Florida Atlantic University College of Education

1. Spring 2011 - SCE 4350 Principles and Methods: K-9 School Science Florida Atlantic UniversityCollege of Education Instructor: Dr. Ronald C. Persin, University of Pittsburgh, B.S. Duquesne University, M. Ed. Florida Atlantic University, Ed.D. Phone : 561-251-1479 Email: rpersin@fau.edu Website: www.Lnk2Lrn.com

2. What is Science? What is Technology?

3. Science is the study of the natural world in order to understand it. (National Science Education Standards, National Research Council, 1996.) Florida Atlantic UniversityCollege of Education Technology is the application of science to the natural world order to satisfy perceived human wants and needs. (Standards for Technological Literacy, ITEA, 2000)

4. Science involves: • Building theories and models • Constructing arguments • Using specialized ways of talking, writing and representing phenomena • Ex. finding average speed of falling object

5. Is concerned with processes that seek out the meaning of the natural world by “inquiry”, “discovering what is”, “exploring”, and using“the Scientific Method”. Is concerned with such processes that we use to alter/change the natural world such as “Invention”, Innovation”, Practical Problem Solving, and Design. Science vs. Technology

6. Whether A Field is a Science is Based on 6 Criteria • Has an organized body of knowledge • Results are reproducible • Has well-developed experimental methods • Enables predictions, including surprises • Offers hypotheses open to falsification • Deals with natural objects

7. Keeping Science Explanations Simple Occam's razor is the principle that “entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity.” That is, the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. The principle is attributed to 14th-century English scientist/mathematician William of Ockham. Ex. – Crop Circles (made by UFO’s or people?)

8. The Nature of Inquiry • Asking questions • Planning investigations • Gathering data • Using scientific knowledge to make sense of data • Communicating results to others Example: What is the average thickness of a sheet of paper?

9. Students in grades K-8 can do more in science. Agreement is needed on topics to emphasize in teaching. Science classrooms need to provide opportunities for students to engage in inquiry. Good science teaching requires more than knowledge of content. Science teaching requires cultural awareness. Key Ideas From the Settlage Text

10. How to Represent Knowledge (Settlage text): A Concept Map presents the relationships among a set of connected concepts and ideas. Concepts are enclosed in a rectangle (box), and connected to other concept boxes by arrows. A word or brief phrase defines the relationship. (example) Mnemonics (pronounced "ne-mon'-ics") is the art of assisting the memory by using a system of artificial aids - rhymes, rules, phrases. All help in the recall of names, dates, facts and figures. (example)

11. Does the color of food or drinks affect whether or not we like them? Does music have an affect on plant growth? Which kind of food do dogs (or any animal) prefer best? Which paper towel brand is the strongest? What is the best way to keep an ice cube from melting? Can background noise levels affect how well we concentrate? Does acid rain affect the growth of aquatic plants? What is the best way to keep cut flowers fresh the longest? Does the color of light used on plants affect how well they grow? What plant fertilizer works best? The Scientific Method • Define the problem • Gather information • State your hypothesis • Test your hypothesis • Form your conclusion • Publish your results

12. Recent Important Developments in Science • Landing of astronauts on the Moon, and numerous space missions . • Micro-circuitry and high-speed computers. • Imaging techniques used in scientific research and medicine. • Mapping the Human Genome.

13. Created in 1795 by the French Academy of Science to unify existing systems. Original meter was one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the Equator measured along the Prime Meridian. In the 1900’s this was changed to a certain number of wavelengths of light. The Metric System

14. Prefix Symbol Power Example nano n 10-9 nanometer micro µ 10-6 microsecond milli m 10-3 milligram centi c 10-2 centimeter giga G 109 gigahertz mega M 106 megajoule kilo k 103 kilogram Some Metric Prefixes

15. The 7 Basic SI Units 1. Meter - length 2. Kilogram - mass 3. Second - time 4. Kelvin - temperature These are units of the SI System (Système International). 5. Ampere - electric current 6. Candela - luminous intensity 7. Mole - amount of substance

16. Metric Metric powers of 10 move decimal point English Metric conversion factors proportion method unit cancellation method (examples) Converting measurements

17. 12 in. 1 in. = X 2.54 cm Proportion method 12 in. = ? cm it is known that 1 in. = 2.54 cm Set up in proportion form. Be sure to match units Cross multiply then divide X = (12  2.54)  1 = 30.48 Therefore, 12 in. = 30.48 cm

18. Problem Solving (5 steps) What is given? Identify the unknown Write the formula relating unknown to known Solve the formula for the unknown Substitute-in the known data and simplify Example – Newton, Law II: “Force equals mass times acceleration.” Equation: F = ma

19. Used for expressing very large or very small values standard form base x 10exponent base is from 1.0 to 9.999… if exponent is positive the value is greater than 1 if exponent is negative the value is less than 1 convert to decimal by moving the decimal the number of places indicated by the exponent (examples) Scientific Notation

20. Used to write numbers in compact form move the decimal to show a value in the range of 1 to 10 include the metric prefix to indicate the number of decimal places moved (more examples) Proper SI form 325,000,000 m = 325 Mm

21. Significant digits The digits reported in a measured quantity Indicate the precision of the measuring instrument Calculations should not have more significant digits than the measurement with the least number of significant digits (examples) The End.