Scientific Explanations: Developing Student Writing in Science Robin Walters Jane Wilson Peak Area Leadership in Science Hub January 15, 2014.

Scientific Explanations: Developing Student Writing in Science

Robin Walters

Jane Wilson

Peak Area Leadership in Science Hub January 15, 2014

Who we are & why we’re here

Who are you?

LogisticsRestroomsTeacher Hat/Student HatAttention Signal

Welcome!

How good are your students at writing

scientific explanations?

Poll: Fist to Five (1=horrible, 5=awesome)

By the end of this session, you'll...

Design an inquiry experiment and collect data about an enzyme.

Write an evidence-based scientific explanation using experimental data and the Explanation Tool.

Evaluate examples of scientific explanations.

Reflect on applications of inquiry and scientific explanations in your classroom.

Inquiry:

“Tiny Bubbles” Protocol

Design your own experiment:

What factors affect enzyme activity?

Still in your student “hat”…

On an index card, explain what you learned from your experiment as if you were a student.

Turn to your neighbor and share what you wrote.

Now, put your teacher hat back

on…

What Do Scientists Do?

• Ask reasonable questions• Generate testable hypotheses• Collect, represent and analyze

data• Interpret results• Use evidence to construct

and evaluate explanations• Communicate findings

So…Recall Your Experimental

Question……and the

explanation you wrote…

As the teacher, would you be

satisfied with what you wrote and what

you heard from others?

Scientific ExplanationsStudents can:•Justify claims with evidence•Construct explanations of phenomena based on evidence•Make claims and predictions based on theories and models•Articulate reasons scientific explanations/ theories are refined or replaced•Evaluate alternative scientific explanations

Scientific Explanations:

3 parts:

Claim

Evidence

Reasoning

Claim

A statement that answers the

questionbeing investigated

EvidenceQuantitative data or

qualitative observations

that support the claim

Reasoning shows how the evidence

supports the claim uses science principles to

explain the relevance and importance of the data

Is the “why”

Explanation example: Basketball

Sally has an awesome shot! She scored 24 points in the game last night. She was 8 for 11 with four 3-pointers! She was perfect from the line, making 4out of 4free throws. One reason she’s so accurate is that she has really good form. She jumps straight up, she extends her arms above her head, and she has really good follow-through. She also has lots of arc on her shot, so if it’s not perfect it still has a chance to go in because it can bounce around on the rim and fall through. Another thing Sally has going for her is that she’s always really focused. The crowd was so loud last night but Sally wasn’t distracted by it. The player who guarded her was also very rough and trash talked, trying to take Sally away from her game. Sally was still able to focus on her game and really burned her.

Claim: Sally has an awesome shot!

Evidence: She scored 24 points in the game last night. She was 8 for 11 with four 3-pointers! She was perfect from the line, making 4 out of 4 free throws.

If we take the explanation apart…

Reasoning: One reason she’s so accurate is that she has really good form. She jumps straight up, she extends her arms above her head, and she has really good follow-through. She also has lots of arc on her shot, so if it’s not perfect it still has a chance to go in because it can bounce around on the rim and fall through. Another thing Sally has going for her is that she’s always really focused. The crowd was so loud last night but Sally wasn’t distracted by it. The player who guarded her was also very rough and trash talked, trying to take Sally away from her game. Sally was still able to focus on her game and really burned her.

Still with your teacher hat on:

Card sort:Pass the cards out to each member of your group.Sort the cards into 3 categories:

ClaimEvidenceReasoning

Were there any cards that you were unsure about?

Don’t you wish there was some kind of tool to help students clarify their thinking and plan their writing?

Of course, you do!!

Explanation Tool

Using the Explanation Tool:

Complete the Explanation Tool for your experiment

Write your Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning on a poster to share

So…how do you recognize a well-written scientific

explanation?

Evaluating a Scientific

Explanation Claim answers the question Evidence is relevant, sufficient,

and supports the claim Reasoning is sound and

includes relevant science principles

Language is clear and accurate

Sample Scientific Explanations

Distribute one of the student samples to each member of your team.

Evaluate each sample using the criteria given. If these were examples of work from your students, what feedback would you provide?

How does temperature affect the rate of enzyme activity?

Evaluating a Scientific

Explanation Claim answers the question Evidence is relevant, sufficient,

and supports the claim Reasoning is sound and

includes relevant science principles

Language is clear and accurate

As a team…

Read the poster from another group

Give feedback on the stickies

By the end of this session, you'll...

Design an inquiry experiment and collect data about an enzyme.

Write an evidence-based scientific explanation using experimental data and the Explanation Tool.

Evaluate examples of scientific explanations.

Reflect on applications of inquiry and scientific explanations in your classroom.

Reflection• What will you take with

you from this session?

• What do you want to know more about?

• What are the implications for your teaching practice?

Thank You!!!

Robin Waltersrwalters@d49.org

Jane Wilsonjwilson@d49.org

www.nabt.org

www.bscs.org