Education is
moving to incorporate 21st century skills. Children need to be exposed to and
practice many cross-curricular disciplines. Each day, students should be building on critical thinking
skills, technology, and collaboration with their peers (Partnership for 21st
Century Skills, 2009). Implementing
inquiry and STEM lessons can help use reach our goal. However, there are many methods of networking and PLCs to
help teachers plan effective science curriculums.
At the moment, I
am teaching a forces and motion unit that has a lot of emphasis on energy. An enduring understanding I am working
towards mastery with my students is changes
take place because of the transfer of energy. I would like to share a few resources I found that would help
me to embed 21st century skills into my instruction.
First, NSTA
learning center has excellent resources and recommendations for lessons. There are seminars teachers can take
(some are free, some are not) to improve understanding on the concept. Here is a link for energy: http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/stlouis07/energy/webseminar.aspx
I have also
found PhET.org to be an excellent method to engage multiple learning
styles. I have used this website
as a whole class and individually on laptops. To demonstrate the transfer of kinetic and potential energy,
I use the simulation with a skate boarder. The link: http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/energy-skate-park-basics
I can click the a pie graph to display while the skate boarder is
moving. Students can observe when
potential energy transfers into kinetic and vice versa. When students interact with the
website, they are demonstrating their knowledge of technology and the enduring
understanding.
Here is an introduction about the website!
Interactive read
alouds are proven to enhance students’ understanding of vocabulary and literacy
(Bircher, 2009). I read in
October’s addition of Science and
Children a book that will promote inquiry, vocabulary practice, and
engineering. The interactive read
aloud is called The Boy Who Harnessed the
Wind by William Kamkawamba and Bryan Mealer. This book can be used to enhance diversity, spark curiosity,
and inspire hands-on learning. In
the biography, a 14-year-old boy uses scraps from a junkyard to build a
windmill to harness energy. This
would be a great addition to my science unit.
A video to supplement the book!
Finally, I
believe reaching out to the community would help to apply the content students
are learning in science.
Throughout the year, I try to invite guest speakers to my fifth graders
to show my students the purpose of developing a deep understanding of science.
Reference
Bircher, L. S.
(2009). Reading Aloud: A springboard to
inquiry. Retrieved on September 23, 2012 from
Partnership for
21st Century Skills. (2009). 21st Century Skills Map: Science. Retrieved on October 6, 2012
from www.p21.org/storage/documents/21stcskillsmap_science.pdf
