Csta.2011

TEACHING PERIODIC TRENDS THROUGH SOCRATIC LABS

CSTA Conference – 2011

Who we are…

Jason Batten Animo Leadership Charter High School [email protected]

Janee Gerard Animo Pat Brown Charter High School [email protected]

Please e-mail us with any questions!

A few notes before we begin… We haven’t fully figured this out yet! Much of this approach comes from a UCLA

TIIP2 Grant, with specific influences from two strands of professional development: Reading Apprenticeship, WestEd Model-Based Reasoning, Dr. Cynthia Passmore

About our students: Extremely high percent of EL’s High poverty Excellent schools: Top two schools in the district!

What’s a Socratic Lab?

A socratic lab is a “dry lab” characterized by:

A general spirit of inquiry Progression from effect to cause Student generation of knowledge Collaborative investigation

Other names for this approach: Model-Based Reasoning (MBR) Any other form of inquiry…

Rationale

Typical HS Periodic Trends Lesson

Memorization of definitions (AR, EN, and IE)

Surface-level (low-level) understanding Seems to be a “random” or disconnected

topic

Reason #1: Cognitively Engaging

If students created knowledge of periodic trends themselves, the lesson would: Be more interesting for students Require more critical thought from all

students Require higher levels of cognitive effort Provide better vocabulary & writing

support for EL’s

Comparison of PT Assessment Items

Rank the following atoms in order of increasing electronegativity:

Ne, O, F, Cs, Li

Use the principles of atomic structure to account for the following data:

The first ionization energy of Be is 899.5 kJ/mol, and that of B is 800.5 kJ/mol.

HS-LEVEL ASSESSMENT AP-LEVEL ASSESSMENT

Reason #2: More Rigorous

Challenging but accessible for all students Prepares students for college-level

chemistry“Typical” HS Approach

AP-Level Approach

Recognition of key vocabulary words

Use of key vocabulary words

Memorization of trend Deep understanding of the underlying reasons

for the trend

Low level Bloom’s (Comp.)

High level Bloom’s (Synthesis)

No writing involved Extensive writing involved

Maybe you’ve experienced this before…

When reviewing for the final exam, a student says: “What’s ionization

energy?” “The elements on the

bottom right of the PT have the highest atomic radius because they are the heaviest.”

“The element with the highest electronegativity is obviously Helium. Remember?”

Reason #3: Connections across Course

Deeply embed concepts from periodic trends throughout the course

Connects backwards to (reviews): Atomic Structure: Which part of the

structure of the atom can explain the trends?

Connects forwards to (frontloads): Ion formation: Will an atom lose or gain e-? Chemical Bonding: Why are e- transferred in

an ionic bond but shared in a covalent bond, etc?

Experience a lesson with us!