Luann Lee

1. Student Misconceptions: Scientific Literacy and the Nature of Science Luann Lee Orting High School NBCT AYA/Science 1998 (Yes, I renewed.)

2. Goals: • gain understanding of science/scientific literacy and the nature of science • strategies to help students deepen their own conceptual understanding

3. Scientific literacy vs. science literacy • Scientific literacy • term introduced in 1958 (Hurd, 1958; McCurdy, 1958) • implies “the capacity to pose and evaluate arguments based on evidence and to apply conclusions from such arguments appropriately” (Schneps, 1988) • no universally accepted definition (DeBoer, 2000) • Science Literacy • attained when students acquire knowledge of and fluency with the social practices, cultural assumptions, and tools* of science..... • .... in addition to learning the subject matter (Lemke 1990, Moje et al 2001, Moje et al 2004)

4. (Long version, from the NSES) • ..... “that a person can ask, find, or determine answers to questions derived from curiosity about everyday experiences. It means that a person has the ability to describe, explain, and predict natural phenomena. Scientific literacy entails being able to read with understanding articles about science in the popular press and to engage in social conversation about the validity of the conclusions. Scientific literacy implies that a person can identify scientific issues underlying national and local decisions and express positions that are scientifically and technologically informed. A literate citizen should be able to evaluate the quality of scientific information on the basis of its source and the methods used to generate it” (National Research Council, 1996, p. 23).

5. Science Literacy and the Nature of Science • From the NSES pg 2: • “the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity”

6. Buzzword Alert......

7. “Scientific habits of mind” • thought processes needed to understand the Nature of Science (NOS) • as interconnected and validated ideas about the physical, biological, psychological, and social worlds that are particular ways of observing, thinking, experimenting, and validating ideas (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1990). NOS has been referred to as the epistemology of science, science as a way of knowing, or the values and beliefs inherent to the development of science knowledge (Lederman & Zeidler, 1987; McComas, 1998). Other common descriptions include science as a body of knowledge, a method, and a way of knowing (Lederman, 1992).

8. ................ • It is generally agreed that there is more agreement than disagreement in various descriptions, particularly at the practical application level for the elementary science teacher. • (Lee, 2004)

9. *Tools needed:

10. Who (or what) slammed the door?

11. What makes your idea a hypothesis?

12. Hypothesis: • educated guess • idea based on observations • can be tested • is potentially falsifiable • is most useful if it allows the prediction of behavior • (Dodson, 2002)

13. Today’s task: • Divide up jobs at your table. Take a different job today. • Materials person should cut apart the numbered statements. • Read each statement. • Choose criteria* for dividing the statements into categories. • Place each statement into a category. • Be able to explain your criteria. • * we generally have a discussion about criteria

14. Learning Targets for Activity: • Be able to operationally define, explain, and apply your definitions to distinguish between examples of the following terms: • law • theory • hypothesis

15. Hypothesis: • idea based on observations • can be tested • is potentially falsifiable • is most useful if it allows the prediction of behavior • (Dodson, 2002)

16. Laws: • describe an event that has been observed over and over, many many times. • describe observations that have been made independently • may be written in the form of an equation

17. Theories: • are an explanation for some phenomenon • are based on • observation • experimentation • reasoning • supported by lots of independent evidence • do not conflict with any existing experimental results, observations, or evidence

18. Conclusion • Revisit your statements in their piles. Discuss how you might change your piles, and your criteria.

19. Summary • Revisit your initial definitions and make needed changes. • How are these terms used differently in science than in everyday communication? • On a half sheet of paper, please write your name, your job, and answer these questions: • What was the learning target, in your own words? • Did you meet the learning target? Explain how you know. • What questions do you still have? • There seem to be very few laws in Biology. Why might this be? You may speculate.

20. Modifications • for learners in elementary or middle school: • Use familiar concepts • Limit number of examples • Other ideas? Please share!

21. “All things vegetable”

22. (How NOT to design an investigation) “By this apparatus I have learned that all things vegetable arise directly and in a material sense from the element of water alone. I took an earthen pot and in it placed 200 pounds of earth which had been dried out in an oven. This I moistened with rain water, and in it planted a shoot of willow which weighed five pounds. When five years had passed the tree which grew from it weighed 169 pounds and about three ounces. The earthen pot was wetted whenever it was necessary with rain or distilled water only. It was very large, and was sunk in the ground, and had a tin plated iron lid with many holes punched in it, which covered the edge of the pot to keep air-borne dust from mixing with the earth. I did not keep track of the weight of the leaves which fell in each of the four autumns. Finally, I dried out the earth in the pot once more, and found the same 200 pounds, less about 2 ounces. Thus, 164 pounds of wood, bark, and roots had arisen from water alone." “Digging Deeper into Helmont's Famous Willow Tree Experiment”, David R. Hershey The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 53, No. 8 (Nov. - Dec., 1991), pp. 458-460 Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4449369

23. Arbitrary terms • “It’s only a theory” • “prove” • What is the place of each in science?

24. Common Misconceptions • http://www.darylscience.com/Misconceptions.htm

25. Resources • http://www/chemistar.com • link on page to conference documents • “Digging Deeper into Helmont's Famous Willow Tree Experiment” David R. Hershey. The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 53, No. 8 (Nov. - Dec., 1991), pp. 458-460 Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4449369

26. Contact: • http://www.chemistar.com for link to download today’s materials • follow me on Twitter: • http://www.twitter.com/stardiverr • www.storiesfromschool.org • www.chemistar.com/blog • luann@chemistar.com

27. Children are more likely to achieve higher levels of scientific literacy when taught by teachers who themselves are scientifically literate and possess the pedagogical skills to share this understanding with their students (Bianchini & Colburn, 2000; Brunkhorst, 1992; Goodrum, Hackling, & Rennie, 2001; Yager, 1966).