Scientists Read and Write Too

SCIENTISTS READ AND WRITE TOOUsing Reading and Writing Strategies in the Science Classroom

Presenter Information

Ella [email protected]

[email protected] @ellabowling 606-782-0192 (cell)

•If we teach only for facts, rather than for how to go beyond facts, we teach students how to get out of date.•Robert Sternberg, pg.25, Educational Leadership, Dec/Jan 2008

AgendaI. Reading Strategies for the Science Classroom

• Four Thought Organizer• Before and After Reading Organizer

• Group and Label (Vocabulary Strategy)• Commit and Toss• Top Hat Organizer (Before, During and After

Reading)• Weather vs. Climate

• Before Reading Strategies• In with the Old Out with the New• Ready-Set-Whoa-Go• Sort and Select

• During Reading Strategies• Bow Tie• Another Kind of Outline• Alphabet Soup• Chain Reaction (Wolves Article)• Two Sources One Issue (Climate Change)

• After Reading Strategies• 4-2-1• 1-2-3-4• Exit Slips and Tickets• Two Heads Smarter Than One• Bar Graph and Line Graph

II. Writing Strategies for the Science Classroom• Argumentative Writing (Cloning and

Wolves)• Science Notebooks/Lab Reports• Exit Slips

III. Literacy Stations in the Science Classroom (Reading and Writing)

READING STRATEGIES FOR THE SCIENCE CLASS

Four Thought Organizer• What is it?

• A pre-reading and post-reading organizer• Directions

• The teacher introduces a topic and asks students to generate any thoughts and feelings they have about the topic

• Students respond to a reading in which they will describe the topic or situation, analyze it, appy a solution, and react personally

• Groups of students respond to a reading and exchange ideas for turning their Four Thought into an essay on a topic.

• Benefits• Helps students use their pre-reading thoughts and feelings and their

post reading insights to develop deep and layered interpretations

Invasive Species in Kentucky• Write any thoughts and feelings you have about the topic, INVASIVE SPECIES IN KENTUCKY on your FOUR THOUGHT organizer.

• Next, read the article and respond to each of the Four Thought Stems

• Share your responses with other students

Group and Label• What is it?• A type of inductive learning that helps students explore

topics and concepts by grouping specific terms, vocabulary words, or visual data and then classifying them according to common attributes.

• Directions• Identify and distribute key words, phrases, items, problems, or

images from a reading, lecture, or unit.• Working in small groups, students analyze the items and explore

the different ways information can be grouped.• Students will devise a descriptive label for each of their groups.

Group and Label• Sodium• Methane• Sand• Oxygen• Salt• Milk• Water• Gold• Homogeneous• Solution• Element• Periodic table

• Heterogeneous• Chlorine• Mud• Hydrogen peroxide• Lead• Pepper• Carbon dioxide• Pure• Properties• Atom• Nucleus• New properties

Group and Label

Group and Label• ELEMENTS

• Sodium• Oxygen

Gold• Chlorine• Lead• Atom

• COMPOUNDS• Methane• Salt• Carbon dioxide• Water• New Properties• Hydro.

Peroxide

• MIXTURES• Sand• Milk• Mud• Pepper• Solution• Homogenous• Heterogeneous

Is this the only way to group them?

Commit and Toss StrategyBefore Reading

Four students were arguing about the causes of global climate change. This is what they thought:• Jackson: I don’t think human activity can affect the climate. Too many factors

affect climate, and human impact is insignificant. Climate scientists just want to keep the grant money flowing.

• Dash: I don’t think human activity can affect the climate. Indicators from paleoclimates suggest that there have been several major changes in Earth’s climate. You know “The Ice Age”?!

• Gabe: I think human activity is affecting the global climate. Humans have made unprecedented changes to the Earth in the last 150 years, and these changes are accelerating factors that affect global climate.

• Lydia: I think human activity is affecting the global climate. Look at the extreme weather we have had this past year!

Write the name of the student you agree with. Explain why you agree.

Commit and Toss Strategy• Once you have completed your explanation, crumple your paper into a ball and, upon the signal, toss the paper balls around the room until told to stop and hold onto one paper.

• Form groups based on the “student name.”• Form sub-groups based on commonalities found in the explanations.

• Discuss the ideas found in the explanations.

Top Hat Organizer• Before reading

• Jot down what you think the key differences are between weather and climate.

• During reading:• Use the Top Hat Comparison organizer to capture the

key ideas from the article.• After reading:

• Summarize – similarities, differences. Use the text frame to help write your comparison.

Top Hat Comparison

See

Handout

Before Reading Strategies• In with the old out with the new•Ready-Set-Whoa-Go•Sort and Select

During Reading Strategies•Bow Tie•Alphabet Soup•Two Sources One Issue•Another Kind of Outline•Chain Reaction

4-2-1• After reading the text, INDIVIDUALLY jot down the four

most important points?• Join with another---share points and come to an

agreement on the two most important ideas.• Join another pair—share and then decide on the most

important point of the day.• Take 2 minutes to write about everything you know and

understand about this point.

WRITING STRATEGIES FOR THE SCIENCE CLASS

Writing in Science• QuickWrites/WriteNow• Lab Journals/Science Notebooks• Argumentative Writing

• Used in our unit on Genetics and Heredity with controversial topics like genetically modified foods and cloning as well as with the ecosystem unit on the controversy of taking wolves off the endangered species list as well as the reintroduction of wolves to the Yellowstone area

• Informational Writing• Used in our ecosystems unit on different ecosystems/biomes

(create a brochure)

Learning Logs• Learning Logs are used for students' reflections on the

material they are learning.  This type of journal is in common use among scientists and engineers.  In the log, students record the process they go through in learning something new, and any questions they may need to have clarified.  This allows students to make connections to what they have learned, set goals, and reflect upon their learning process. The act of writing about thinking helps students become deeper thinkers and better writers.  Teachers and students can use Learning Logs as classroom assessment for learning, as students record what they are learning and the questions they still have, and teachers monitor student progress toward mastery of the learning targets in their log entries. 

RAFT• RAFT is a writing strategy that can be used in all content

areas and offers students a choice in their writing assignment.  R stands for Role - the person or thing that students will become.  A is for Audience - the person or people who will be reading the finished product.  F is for Format - the way in which the writing will be done.  Examples might include letter, brochure, memo, speech, or advertisement.  T stands for Topic - what the writing will discuss.  Students can demonstrate their mastery of content knowledge in this manner.  A RAFT allows for differentiated instruction because students get choice in their assignment based on their interest. 

Resources for Writing in Science• http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Science_WAC_2_3

_264454_7.pdf

• Better Writing in Science Poster - PDF• http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/secondary/keystage3/downloads/sc_

write017805post.pdf• Using Writing in Science Class

• http://agpa.uakron.edu/k12/best_practices/using_writing.html• How Does My Garden Grow?  Writing in Science Field

Journals• http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=846

• Build a RAFTS Writing Prompt for Science Class• http://www.writingfix.com/WAC/Writing_Across_Curriculum_RAFTS_S

cience.htm• Journals and Logs:  Science, Conversation, and Writing

• http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/Products/Perspectives/may-jun99/schleper.html

EXAMPLES FROM MY CLASSROOM

Earth Science Literacy Stations • Students work independently on activities at each station.

Stations are based on literacy activities that are specifically connected to the science content being taught.

• I set up 4 stations and have students complete 1 station per day. On Friday, we take the weekly “I know this because” quiz to assess what they learned as well as grading the activities completed in their science notebooks from each station.

Sexual vs. Asexual Reproduction Lesson• This lesson took 2 days in my 45 minute classes to

complete. Covers the differences between sexual and asexual reproduction as well as the benefits of each. Has students to make comparisons regarding each type.

• On Your PTP paper, there are three questions. In your science notebook, respond to the three questions on your own.

• After you have responded to the questions, share your answers with your elbow partner and write down each of your answers on the PTP paper.

• QUESTIONS ON YOUR PTP PAPER:• What is the result of reproduction?• Why do organisms bother to reproduce? Why don't they just live

forever? • What would eventually happen to a species if every member suddenly

lost its ability to reproduce

Points to Ponder

• Whiptail lizards• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/5/quicktime/l_015_03

_56.html• Red Queens

• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/5/quicktime/l_015_03_56.html

Whiptail Lizards and Red Queen

• Read the instructions on your paper.

• Go to: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/sex/mating/index.html

• Answer the questions in your notebook

The Mating Game

• The following slides have 5 pictures and 5 statements regarding sexual or asexual reproduction. They are numbered. Your task is to create a t-chart in your notebook and write the numbers of the statements or pictures under the column to which you think they belong. At the end, you are going to write a justification or in other words create a rule for differentiating between those organisms that reproduce asexually and those that reproduce sexually.

Sexual or Asexual T-Chart

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Picture 5

1. Yields more offspring.2. Promotes adaptations through

evolution over time.3. Is more convenient.4. Produces offspring that are

genetically different from parents.5. Provides no genetic variation

STATEMENTS

Instructions:1. Read the four explanations for sexual vs. asexual reproduction

on the next slide.2. Choose one of the explanations that you agree with most and

explain your reason for agreeing with that explanation.3. After making your choice and developing your explanation,

you will crumple up your paper and toss (NOT THROW) your paper into the air on your teacher’s command.

4. After everyone has tossed their paper, pick one from the floor, read the answer on the paper and go to the designated corner of the classroom for the response on your paper.

Commit and Toss

• A teacher asked her students to think about the statement regarding sexual vs. asexual reproduction. Below is the statement and their responses.STATEMENT: Species that reproduce using asexual reproduction have the better chances for survival than those that use sexual reproduction.

STUDENT RESPONSES:• Wendy: I disagree with this statement because although species that use asexual

reproduction can reproduce faster, they cannot evolve as quickly and therefore can be wiped out faster.

• Bryan: I agree with this statement because species that use sexual reproduction have to find a mate and sometimes when they don’t, they cannot reproduce eventually wiping out the entire species.

• Max: I disagree with this statement because those that reproduce sexually can produce more offspring and therefore survive better.

• Penny: I agree with this statement because those species that use asexual reproduction are always smaller and can escape predators easier than those that use sexual reproduction.

Sexual vs. Asexual Reproduction

Budding…

• New Organisms Arise as an Outgrowth from the Parent Organism

• Seen Mostly in Marine Animals• Examples Include;

Sponges, Corals and Jellyfish…

Coral Polyp Photo courtesy Jeffrey N. Jeffords http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/students/coral/coral1.htm

Regeneration…

• This refers to the ability of some animals to re-grow severed parts.

• Some of these animals can also grow new organisms from the severed pieces (Segmented Worms and Sea Stars)

Parthenogenesis…

• Offspring can arise from unfertilized eggs.

• Includes some Fish, Reptiles, Amphibians and Aphids.

• Most of these species can switch between Sexual and Asexual Reproduction.

(depending on conditions)

http://www.duke.edu/%7Ejsr6/Hawaiipics/Rhampho.jpg

http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/imageDetails?invocationType=imageResults&query=photos+of+parthenogenic+species&img

http://spot.colorado.edu/~noyesr/TEACHING/4800%20Fall%202002.%20Biology%20and%20Evolution%20of%20Sex/Gynogenesis.Poecilia.pdf

www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu

WHY???• Why would these organisms prefer asexual reproduction

in stable conditions and sexual reproduction in more uncertain or less favorable conditions?

Imagine…• Imagine that a particular organism within a species lacks

a certain gene (or ability to express a certain gene) necessary to break down a specific type of food, yet others of the same species within the population are able to break down that food.

• What happens if the uncertain or less favorable conditions lead to that being the primary food source?

Death…• The parent organism and all of their offspring produced

through parthenogenesis would die!

• But, with the genetic diversity that comes from sexual reproduction the possibility of the offspring surviving is enhanced.

RESOURCES I USE

Reading Strategies for Science

Teaching Science Through Tradebooks

Reading Strategies for the Content Areas