SPIRAL
EDUC
481/681 TEACHER PREPARATION FOR INTEGRATED SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS, AND TECHNOLOGY
I
SYLLABUS
Office: 231 Weyandt Hall Office:
203 Davis Hall
Phone: 357-4482 Phone: 357-2978
Course
Goal:
The goal of this course is to provide teams of
elementary through secondary preservice and inservice teachers and
administrators with training in interdisciplinary content and technology. This will be accomplished by providing SPIRAL (Science/Mathematics/Technology
Preparation
Involving
Real-world
Active
Learning)
activities that integrate innovative technologies with proven inquiry and
collaborative-based teaching strategies to strengthen science and mathematics
instruction across gender, ethnic, age, and ability groups.
Objectives
and Professional Development Activities:
The overall objectives of this course are to:
1. Introduce
project teams to instructional strategies that emphasize the SPIRAL nature of learning and that
enhance collaboration and cooperation among students, develop investigative
skills, and create low-risk learning environments.
2. Significantly
increase the participants' content knowledge in all SPIRAL disciplines.
3. Provide
participants with SPIRALed, hands-on
classroom, laboratory, and field activities which integrate science,
mathematics, and technology and promote student-centered learning.
4. Equip
educators and their students with tools, training, and technical support needed
to carry out selected SPIRAL
activities in their school settings.
5. Provide
project participants with information regarding inclusion of special needs
students, and student learning styles, career options in science and
mathematics (for dissemination among their students).
6. Develop
a preliminary network of administrators, preservice and inservice teachers
(public, private, home, and vocational), and professional models and mentors
from the IUP Teacher Education Center.
Learning Outcomes for
Teachers:
Participants will be able to:
1. Use
models of teaching that emphasize the inquiry approach and cooperative
learning.
2. Significantly
increase their content knowledge in all SPIRAL
disciplines.
3. Collect
and collate a representative sample of cross-disciplinary, SPIRAL activities for use in K-12 science and mathematics
classrooms, laboratories, and field sites.
4. Demonstrate
how inquiry-based instruction and collaboration contribute to creating a
low-risk, student-centered learning environment.
5. Use
technology in their home schools to enhance the teaching-learning process.
6. Demonstrate
awareness of special needs students and diverse learning styles in the
teaching/learning of science and mathematics.
7. Encourage
their students to pursue careers in science and mathematics by providing them
with information on the wide spectrum of careers available in these
disciplines.
8. Join
a network of professional scientists and mathematicians for the purpose of
exploring real life problems and providing role models and mentors for
themselves and their students.
Content (Concepts, Skills
and Teaching Strategies to be Learned):
LIGHT--
Concepts:
·
light as energy
·
speed of light
·
light, color, and vision
·
primary colors that make up white light
·
incandescence vs. luminescence
·
types of luminescence (triboluminescence,
phosphorescence, fluorescence, chemiluminescence, bioluminescence);
·
light intensity, distance, temperature, and the
rate of reaction that causes the lightstick to glow
·
energy of activation of a chemical reaction
·
constant and intermittent light
·
refracting vs. reflecting telescopes
·
light, shadow, and image formation
·
absorbancy and transmittance of light through a
solution
Skills:
·
draw rays to represent the direction of
travelling light
·
classify emitted light as triboluminescence,
phosphorescence, fluorescence, or chemiluminescence
·
collect data using the CBL system and probes
·
analyze data sets using linear, power, and
exponential regressions
·
qualitatively analyze how the intensity of light
emitted by a lightsticks is affected by temperature
·
determine the relationship between light
intensity, temperature, and the rate of reaction that causes the lightstick to
glow
·
determine the energy of activation
·
determine the relationship between light
intensity and the distance from the light source
·
use a star’s spectrum to determine star composition
·
interpret a Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
·
determine the major characteristics of a star
(temperature, color, class, absolute magnitude, type, age)
·
use a CBL system/colorimeter
·
use light to investigate the effect of alcohol
on biological membranes
·
measure absorbance of light
ECOSYSTEM--
Concepts:
·
plant and animal populations
·
population size with respect to food
availability
·
ecosystems and basic life support systems
therein
·
factors, especially contaminants, that influence
metabolic rates of plants and animals
·
impact of human activities on the occurrence and
abundance of aquatic invertebrates
·
the concept of indicator species
·
physical properties of matter
·
mixtures
·
separation of mixtures and identification of
compounds according to their physical properties
·
chemical composition of stream water
·
effects of concentrations of nutrients,
dissolved oxygen, and heavy metal contaminants on aquatic plants and animals
·
accuracy and precision of instruments
·
man-made pesticides and their effects on the
environment
·
semiochemicals
·
basic minerals which form rocks
·
soil composition
·
soil types
·
fossils
·
rock types where fossils are found
·
paleo environments
·
topographic maps
·
geologic maps
·
soil percolation rates
·
linear functions
·
exponential functions
·
power functions
·
logistic functions
·
graphs
Skills:
·
use the CBL to measure environmental parameters
·
conduct a rapid bioassay of a stream
·
design and carrying out inquiry investigations
·
use science process skills such as observing,
inferring, classifying, formulating investigative questions, hypothesizing,
collecting data, analyzing data, graphing, and drawing conclusions
·
communicate and explain results of
investigations
·
use a variety of simple and complex measuring
instruments
·
conduct a variety of field and laboratory
investigative techniques
·
selectively extract desired substance(s) from a
mixture
·
filter
·
measure concentrations of substances using a
color cube, color wheel, and the CBL unit and probes
·
perform thin layer chromatography
·
perform gas chromatography/mass spectrometry
·
identify minerals
·
conduct quantitative and qualitative soil tests
·
identify fossil types
·
use software to determine abundance of fossils
·
perform quantitative and qualitative analysis to
correlate climatic conditions to geological environment
·
read topographic and geologic maps
·
draw cross-section plots of land
·
analyze cross-section plots of land using
contour interval and scale exaggeration analysis
·
measure soil percolation rates using fluorescein
·
graph using the graphing calculator
·
collect data with the CBR system and the CBL
system with the temperature, light, and pH probes
·
use curve fitting techniques to fit data to
appropriate linear or nonlinear models
LIGHT
AND ECOSYSTEM--
Teaching Strategies:
The teachers and administrators will learn
instructional strategies that:
1. emphasize
the SPIRAL nature of learning.
2. promote
hands-on learning.
3. enhance
collaboration and cooperation among students.
4. develop
investigative skills in students.
5. stimulate
creative thinking.
6. create
low-risk learning environments.
Books and Materials to be
Used:
Books:
1.
Guide
Book to Rocks
2.
Soil
Book
3.
Field
Guides
4.
Glow
in the Dark Night Sky Book
5.
Math
and Science in Motion Activity Book
6.
Modeling
Motion Activity Book
7.
Graphing
Calculator Activity Book
8.
Physical
Science with CBL Activity Book
9.
Biology
with CBL Activity Book
10.
Chemistry
with CBL Activity Book
11.
Physics
with CBL Activity Book
12.
Water
Quality with CBL Activity Book
13.
Real
World Math with CBL Activity Book
Materials:
1.
TI-83
Plus graphing calculators plus viewscreens
2.
CBL
kits and probes (biology gas pressure, light, temperature, pH, colorimeter)
3.
CBR
(Calculator-Based Ranger – a motion detector)
4.
Software
·
CD-ROM
resource materials (such as Topo Map, Mineral ID, Lake Study)
·
GraphLink
5.
Digital
cameras
6.
Lorax
video
7.
Geoscience
field and lab equipment (magnets, picks, chisels, streak plates, rocks, maps,
and compasses)
8.
Magnifying
lenses
9.
Hand-held
microscopes
10.
Tape
measures
11.
Collection
boxes
12.
Pipettes
13.
Kick
nets
14.
Dissecting
forceps
15.
Thin
layer chromatography plates
16.
HACH
color cube and color wheel kits for nitrogen, iron, and phosphorus
17.
HACH
digital titrator for dissolved oxygen
18.
Flashlight
batteries, holders, wires, and flashlight bulbs
19.
UV
lamps
20.
pH
testers
21.
Fluorescent,
blue light experiment kits
22.
Phosphorescent
goofy, glowing gel kits
23.
Lightsticks
24.
Color
filters
25.
Mirror
sets
26.
Light
kits
27.
Soil
percolation supplies