Welome to the GCISD Science Blog

Welcome to the GCISD Science Blog.   This blog will serve to highlight the great learning in our science classrooms, share best practices, and learn about the teachers, coaches, liaisons and support staff.

If there is a topic you'd like to see here or if you'd like to post a guest featured blog entry, please email tony.zahn@gcisd.net




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Argument Driven Inquiry

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7th Grade STEM Students in Jamie Nutt's classroom at Grapevine Middle School share and evaluate justifications as they discuss the claims, data, and justifications from their Food Web Inquiry.  Students investigated foods webs to determine the effects of removing an organism from the web.  Later students will write conclusions and evaluate one another's work in a double-blind evaluation process.   This approach encourages students to own their learning, improves collaboration, provides an avenue for authentic technical writing and builds critical thinking skills.  Argumentation of this nature will prepare students for Advanced Placement courses in the future.  Thanks to Mrs. Nutt and her students for piloting this innovative approach to scientific inquiry.
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SMART Carts in AP Physics 1

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In AP Physics 1, students use the PASCO SMART carts to study motion, forces, momentum, and energy.  The carts have built-in sensors which can measure position, velocity, acceleration, and force; all of which is transmitted to the students’ laptops in real time.  This allows students to see how the changes in the physical motion of the carts produce the changes in data on the computer screen.  By observing these changes in real time, students make solid connections between visual observations and quantitative data.  In the picture below, students accelerate the cart by tying a string to the force sensor, the other end of which is attached to a mass which hangs over a pulley.  The students see how the velocity of the cart changes as it speeds up.  By varying the mass of the cart or the mass tied to the other end of the string, students derive the relationship between acceleration, force, and mass (Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion) from their own data. Velocity exploration while varying
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Page Keeley Misconception Probes

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Scientific misconceptions are everywhere. Most people believe, for instance, that the mass of a growing tree comes almost entirely from the ground and water. Likewise, many people believe that the increase in temperature and length of the daylight that we have in the summer is due to the relative distance that the Earth is from the Sun . (We are further away from the Sun during the summer than we are in the winter!) These are profound misconceptions that people have regarding common phenomena that they encounter daily. Science misconceptions are tenacious things. These flawed understandings are common around concepts such as seasons, light and energy, gravity, and chemical reactions. Your students will come to you with many of these misconceptions. Why do students have misconceptions in the first place? Watch the NSTA video of Page Keeley to gain insight into why students initially develop misconceptions and how to effectively address them in a science lesson. Page Keeley
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