Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning in Science

1. Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning in Science Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

2. Moving Forward Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

3. Lessons LearnedCONCLUSION • Although there have been improvements in student performance in science, the task force has identified that students continue to struggle with developing a deeper understanding of scientific concepts. • Students need more practice in demonstrating and explaining, especially in writing, scientific concepts, and scientific processes. Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

4. Lessons LearnedCONCLUSION • Teachers should provide a broader focus on scientific concepts and processes in a “big picture” sense and not overemphasize the parts of the scientific concepts and processes. • In other words, whole systems, such as the water cycle, must be taught so that students can explain the entire system starting at any given point within the system; otherwise, students can only explain the parts in isolation. Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

5. Lessons LearnedCONCLUSION • As revealed through the data,common misconceptions still hamper students’ ability to demonstrate full scientific knowledge. Teachers should modify instruction to address these misconceptions, especially after classroom assessments reflect these misconceptions. Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

6. Why Bother with Design? • To provide a conceptual framework to make sense of discrete facts and skills • To uncover big ideas of content • To engage students in inquiry • To promote transfer of learning Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

7. Understanding by Design • A tool to build consensus about: • The meaning of standards and benchmarks • Implications of the standards on student learning • Ways to monitor and evaluate progress of all students in mastering the standards • Instructional interventions needed to promote maximum student achievement and organizational effectiveness Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

8. Avoid the Twin Sins of Traditional Design Activity Based What are students learning? What’s the point? Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

9. Avoid the Twin Sins of Traditional Design “Students march through a textbook, page by page in a valiant attempt to traverse all the factual material within a prescribed time.” (p. 16) Coverage Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

10. Just ask a student What are you doing? Why are you being asked to do it? What will it help you do? How does it fit with what you have previously done? How will you show that you have learned it? Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

11. Learning for Understanding • Knowledge/Skills • Transfer • Application • Self-Assessment Transfer involves determining what knowledge and skills are needed and adapting them to fit the situation. Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

12. More efficient? Teaching specific topics or skills without making clear their context in the broader fundamental structure of a field of knowledge is uneconomical. Jerome Bruner, 1960 Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

13. Stages of Backward Design Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

14. Identify Desired Results • What are the established goals? • What understandings are desired? • What essential questions will be considered? • What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this instruction? Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

15. Established Goals • Sunshine State Standards • Course descriptions • District curriculum guides • Specialized programs • IB, AICE, etc. Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

16. Big Ideas Explain Phenomena • Model of the Atom—Physics • Periodic Law—Chemistry • Big Bang Theory—Astronomy • Plate Tectonics Model—Geology • Scientific Theory of Evolution—Biology Wynn and Wiggins,1997 Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

17. Big Ideas • Provide a conceptual focus • Provide breadth of meaning by connecting and organizing facts, skills, and experiences • Point to ideas at the heart of expert understanding • Require “uncovering” because it is not obvious, may be counterintuitive, or prone to misconceptions • Have transfer value across content and time Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

18. Established Goals Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

19. Unpacking the Standards • Standard 5: Earth in Space and TimeThe origin and eventual fate of the Universe still remains one of the greatest questions in science. Gravity and energy influence the development and life cycles of galaxies, including our own Milky Way Galaxy, stars, the planetary systems, Earth, and residual material left from the formation of the Solar System. Humankind’s need to explore continues to lead to the development of knowledge and understanding of the nature of the Universe.  • Standard 6: Earth Structures The scientific theory of plate tectonics provides the framework for much of modern geology. Over geologic time, internal and external sources of energy have continuously altered the features of Earth by means of both constructive and destructive forces. All life, including human civilization, is dependent on Earth's internal and external energy and material resources. • STANDARD 7: Earth Systems and Patterns The scientific theory of the evolution of Earth states that changes in our planet are driven by the flow of energy and the cycling of matter through dynamic interactions among the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, geosphere, and biosphere, and the resources used to sustain human civilization on Earth. Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

20. Earth and Space Science Earth Systems and Patterns • Changes in our planet • Flow of energy and cycling of matter • Interactions among the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, geosphere, and biosphere • Resources to sustain civilization Earth in Space and Time • Origin and fate of the Universe • Influence of gravity and energy on galaxies • Understanding the nature of the Universe Earth Structures • Plate tectonics • Energy alters features of the Earth • Life depends on energy and resources Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

21. Unpacking the Benchmarks Content Focus(Nouns and Adjectives) • Big Bang Theory • Evidence Stated or Implied Performances(Verbs) • Cite evidence used to develop or verify • SC.912.E.5.1 Cite evidence used to develop and verify the scientific theory of the Big Bang (also known as the Big Bang Theory) of the origin of the universe. Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

22. Unpacking the Benchmarks • SC.912.E.5.3 Describe and predict how the initial mass of a star determines its evolution. Content Focus(Nouns and Adjectives) • Initial mass of a star • Evolution Stated or Implied Performances(Verbs) • Describe • Predict how Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

23. Enduring Understandings • What we want students to come to understand about the big idea/standard. • Full-sentence statements, not objectives • Give the content meaning • Connect the facts to the skills Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

24. Unpacking the Benchmarks Content Focus(Nouns and Adjectives) • Big Bang Theory • Evidence Understanding • The Big Bang Theory of the origin of the universe was developed and verified through scientific evidence. • SC.912.E.5.1 Cite evidence used to develop and verify the scientific theory of the Big Bang (also known as the Big Bang Theory) of the origin of the universe. Stated or Implied Performances(Verbs) • Cite evidence used to develop or verify Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

25. Unpacking theBenchmarks • SC.912.E.5.3 Describe and predict how the initial mass of a star determines its evolution. Content Focus(Nouns and Adjectives) • Initial mass of a star • Evolution Understanding • The initial mass of a star determines its evolution. Stated or Implied Performances(Verbs) • Describe • Predict how Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

26. Determining the Enduring Understandings • What does this benchmark really mean for this grade level or course? • What questions would we ask to determine whether the student has mastered the enduring understanding? • If we looked at a body of work by a student, what would we see that indicated the student has mastered this benchmark? SSS Science Regional Workshops May, 2008

27. Identify Priorities 27 SSS Science Regional Workshops May, 2008

28. Enduring Understanding • Represent big ideas having enduring value beyond the classroom • Reside at the heart of the discipline • Require “uncoverage” of abstract and often misunderstood ideas • Provides a clear focus to guide instruction. SSS Science Regional Workshops May, 2008

29. Important To Know and Do • Knowledge • Facts • Concepts • Principles • Skills • Processes • Strategies • Methods SSS Science Regional Workshops May, 2008

30. Worthwhile • Worth Being Familiar With • Range of topics • Related skills • Resources

31. How do you decide? Identify the desired results. K-8—Big Ideas and Benchmarks 9-12—Standards and Benchmarks • What are the enduring understandings that students will retain? • What important knowledge and skills must students master? • What worthwhile content might be examined in the course? SSS Science Regional Workshops May, 2008

32. Earth and Space Science SSS Science Regional Workshops May, 2008

33. Earth and Space Science Classify statements by levels of understanding. Atmosphere Biosphere Space Science Geosphere Hydrosphere

34. Earth and Space Science • Prioritize by Importance • Enduring Understanding • Important to Know and Do • Worth Being Familiar With

35. Designing Curriculum At the heart of all uncoverage, … is the deliberate interrogation of the content to be learned, as opposed to just the teaching and learning of material. Wiggins and McTighe Understanding By Design, 2005 SSS Science Regional Workshops May, 2008

36. Curriculum Design Begins with… Guides and Frames the Instructional Decisions Which leads to Essential Questions Enduring Understandings NGSSS Benchmarks

37. What is an Essential Questions? • Organize the course and corresponding units around Enduring Understandings and their Essential Questions • Important questions • Questions that provide the focus and direction for inquiry • Questions that are used to make meaning of learning activities SSS Science Regional Workshops May, 2008

38. Essential Questions… Go to the heart of the discipline How do scientists discover new knowledge? How did life on Earth originate and develop? Where did the atoms of the universe originate? What is their destiny? SSS Science Regional Workshops May, 2008

39. Essential Questions… Raise other important questions, often across subject-area boundaries Why is the impact of humans on the Earth’s biosphere an increasing concern to the government? How can solar power be captured more economically? SSS Science Regional Workshops May, 2008

40. Essential Questions… Recur naturally and are important enough to show up in several science units What pattern of change is illustrated within…(the rock cycle, seasons, adaptation)? SSS Science Regional Workshops May, 2008

41. Guidelines for Writing Essential Questions • Questions should be framed for maximal simplicity. • Questions should be worded in student-friendly language. • Questions should provoke discussion. • Questions should lead to larger essential and unit ideas. SSS Science Regional Workshops May, 2008

42. Your Turn Transform an Enduring Understanding into Essential Questions that is appropriate for the student level. Example: • Circulation patterns in the oceans are driven by density differences and wind What effect does wind and ocean density have on the ocean currents? OR A cargo ship dumped thousands of rubber duckies into the Pacific Ocean. How did the rubber duckies end up across the world in the Atlantic Ocean? Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

43. Break How long have you know about Understanding by Design? Have you attempted implementation of UbD or parts of UbD in your district? Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

44. Duval’s Curriculum Today • Working towards implementing an Understanding by Design format in all science curriculum since 2003 • Design curriculums to have 3 stages • Stage 1: Identifying the Goals • Stage 2: Assessments • Stage 3: Daily lesson planning • Primary focus started on Stage 1 • Development of Stage 2 and Stage 3 was dependent on the Stage 1 product

45. Experienced Teacher Madge Nanney Middle school science teacher-- 19 years Masters of Education National Board Certified Teacher Early Adolescence/Science Department Chair/Teacher Leader

46. Traditional Lesson Planning 46 Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning Standards Curriculum + Textbook Lesson Plans Assessments

47. Former District Curriculum 47 Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning District Performance Standards The student: explains the source of energy that creates weather patterns and how heat moves through the atmosphere through the use of a thermometer. SC.A.2.3.3, SC.B.1.3.3 illustrates and labels the relationship of the Earth to the Sun during the summer and winter seasons. SC.H.1.3.5, SC.A.2.3.3, SC.B.1.3.3 uses sunlight or output from a lamp to heat water and soil and compares results with those of classmates. SC.H.1.3.4, SC.H.1.3.5, SC.A.2.3.3, SC.A.1.3.1 illustrates the positions of atoms in a solid, a liquid, and a gas and describes the differences in the movement of the atoms in each phase and the variation of those movements with temperature. SC.A.1.3.3, SC.A.1.3.4 predicts how warm air and cold air masses interact based on observations of a warm and cold water experiment. SC.H.1.3.4, SC.H.1.3.5, SC.B.1.3.5 describes the history of hurricane tracking and how technology has improved humankind's ability to predict probable landfall sites. SC.H.1.3.1

48. 48 Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning

49. Pre-Conception Quiz “Earthquakes are caused by plants that hold the earth together.” “The thing that causes earthquakes are the atmosphere forming clouds to make a earthquake.” “The moon might be the cause of earthquakes. I don’t know.” Post-Conception Quiz “The plates move together against each other” “Plate movement” “Plates that move.” Uncovering MisconceptionsWhat causes earthquakes?

50. Teacher Transformation 50 Designing Curriculum for In-Depth Learning Made a clearer connection between the standards and daily lessons Enduring understandings, essential questions, knowledge and skills became the pathway to lesson planning. Helped me to identify effective classroom materials and activities. Enduring understandings and essential questions act as a filter for activities and investigations. Broaden my perspective of assessment to guide instruction. Pre-conception quizzes to reveal student misconceptions Effective integration of technology to improve student learning. Web-based visualizations and real-time data.