ICEC: Cognitive DomanOctober 27, 2009

Conceptual Change

Agenda5:30 – Sign In/Settle In5:45 – Who are you…as scientist, engineer,

math? 6:00 – Business/Questions6:10 - Conceptual Change

Sink & Float6:45 - Brainstorm ideas – what do you notice?

Wonder?

7:00 – Inquiry Project

To DoSign up sheet – classroom visitsGrade Numeracy projectsGuide for Inquiry ProjectPrepare artifacts – who am I?

Welcome to class!Please sign in and help arrange the tables

into a square.

Sign up for a “Classroom Visit” time.

Revisit your K-W-H-L grid. Brainstorm ideas about how you will learn.

Be prepared to share your artifacts: Who are you?

Who are you…

As a scientist?

As an engineer?

As a mathematician?

And what does this mean for children?

Conceptual Change in Kindergarten Sink & Float Projects

Sink & Float(see notes)

Read King BidgoodContext – natural curiosity

Opportunity to integrate curriculum/big ideasCurriculum – content and process skillsInstruction – experiencesAssessment – questions

So what? Informed my teaching.

What are children’s scientific conceptions and how do they change?

everyday understandings“some things stay on top of water and others go under”

what kinds of beliefs/knowledge children bring to school“I watched a movie and the heavy thing floated down.”

examine the misconceptions“It will sink – it’s too heavy and too big.”

“It will float – it’s too heavy and big.”

play with hypotheses“For the pumpkin to float, you need more water than apples.”

bridge to scientific thinking“Boats are heavy and they float.”

scientific understandings“It floats because it is light for its size.”

Conceptual Understandin

gProcedural Knowledge

scientific concepts +

scientific process

Children’s Conversations about Sink & Float

Click icon to add picture

Work-In-Progress QuestionsWhat kinds of misconceptions do children

have about the principles of sink and float? What kinds of questions seem to provoke

conceptual change? What kinds of metaphors and analogies

emerge in the discussions and projects? What kinds of bridging metaphors might help

children to develop a scientific understanding?

What sequence of experiments might aid in the development of conceptual understanding?

Sink and Float: Initial Data AnalysisMisconceptions/

Naïve Beliefs

Approximations toward Conceptual Understanding

Apples will melt in water.

Heavy things sink.

Hot things float because the heat pushes it up.

Size: Little apples sink, big apples float. Little apples float, big apples sink.

Weight “My grandpa’s boat is made out of

metal and no wood at all and it floats….It’s heavier than the pumpkin and it floats.”

Amount of Water“There is more water than apples”“We would need a bigger bucket

filled with lots of water…it can be that it’s wide enough, but it has to be bigger.”

So what? This process of inquiry informed my teaching.

Reflect on the use of language with childrenThe use of metaphors to connect to prior

knowledge.Formulating questions to foster inquiry.Become a facilitator of learning, child as

apprentice.

Attitudes of InquiryReview p. 160 in Worms. Do you agree or

disagree?

Inquiry ProjectTo share during our last class session together on December

8.

During the last session of the course, you will present your Inquiry Project in any format you choose. The purpose is to demonstrate your own attitude of inquiry, documenting your learning and possible avenues for sharing this with children.

To Do List for November 3Reading:

Articles – “Conceptual Change” & “Documentation”

Response:Select an area of inquiry and begin to

brainstorm ideas.

Lab: Continue observations of children’s inquiry in

natural setting.

Questions? Continue to check the blog.

I will confirm my classroom visit with you.