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Monday, November 7, 2011

GPS and Critical Thinking

7th Grade Science

How many of the standards are focused on critical thinking skills? How many not?


I don't know if all subjects are organized this way, but the GPS for science are presented as co-requisites. There are two parts in meeting the GPS, you have Characteristics of Science and Content. The two must be taught together, and are therefore called co-requisites. The Characteristics of Science section is exactly what critical thinking is. To question, gather, interpret, analyze, communicate, etc. Basically, how to think like a SCIENTIST! One example standard from the "Habits of Mind" section is "S7CS3. Students will have the computation and estimation skills necessary for analyzing data and following scientific explanations." Any part of the Content of science can be used to strengthen critical thinking skills, at least that's the goal...


Pick one and discuss how it could be taught using critical thinking skills and technology.



Ok, for this I'll be using the following standards:


Characteristics of Science - S7CS9. Students will investigate the features of the process of scientific inquiry.
Content - S7L5. Students will examine the evolution of living organisms through inherited characteristics that promote survival of organisms and the survival of successive generations of their offspring.  


We will include technology by having the students visit the following site:
http://www.techapps.net/interactives/pepperMoths.swf

For this activity, students learn about the life cycle of the Peppered Moth, the story of how pollution effected the population of Peppered Moths, scientists' research on the matter, and finally play a game where they get to be the bird and simulate natural selection. The game at the end allows students to make predictions, gather data, and draw conclusions (process of scientific inquiry). 

4 comments:

  1. I remember this site from one of your earlier posts! How cool to see it as it would be used in "real life." The students will really love to see science come to life through is website. I enjoyed it too. :)

    I am really impressed that critical thinking is so heavily engrained in the science standards. That makes it a bit easier to get the kids thinking critically when it is such a vital part of the curriculum.

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  2. Critical thinking is definitely a requirement for understanding science skills. The verbs that were used in the standards are what scientists do. I too, like Shelley, remember this site being selected for sharing during our group discussions. The use of the game will help encourage students to think critically.

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  3. What would the world be like is Copernicus or Galileo were lacking in critical thinking skills? Science is the perfect subject to let students explore. The GPS have brought the academic area a long way... I remember when I was in school, I hate science because it was so boring- just the memorization of facts and a few labs every now and then, but nothing really innovative. The Common Core Standards are similar to these. Maybe this generation of kids will love science because of the way that science teachers are approaching it now!

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  4. Yes, I think the Pepper Moth website is very suitable for this particular standard. Is there any activity that involves group work in the Pepper Moth? The group activity may even work better!

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