In planning a unit of study or a whole course curriculum, many factors must be considered, as identified in 603 CMR 7.08 (2). Included therein is the consideration there are prerequisite vocabulary, skills, and concepts that must be mastered in order for students to make effective progress through both a unit of study and the larger course curriculum.
I employ introductory lessons in each unit of study in my grade 8 Physical Science course. Increasingly, I have integrated the use of technology into these introductory lessons. I have come to embrace the use of PowerPoints as an instructional vehicle for the effective and engaging method of introduction of new and vital terms and concepts. These multimedia presentations enable me to effectively address diverse learning styles and needs, as multiple senses and learning preferences are engaged by their use. Additionally, the use of PowerPoints enables me to efficiently generate lecture notes, which can be provided to the students, thereby also providing them with a review resource of the entire lecture and its included essential terms and concepts. Linked below are 2 PowerPoints, which I have used in my class to introduce a new topic or unit of study. The first PowerPoint linked below is used to introduce the topic of atoms, using the periodic table, and the bonding of atoms to form molecules and compounds. The second PowerPoint linked below is used to introduce the topic of tectonic plate boundaries and the interactions between the Earth's crustal plates.
ATOMS, PERIODIC TABLE, AND BONDING POWERPOINT
PLATE BOUNDARIES AND TECTONIC PROCESSES POWERPOINT
Once a term or a skill is introduced, it may be necessary to some units of study that this skill be practiced until mastery is achieved. Until mastery is achieved, further and deeper application of the skill is not possible, so skill mastery is vital to the success of the learner. In physical science, two such skills are reading a balance to measure the mass of an object or sample of a substance, and reading metric rulers and graduated cylinders accurately. My physical science course is very much lab-based, so early mastery of these skills is essential. Linked below are two web-based skill practice resources that I utilize in my class. Each generates a considerable number of different problems for students to practice, so that students of all abilities are well served; more advanced students can complete an initial assignment and via a high score, demonstrate that further practice is unnecessary, and that they are ready to apply this new skill. For other students, especially those on IEP’s for various learning disabilities, more repetition may be necessary; each of these practice resources generates enough unique questions, and of varying degrees of difficulty, so that each learner can select problems of the appropriate complexity and volume so that proficiency in the skill may be achieved.
CENT-O-GRAM BALANCE SCALE READING TUTORIAL - Use your browser's back arrow to return to this page
METRIC RULER AND GRADUATED CYLINDER MEASUREMENT TUTORIAL - use your browser's back arrow to return to this page
Another skill that is useful in my physical science class is the use of Excel for graphing data, which is a requirement for many lab investigations that my students will conduct over the course of the school year. This skill will also serve them well in future math and science courses. To help them acquire this skill, I have developed a step-by-step guide that, when followed, shows how to produce graphs using Excel. The guide is linked below.
GRAPHING USING EXCEL STUDENT GUIDE
I also create and utilize QUIA review games and activities and PowerPoint review games that students access from my teacher QUIA website and use to practice new terms and fundamental concepts. These games and activities are useful not only to facilitate acquisition of essential vocabulary so as to make effective progress through a unit of study, but also as preparation resources that students can use prior to assessments to self-test for mastery. These activities can be used at need and at any time during a unit, and are linked below:
STATES OF MATTER JEOPARDY GAME POWERPOINT
MASS, VOLUME, AND DENSITY "WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE" REVIEW GAME POWERPOINT
LINK TO MY QUIA REVIEW GAMES AND ACTIVITIES - Use your browser's back arrow to return to this page
My grade 8 science classes are heterogeneously grouped, full-inclusion classrooms. My students’ abilities vary widely, and this is reflected in the various paces that students are able to maintain as they move through a unit of study. Some may require direct guidance and a slower pace to move through an initial assignment that addresses a new topic, while advanced students may require little or no teacher intervention at all, and are able to rapidly progress through many lessons of escalating complexity within a unit of study. This wide range of learner needs and abilities requires that I provide tiered lessons to appropriately support and challenge learners of all abilities, and offer opportunities for further learning for those who master the initial concepts sooner than others.
The assignments below comprise a multi-activity lesson on the effects of gravity on the weight of objects; in this case, people. The first and most basic activity is a web-based tutorial that shows students what they would weigh on different planets, due to the differences between the planets’ surface gravities. The second activity extends this concept, challenging students to calculate the surface gravities of the planets based upon their weights on the planets, which is of a higher order of complexity. The last assignment is an optional challenge, that is often taken up or assigned to students of high ability who move quickly and easily through the first two activities, and introduces the related topic of terminal velocity to the concepts of the first two lessons. By providing a tiered lesson, students of lesser ability are provided the time and instructor attention needed to master the initial concepts, while students who are able to quickly and independently master the concepts are provided with further applications and extensions to the topic, each escalating in complexity, so that they too are appropriately challenged, and are afforded opportunities for further learning.
Linked below are the initial, secondary, and extension activities that comprise the lesson “Gravity and your weight on different planets”.
YOUR WEIGHT ON DIFFERENT PLANETS ACTIVITIES 1 AND 2
EXTENSION ACTIVITY: TERMINAL VELOCITY - "SKYDIVING ON DIFFERENT PLANETS"
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