they breathe?What do the antennae do? Bristles?How much do they eat? Have far can they walk? How fast can they walk?And more

Interdisciplinary extensions1. Math Extensions and Math notes strategyLevels of blooms Taxonomy and thinking

2. Literacy- Reading and writing in the content area

3. Home school connections for parents and students

Meet the Bess Beetle

Meet the BESS BeetlePart -1Care and Respect for animalsCollaborative groupsGO GetterStarter/facilitatorRecorder Reporter- Record your observations and be ready to report to conference in 10 minutesQuestions to help observationsHow do they Move?How do they feel on your arm?Do they make sounds?Size?Shape?Body segments?

Bess Beetles are insectsWhat do you know about the structures of insects?

What evidence do we have that bess beetles are a kind of insect?

Teams respond

Insects haveInsects have six legs and antennaeThree body parts: a head, thorax, and abdomen,

In your teams answer the following question:

What do we need to know about bess beetles in order to keep them in our classroom?

Bess Beetle HabitatNatural Habitat of Bess Beetles is rotting logs of hardwood trees. Decaying wood provides both food and shelter for the beetles. (they also like apples for food)They live from Texas to Florida and as far north as Canada.They get moisture and water from damp wood and you will need to spray the wood in the habitat each day. Word Banks and Content InquiryThe Life of Bess Beetles is in the folio section not in the science stories.

Comparing Structures of Beetles and crayfishWhich beetle structures did you find most interesting?Use hand lenses, flashlights (optional) copy of bess beetle observation sheet.Students draw and label the structures Additional questions: -What happens if the beetle encounters a balled up paper towel? Does it climb it?How do beetles respond to light?How do they respond to moving air?How do bess beetles eat?How do they make the sound?

VENN Diagram

Challenge: Identify 5 unique structures for each organism and 5 similarities between the animals.

Last: each structure has one or more functions that help the animal survive in its habitat. A function is how a structure works or how it is used by the animal. How does a crayfish use it pincers?Tail flaps?Antennae?ChallengeChoose three structures of the beetle and imagine how the beetle might use the structure to help it survive in its habitat.

Have your team write 3 structures and its possible functions on your white boards.

Word Bank entries?Content inquiry questions?Student question?Maeves questionsWhat do baby beetles look like?How big do they get?What is there body made of?What do they eat?Where do the live?Are they harmful to other creatures?What do they do with there mouth?How do antennae work? What do they do?Why do they eat apples?Do they like wood better than apples?How fast can they move?Do beetles sing?Why is there shell hard and smooth?Can they Fly? How far? How often?How do they see? How well can they see?Why do beetles have hair? Why do their feet stick to stuff?And more.

The Beetle PullHow strong is a Bess Beetle? Do you think a beetle could pull something equal to its own weight? How can we find out? How many grams can a beetle pull in relation to its own mass? -Go getter-Starter/facilitator-Recorder-ReporterSee guided handoutProject ideas handout In year one you may or may not engage students in a project.

ClosingIn your opinion what was the most beneficial thing we did in our session?How has what you learned today changed your thinking about instruction?What will you go back and directly apply to your classroom? Share any specific feedback for us in making our sessions better