Why Learn Science?

Ms. Sevciks
rd
3

Grade
Classroom

The importance of learning science is partly for the content,

but mostly to gain the skills that can be acquired through science
education. The goal of education is to set students up for success in
todays technology filled world and global economy. When students
learn science, they become equipped with these skills that they need
to be successful in our ever-changing world.
When students learn science in an inquisitive and exploratory
way with hands on lessons they learn how to identify problems and
solve them. As students classify items, recognize common fallacies,
create fair tests, and use evidence to find solutions students are
building their critical thinking skills. They use their curiosity and
creativity to understand science and apply what they have learned
to the real world.

Welcome!

21st Century Skills

Hello, I am Miss Sevcik and I

will be teaching your child this
school year. I am very
excited for our time

What are they?

The 21st Century Skills focus on how students are going to live and be
successful outside of the classroom. They are a set of skills that

together and look forward

prepare students to be active participants in and contributors to

to getting to know you and

todays technology-minded and highly competitive world. These skills

your child. Here are some

include employability skills, health literacy, and technology literacy. All

of these skills are emphasized in my lessons so I can prepare

things that will help you see

students to live and function in society when they are older.

what kind of things your

Employability skills are skills students need to have when they work

student will be learning with

me in science this year. With
any questions feel free to
email me at sevcikk@uni.edu
with any questions you have
and I will get back to you as
soon as possible.

in the work force. Health literacy teaches students how to live a

healthy life. Technology literacy is understanding how to use
technology effectively.

Why are they important?

These skills equip students to be productive members of society as

they learn how to communicate information, be innovators,
collaborate with peers, and use technology competently and
creatively. By developing these skills, students are prepared to be
problem-solvers and critical thinkers. When students know how to
problem solve, they know how to take a situation and figure out
various solutions. Critical thinking is when students look at a problem
and think about the situation in an analytical way. These skills
prepare students for the increasingly complex life and work
environments they will face in their futures.

What place will these skills have in the classroom?

When creating their own roller coasters, the students will

collaborate and communicate with their team members to

develop the best roller coaster. Once they run their roller
coaster, they will record it on the iPads. The students will then
present their video to the class.
Students will use the technology such as they app,
Popplet to present their results on the Whirligig experiment. They
will also be demonstrating initiative, creativity, self-direction, and
entrepreneurial thinking as they use a fair test to decide on the
best design for a whirligig.
When learning about projectile motion, students will use
computers to watch and interact with simulations. They will also
manipulate materials as they collaborate with their group as
they explore multiple variables to find the effect these variables
will have on the distance the ping pong ball will travel.. This activity
allows the students to use their problem solving skills and critical
thinking.

How do students best learn science?

Due to childrens natural curiosity, students best learn science when they are allowed to explore
a topic and construct their own understandings of that topic, as opposed to just reading out of a
textbook. This can be achieved by actively engaging students through various experiments and other
hands-on activities with a wide range of materials, collaborating with their peers, and communicating
their ideas to the class. With this said, students will be very involved in their own learning as they
explore real-world problems and scenarios. I will pose questions and challenges that can then lead their
learning and investigations from which students will raise more ideas and more questions that they will
naturally want to explore. They learn how to plan and carry out investigations, observe and record
data, and explain their findings. Through these opportunities to explore science concepts, students are
responsible for their own learning as they construct their knowledge and reflect on their learning with
my guidance and support.

Examples in the Classroom:

Learning about Magnetism- During this unit students will be able to carry out investigations in
order to test their predictions and classify what is attracted to magnets and what is not. I will
do a magic trick using the forces of magnetism and challenge the students to recreate it
using the materials provided. As they explore they will learn what materials are magnetic and
which are not. They will then design their own test to measure the strength of magnets.
From Here to There- Within this activity, students are posed with the problem that they are
working construction on the roof of a two story building and another one of your construction
crews is working on the roof of an adjacent building across the street. Since both crews are
sharing supplies, the students design company needs to find a solution that is simple enough to
get the tools from the top of one building to the other. Given materials and constraints,
students work through the engineering design process to problem solve and find a solution.
Learning about Forces & Motion- Students will be exploring the effect the force of gravity has
on an objects motion by looking at factors such as weight and shape of an object. In this case,
students will be creating their own BEST cars based on speed, by working with weight and
changing the shape of their cars to be more aerodynamic.

Lorem Ipsum Dolor

Issue [#] :: [Date]

What students
can
expect to be doing in my science classroom
What does my inquiry-based classroom look like?
Inquiry-based learning is a method of instruction in which students
are placed at the center of their learning as they are in charge of

References
Why Learn Science
https://docs.google.com/doc
ument/d/12miuaGBxlKNX1mAP74FWU9lFJvu4pG2zst4dskTjAs/edit
21st Century Skills
https://drive.google.com/a/uni
.edu/file/d/0BzQuJMWVEB6nNHpRMW
4wX1h1LXc/view
https://docs.google.com/docu
ment/d/14Y_nsCStB05LUy01Hw6xeZB
PMcS8aXNueXC-dtKMj8/edit?pref=2&pli=1
How Students Learn Best
https://docs.google.com/docu
ment/d/1jNERZpAzgMGtoR6ih0NLg8sckNTAj_qBt7hzD
Xw2z8/edit?pref=2&pli=1
https://docs.google.com/pres
entation/d/1jfnWYScig3rdTN5xNZqiPs
azsshc2JAA0c2WrjO9tfU/edit#slide=
id.p28
What Can Your Student Expect?
https://docs.google.com/doc
ument/d/14UR8vjGZClfoVjrdt6P6FOB
RiOdYdwsT7MJnUH8JcPI/edit
https://docs.google.com/pre
sentation/d/1c2j9PAmiHRdBCmJQ9Zr
sRc9oyNQI0DCCcqyKwBJBzUs/prese
nt?pli=1&ueb=true&slide=id.g10bfbeb0
7_05

planning and carrying out investigations, propose explanations and

solutions, raise questions, use observations to make connections,
and take the opportunity to try out and persevere their own ideas
through numerous experiments. As a teacher within this classroom
I will be less involved and focus on modeling, guiding, facilitating, and
continually assess student work. I create and maintain the
conditions in which students can work as I ask open-ended
questions that encourage investigation and encourage student
discussions.

Topics that will be covered and Examples:

Fair Test- how to plan and carry our fair tests in which
variables are controlled.
o During a pendulum activity, students will be using what
they have learned about conducting a fair test to
investigate the factors that affect the movement
of a pendulum. They will test multiple variables
including mass, displacement, and the length of the
pendulums swing.
Magnets- strength of magnets and what is attracted to
them.
o In a learning center activity called Using the Force,
students will experiment with magnets and a variety
of materials to determine what they are attracted
to and then design a fair test to determine the
strength of the magnetic force.
Forces and Motion- Kinds of force and their relationships
that change how motion works
o During a learning cycle called Rockin Rollercoaster
students will be learning about how motion works as
they design a rollercoaster with noodles and a marble
to learn about how gravity and distance are factors
that change the motion of an object.
Static Electricity- Discover how to create a static charge to
move other objects and which materials work best to
create a charge and why.
o In another learning center activity called Shocking
Science, students will experiment with different
materials to discover how to create a static charge
to move other objects. Students will discover which
materials work best to create a charge and why.
With this knowledge they will design an experiment to
determine the strength of a static charge.