Misconceptions, M

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Misconceptions, MMs, and Making Ice-Cream
Enhancing Middle School Science Teaching and
Learning

• Andrea S. Foster, PhD
• Sam Houston State University
• El Paso, TX
• June 26, 2006

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Lets Warm Up!

• Pour some water in the cup on your table. Select
  a candy that has a nice clear m on it. Place
  it m side up in the water. Now watch
  carefully.

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A Sweet Discovery!

• Princeton physicist Paul Chaikin's passion for
  MM's candies was so well known that his students
  played a sweet practical joke on him by leaving a
  55-gallon drum of the candies in his office
• Little did they know that their prank would lead
  to a physics breakthrough

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Sweet Science

• The barrel full of the oblate little candies made
  Chaikin think about how well they packed in. A
  series of studies have shown they pack more
  tightly than perfect spheres -- something that
  surprises many physicists and Chaikin himself.

• The issue of how particles pack together has
  intrigued scientists for centuries and has
  implications for fields such as the design of
  high-density ceramic materials for use in
  aerospace or other industries.

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Wow!

• Chaikin and his colleague, chemist Salvatore
  Torquato, used the candies to investigate the
  physical and mathematical principles involved
  when particles are poured randomly into a vessel.
  
• Writing in an issue of the journal Science, they
  said they found that oblate spheroids -- such as
  plain MM's -- pack surprisingly more densely
  than regular spheres when poured randomly and
  shaken.
• When poured in, they said, spheres occupy about
  64 percent of the space in a container. MM's
  manage to pack in at a density of about 68
  percent.

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Hows that M?Has it risen to the surface?Why?

• (titanium oxide)
• Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium (IV)
  oxide or titania, is the naturally occurring
  oxide of titanium, chemical formula TiO2. When
  used as a pigment, it is called titanium white or
  Pigment White 6. Titanium dioxide occurrences in
  nature are never pure it is found with
  contaminant metals such as iron. The oxides can
  be mined and serve as a source for commercial
  titanium.

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Workshop Goals --Heres the Scoop!
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By the end of today we will have. . .

• Reviewed and analyzed some conceptual change
  research literature
• Identified some common middle school science
  misconceptions
• Explored a few powerful learning experiences in
  the context of inquiry
• Deconstructed a good science activity to make
  it better (standards-based),
• Reflected on our own science teaching and
  learning experiences and
• Had a good time!

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Ice Cream Breaker

• Identify the ice cream flavor on your back by
  asking colleagues only YES or NO questions.
• For example
• Do I have nuts?
• The flavors are non-traditional. They come from
  Baskin and Robins list of July flavors.
• You have five minutes. GO!

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What is your favorite Ice Cream Flavor?

• Chocolate
• Vanilla
• Strawberry
• Butter Pecan

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What does your choice of ice cream flavor say
about you?

• Chocolate
• Friendly, reliable, good group worker
• Vanilla
• Highly intelligent, linear, task-oriented
• Strawberry
• Highly creative, artistic, an idea person
• Butter Pecan
• Party animal! Highly social . . . also know to
  be a
• bit preoccupied with sex! ?

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Interesting Ice Cream Factoids

• The United States is the largest consumer of ice
  cream Americans eat 24 quarts per capita
  annually.
• Ninety-eight percent of all U.S. households buy
  ice-cream.
• The biggest consumer group is males between the
  ages of 15 and 18, who eat ice cream once every
  three days on the average.
• Source The Latest Scoop International Dairy
  Foods Association

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Todays Agenda

• Warm Up Activities
• Powerful Learning
• Inquiry Teaching Learning
• Conceptual and Procedural Concepts
• Break
• Ice-Cream Lab
• Five E Instructional Model
• LUNCH (1130 - 1)
• Understanding the Science TEKS
• Ice Cream Cone Cartography Mapping Exercise
• Creating a Better Ice Cream Lesson
• Break
• Group Share
• The Ice Cream Cone Metaphor
• Reflection Evaluation
• Good Humor Closure
• A Story

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FOCUS QUESTIONS

• What is inquiry?
• What does it look like in your classroom?
• What are students doing in an inquiry-based
  classroom?
• What is the teacher doing in an inquiry-based
  classroom?

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Film Clips

• Is this an inquiry lesson? Why? Why not?

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John Dewey, 1916

• No one has ever explained why children are so
  full of questions outside of school . . . And
  there is a conspicuous absence of curiosity about
  subject-matter of school lessons.

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What is Inquiry?

• Inquiry is a multifaceted activity that involves
  making observations posing questions examining
  books and other sources of information to see
  what is already known planning and conducting
  investigations reviewing what is already down in
  light of experimental evidence using tools to
  analyze, and interpret data proposing answers
  explanations and predictions and communicating
  results.
• National Academy of Science, 1996

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Inquiry Defined

• Inquiry is a simple three-syllable word that
  requires a paragraph to explain and a vision to
  make it real.
• National Science Foundation, 1997

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Inquiry Teaching

• Inquiry teaching leads students through the
  experience of scientific inquiry.
• Students build their understandings of the
  fundamental scientific ideas through direct
  experience with materials, by consulting
  resources that include experts, and through
  argument and debate among themselves.
• Stuessy Thomas, 1998

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Inquiry Teaching

• Inquiry teaching requires students to orchestrate
  prior and new knowledge and skills with their
  innate qualities of curiosity, openness, and
  skepticism. Inquiry teaching requires highly
  skilled teachers, knowledgeable about content and
  pedagogy who can structure learning experiences
  that challenge students to formulate and ask
  questions and shape their own learning.
• Stuessy Thomas, 1998