Teaching Science in High Needs Schools: A Survival Guide

Amy Reynolds Northtown Academy Charter HS

Prior Knowledge

Be cautious about assumptions regarding prior knowledge Literacy Math Science Analytical/Critical Thinking Skills

Meet your students where they are at, pull them up to where you want them to be

Classroom Culture

Science is driven by questions, not a list of facts and definitions

Use current media to connect content to real life

Emphasize team building Structure group work for labs/activities,

everyone is accountable Creating student ownership of the classroom

First Days of School

Expect your class rosters to be constantly changing for the first days/weeks of school

Plan to be flexible, use this time to explore science in the news, team building skills, general science skill development

Assessment & Planning

Plan units around central questions Help students connect daily lessons to these

guiding questions Backwards planning

Plan assessment first, use this to guide daily objectives and lessons

Traditional vs. authentic assessment

Literacy

Helping students build fluency in the content area will develop trust from your students

Ideas for literacy development Model skills for students, provide opportunities

for reading, writing, and discussing ideas Latin prefixes, roots, suffixs ACT has a list of most commonly used

vocabulary in the science section

Meeting Resource Inefficiencies

There exists a lack of resources in inner city schools that would never be accepted in industry Buy a black and white laser printer Budget labs and activities Apply for grants! Share web resource memberships with other

teachers

Scientific Method

Will it float? - Good planning lab Demo - Coke can will sink, Diet Coke will float Have students record observations, ask a

question, and write a hypothesis Provide other variables for them to use to test –

Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Coke with Splenda, Decaffeinated Coke

Record observations, discuss conclusions

Scientific Method

Fly Away Lab Design a paper airplane to fly, make use

weights, tape, paperclips… Provide yarn and yardsticks for measurement Students will do multiple trials, measure and

record data, then graph it and draw conclusions

Scientific Method

Water Droplet Provide eyedroppers, water with blue food dye,

rulers, and large note cards Students will make predictions about the results

of the splash size when dropping the water from differing heights.

Record data, graph, analysis

Scientific Method

“UFOs!: Unidentified Floating Objects” Materials: ginger ale, raisins, large glass beaker Set up beakers right before class by pouring in

fresh ginger ale in and dropping in 5 or so raisins.

Students will observe raisins rising and falling over and over

Follow steps of scientific method to determine why

Science Skills

Tools of the Trade – Measurement Skills Time Mass Length Volume

Metric conversion activity

Characteristics of Life

Glue Monster Have students list what they believe

characterizes life on the board Place the deeper half of a petri dish on the

overhead with water. Use a folder to hide what you are placing in the water and put a couple droplets of Duco Rubber Cement in…add some pencil shavings as “food”

Discuss observations, show students what it was, modify list

Chemistry of Life

Properties of Water – Do it Yourself Demos Pre-lab – Students read about different properties of

water H20 Rising – Tray of water, different sized tubes Penny for your Thoughts – Water, detergent solution,

water droppers Levitating Droplet- Water, oil droplet, slowly add rubbing

alcohol..how many diff. substances? Quick Pepper- Water in beaker, drop in peppercorn, then

pepper flakes…add detergent solution, flakes will then fall. Sitting on top, or floating?

Density of ice

Macromolecules Lab Test for presence of classes of macromolecules Grease spot test for lipids: newspaper,

vegetable oil, sucrose sol. Iodine test for starch Benedict’s test for simple sugar Biuret’s test for proteins

Chemistry of Life

3-D Gumdrop Molecule Models Toothpicks, Dots (preferably aged, less sticky

when stale) See Cornell Institute for Biology Teachers –

printable student activity there with teacher pointers

Chemistry of Life

Phospholipid Bilayer Models Q-tips, straws, glue Halve Q-tips, cotton end = hydrophillic, other

end = hydrophobic Straw sections as protein channels Construct and label structure Relate to cell structure

Chemistry of Life

Liver Catalase Demo Masticated beef liver and Hydrogen peroxide 3 samples: untreated, heated, soaked in acid

solution Can also compare to other living tissues:

potato, apple, etc…

Chemistry of Life

Toothpickase Flat toothpicks, (plastic toothpicks, tape, ice,

paperclips) Student acts as enzyme Record data in intervals to graph Repeat with an “inhibitor” of students choice Good lab to modify for all different levels

Osmosis/Diffusion

Ziploc bags work if you do not have dialysis tubing – corn starch, water, iodine

Expanding/Shrinking egg- do as a demo, too much vinegar = smelly room

Potato cores in varying concentrations of solutions

Cells

Construct models out of household goods Practice microscope skills using newspaper

clippings of the letter “e”, color print, etc… Live cultures from area ponds/streams, or

order from Carolina

Cell Size

Agar Cells Varying sizes of agar cubes with NaOH, time

and measure how far phenylthalein solution diffuses into “cell”

Paper and pencil Draw different size cubes Students calculate surface area, volume,

surface area to volume ratio Apply to understanding cell size

Cellular Energetics

Photosynthesis/Cellular Respiration Elodea, water, bromothymol blue solution,

straws, light source, aluminum foil, saran wrap test tubes, blue food dye

Demo: One student blows bubbles into bromothymol blue, one into food dye…discuss color change

3 test tubes: Control, dark, light…sprig of Elodea in each with BB solution

Record initial and final observations, disscussion questions

Cellular Energetics

Cellular Respiration Erlenmeyer flasks, apple juice (warmed), dry

active yeast, latex balloons 2 flasks of warmed juice…add yeast to one, not

the other…cover with balloon Record observations

Plant in a jar premise

World AIDS Day – Dec. 1st

Most important lesson you may ever teach, needs at least two days Clear plastic cups, dilute NaOH, phenylthalein

indicator Give each student a glass, only one with NaOH…

”exchange fluids”…drop indicator in each students cup

Determine who started with it Discuss real life implications Have students ask any question on notecard,

present answers in presentation the following day

Genetics/Heredity

University of Utah Genetic Science Learning Center: gslc.genetics.utah.edu/ Great interactive activities if you can gain access

to a projector or computer lab Create-a-baby

Use a coin flip to determine the allele contribution of heterozygous parents to offspring

Trait Identification Create a family pedigree using pictures or

family history

DNA

Models – cut and paste (use Modern Genetics Supplement) link whole class’s together and put around room

Candy DNA Replication Red licorice, black licorice, toothpicks, little

multi-colored marshmallows

Gene to Protein

Transcription/Translation Phrase activity Students copy a mRNA transcript from a DNA

sequence (gene) from the “nucleus” and break it into codons. Seek out tRNA anticodon in room to find what “amino acid” (word) it represents to build a “protein” (sentence)

Classification

Classic lab using preserved specimens and dichotomous key

Have students create a dichotomous key for a group of real or imagined organisms, often times this exercise will be in your textbook

Evolution

“Evolution” series by PBS is exceptionally good, use clips as discussion pieces

What have you heard about evolution? - Prior knowledge writing assignment

Field Museum exhibit is awesome, can also loan classroom tools

Timeline of the history of Earth using adding tape, rulers, pictures

Evolution

Contents and Covers - Comparative anatomy using forearm bone structures of different organisms. How are they specialized for function? Match with actual organisms

Comparative embryology lab – students cut embryos of different organisms and decide which is which for 3 stages of development. Graph # answers right/wrong per phase.

Evolution

Natural Selection Bean Lab- Use navy beans, red beans, and black beans.

Make mixture. One color should be adaptive. Initial population mates in pairs, 2 offspring each of adaptive color until no more left. Tally how population changes per generation.

The Discovery of Jelly-bellicus Use 8 diff. color Jelly Belly beans, some that

blend well with cedar chips, others stand out. Natural selection, cryptic coloration, and mimicry

Ecosystems

Population ecology Use the environment surrounding the school,

whatever it is Symbiotic relationships and happy faces,

good memory device

Video clips on parasites never hurt…

Environmental Science

Strip mining and sink holes with Hostess Cup cakes

Coal mining and the humanities – one of the more fun lessons I did in Envi Sci

Alternative energy sources brochures Biome vacation planning

Closing thoughts…

The work you have decided to do here is deeply needed. Go into your schools with a sense of purpose, and don’t forget what that purpose is, even on the worst days.

Get creative! Teaching students who lag behind students nationwide with fewer resources forces you to grow into a better teacher.

If you are not having fun teaching the lesson, chances are your students are not enjoying it either. So have fun, science is cool!!!