Science Notebooking

1. Science Notebooking Lisa Kelien Kelly Schroder lkelien@dorchester2.k12.sc.us kschroder@dorchester2.k12.sc.us Fort Dorchester Elementary School Elementary Science Interventionist

2. Mission and Vision Mission: Dorchester School District Two leading the way, every student, every day, through relationships, rigor, and relevance. Vision: Dorchester School District Two desires to be recognized as a “World Class” school district, expecting each student to achieve at his/her optimum level in all areas, and providing all members of our district family with an environment that permits them to do their personal best.

3. Scientific Notebooking • Share examples from classrooms • Purpose- What is the purpose of the notebook? • Ideas- What worked well? • How have you used notebooks in the past? • With the unbelievable time constraints, were you able to use your notebooks as a place for reflection?

4. Students develop their metacognitive ability when studying science. They do this by accessing prior science content knowledge, using science process skills, and applying reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills to learn content.

5. Initially, science notebooks often take the form of narrative or procedural recounts. • Student science notebooks have the potential to move students beyond completing the task, to making sense of the task. (Klentschy,2008) • Instead of students simply writing what was done during the investigation, they write about what was learned.

6. Research Shows: • Processes of guided inquiry, reflection, and generalization develops students’ metacognitive knowledge. • Writing is an important tool that transforms claims and evidence into knowledge that is more structured and coherent. • Writing helps strengthen the retention of science learning over time.

7. Developing Scientific Literacy • forming scientific explanations from data (linking claims to the evidence) • analyzing various types of scientific data • forming conclusions based upon relevant evidence

8. Science Notebooks • student’s personal record, an extension of their mental activities, and a place to store personally valued information • should contain drawings, tables, or graphs that are essential in forming meaning from their science experience • more than a record of data that students collect, facts they learn, and procedures they conduct

9. Science Notebooks (con’t) • a record of students’ reflections, questions, speculations, decisions, and conclusions all focused on the science phenomena • a central place where language, data, and experience operate jointly to form meaning for the student

10. Different Approaches • Composition books • Lab books • Blank or lined sheets of paper stapled together with homemade covers • Spiral notebooks • Loose-leaf binders

11. Primary • class or group science notebooks may be created for a unit of study • cutting out covers in the shape of the unit of study (round for moon, sun, etc.) • students as early as Kindergarten should be encouraged to keep a record of science investigations (Even if they are drawings only decipherable to the student )

12. Essential Components of a Science Notebook (all components may not be applicable for all lessons) • Question, Problem, Purpose • Prediction • Developing a Plan • Observations, Data, Charts, Graphs, Drawings, and Illustrations • Drawing Conclusions • Reflection *Next Steps, New Questions

13. Questions • Starting point for science investigations- Engage – create interest and generate curiosity in the topic. • Formulating questions form the basis for high quality instruction in science. • Effective questioning has strong connection to cognitive theory. • Students need to be able to create and test investigable questions (to create “fair tests”) • Eventually, students should write questions in their own words.

14. Questions (cont.) • Classroom science investigations usually begin with students being given a problem or situation to resolve. • From this problem, the teacher guides the students with prompts such as: • What is our problem? • What do we want to find out?

15. Questions • Should not be able to be answered with yes or no • “Why” questions are difficult for elementary students to answer. • “How, What, or Which” questions should be used instead. • Teachers should encourage students to use prompts like: • *How much longer is _____than____? • *How are ___and_____the same? • *Which object is the heaviest? • *What would happen to ______if we_____? *What do I want to find out? *What is our problem? *How many ……..? *How long ……….? *How often………..?

16. Questions • Prompts can be removed gradually as students gain practice creating their own questions.

17. Predictions • Conditional statement made by the student that focuses on what they think will happen as a result of conducting the investigation. • Students must be guided to state not only what they think will happen but also a reason or explanation for what will happen based prior knowledge (teacher should encourage them to use “because”).

18. Ways Teachers can Assist Students with Predictions • Encourage students to draw a picture, diagram, or illustration of what they think will happen. • Provide prompts or sentence starters: “I think that _____will happen because___” “If ____then_____because _____”

19. Predictions Should: * relate to focus question * be clear and reasonable * activate prior learning

20. Planning – Explore stage • Creating a plan of action establishes the steps students will follow to find the answer to their focus question or resolve a problem through “testing” their prediction. • This stage provides the opportunity for students to test predictions and hypotheses. During this stage, students actively explore or manipulate materials to develop and identify concepts, processes, and skills.

21. Common elements teachers should use to assist their students in creating a plan: • Plan should relate to the investigable question, sequence, materials, and data organizer. • Plan should identify materials to be used in investigation. • Plan should be written in a manner where another student or someone else could replicate it.

22. Data Organizer - Explain • device students create to collect their evidence • can be challenging at first Teacher can assist students by providing verbal prompts such as: “How will you collect your data?” “What will you use to collect data?” These prompts redirect students back to general and operational plans for re-examination.

23. Teacher explains whole group, divides students into small groups for them to create a data organizer, then has another whole group discussion where the created organizers are discussed and groups can make changes or modifications.

24. Examples of Data Organizers • T –Tables • Charts

25. Observations • Developmental • Students writewhat they actually see and do (not what they think the teacher expects them to see and do) • Allows students to develop “voice” and construct meaning from science instruction • Written observations – Don’t focus on capitalization, punctuation, and grammar…focus on content! • Provide blank paper and let students draw and label • When done appropriately, drawings allow students to shed preconceptions and see what is actually there. (Often, initially students draw their misconceptions)

26. Betsy Rupp Fulwiler

27. Creating Graphs from Data Charts • Teachers ask students, “From the types of graphs that you know, which is most appropriate to show your data?” • Teachers then ask, ”What are you going to name or title your graph?”

28. Observations, drawings, tables, charts and graphs • Essential elements students must record in science notebooks in order to make meaning from science notebooks.

29. Elements of a Science Notebook Recording and Organizing Data • What does recording and organizing data look like? • notes and lists • technical drawings and diagrams with labels • charts • tables • graphs • written observations – Don’t focus on capitalization, punctuation, and grammar…focus on content!

30. Sample pages from real scientists science notebooks

31. Materials Scientist Reference graphs and tables pasted into notebook

32. Sample sketch Materials Scientist

33. Sample pages from real “student” scientists notebooks

34. Example page: OUTPUT(your interpretation) INPUT(notes from teacher)

40. Drawing Conclusions- Explain • Connect the learning- • What happened? • Why do you think it happened? • What evidence from your investigation could you use to justify or defend your conclusion? Claims and Evidence • A “claim” is a statement about what you observe to be happening in the experiment. For each claim, you must give the evidence from the experiment that supports it. (Evidence is the data itself.)

41. Reflection – Extend/ElaborateNext Step, New Questions • After conducting a science investigation, students will have new questions. The outcome may stimulate students to think of new questions that they would like to investigate regarding the topic being studied. • These should be recorded in the science notebook.

42. Reflection • Written reflection is essential to promote students’ explorations of their own thinking and learning processes. • It is often omitted if science notebooks are used primarily as logs for procedures and observations of learning activities.

43. Reflection • This final writing provides closure to the investigation and prepares students to move on to the next investigation in the science unit. • For scientists, reflection not only provides closure, but also allows for interpretation and critical review of the evidence.

44. In short, we want to encourage students to use writing to process their thoughts and clarify their thinking.

45. Who decides about the note-booking rules in your class?

46. Student Output Teacher Input/ Content Lots of Color The brain remembers things in color better. Concept Maps Drawings Reflective Writing Questions Data and Graphs Songs Poems Data from Experiments Cartoons or cartoon strips Blue or Black Ink/pencil Information given in class Lecture Notes Lab Activities Video Notes Summaries Textbook Notes Procedures for experiments Classroom Specific Information

47. Timesavers or Tricks • Shrink 75% on copy machine or 2 on a page on copier. • Have procedures typed up to save time. • Tabbing sections • How do you do your table of contents? • Glue left; Write right • Colors for reflection • Ribbon place marker • Other ideas?

48. So….Notebooks are….. • Tools-- used to record data, observations, understanding, questions, reflections, and ideas while working. • Organizers • A place to practice expository writing about real experiences • Avehicle to applya wide range of reading, writing and other language tasks associated with everyday life • A source of informationthat provides opportunities for self assessment, peer assessment and sharing • A reference toolfor students to use as they continue their work or talk with others in small- or whole-group discussions • A source of teacher assessment

49. Application: Let’s put together a notebook

50. Science Notebooks “Your Key To Success in Science”