GSC 201 Teaching of General Science

MY Mid Term paper

Total Questions 17

Total Marks 35

. What are the characteristics of assessment?

1. Content Validity

2. Reliability

3. Fairness

4. Student Engagement and Motivation

5. Consequential Relevance -
4. What factors do the teacher should keep in mind during
summative assessment?
Teachers who are privy to student discussions and able to making ongoing
observations are in the best position to assess many of the educational goals
including areas such as inquiry. Therefore, teachers need to become more
involved in summative assessments for purposes beyond reporting on
student progress and achievement to others in the system. Practices within
the United States and in other countries provide us with possibilities of how
to better tap into teachers ' summative assessments to augment or
complement external exams.
In Queensland, Australia, for example, the state moved away from their
state-wide examination and placed the certification of students in the hands
of teachers (Butler, 1995). Teachers meet in regional groups to exchange
results and assessment methods with colleagues. They justify their
assessments and deliberate with colleagues from other schools to help
ensure that the different schools are holding their students to comparable
standards and levels of achievement. Additional examples of the role of
teacher judgment in external assessment in other countries are discussed in
the next chapter.

Accountability efforts that exclude teachers from assessing their students'

work are often justified on grounds that teachers could undermine the
reliability by injecting undue subjectivity and personal bias. This argument
has some support based on results of efforts in VT and KY. However, as the
teachers in Queensland engage in deliberation and discussion (a procedure
called moderation), steps are taken that mitigate the possible loss of
reliability. To help ensure consistency among different teachers in moderation
sessions, teachers exchange samples of student work and discuss their
respective assessments of the work. These deliberations, in which the
standards for judging quality work are discussed, have proved effective in
developing consistency in scoring by the teachers. Moderation also serves as
an effective form of professional development because teachers sharpen
their perspectives about the quality of student work that might be expected,
as is illustrated in the next chapter. In the United States, teacher-scoring
committees for Advanced Placement exams follow this model.

Moderation is expensive and not always practical. There are other ways to
maintain reliability and involve teachers in summative assessments that
serve accountability and reporting purposes. In Connecticut, the science
portion of the state assessment system involves teachers selecting from a
list of tasks and using them in conjunction with their own curriculum and
contexts. The state provides the teachers with exemplars and criteria, and
the teachers are responsible for scoring.
5. Give an example of materials used in a scientific experiment.

Materials List
 CD player & a CD (low drain device)
 Three identical flashlights (medium drain device)
 Camera flash (high drain device)
 AA size Duracell and Energizer batteries
 AA size of a "heavy-duty" (non-alkaline) battery (I used Panasonic)
 Voltmeter & a AA battery holder
 Kitchen timer
Experimental Procedure

1. Number each battery so you can tell them apart.

2. Measure each battery's voltage by using the voltmeter.
3. Put the same battery into one of the devices and turn it on.
4. Let the device run for thirty minutes before measuring its voltage
again. (Record the voltage in a table every time it is measured.)
5. Repeat step 4 until the battery is at 0.9 volts or until the device stops.
6. Do steps 1–5 again, three trials for each brand of battery in each
experimental group.
7. For the camera flash push the flash button every 30 seconds and
measure the voltage every 5 minutes.
 8. For the flashlights rotate each battery brand so each one has a turn in
each flashlight.
9. For the CD player repeat the same song at the same volume
throughout the test

6. How do you teach students to form a hypothesis?

A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For

a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that
one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on
previous observations that cannot satisfactorily be explained with the
available scientific theories. Even though the words "hypothesis" and
"theory" are often used synonymously, a scientific hypothesis is not the
same as a scientific theory. A working hypothesis is a provisionally accepted
hypothesis proposed for further research

1:Write an example of simple classification?

Students were able to deepen and extend their observation skills to include
classification. They learnt to classify liquids at different levels (from simple to
complex).

1. For example simple step of classification was matching liquids using a

known property or matching liquids using a secret property.

2. The example of complex step was to classifying the liquids into two and
three groups.

Students developed the skill to interpret their observations/findings and

identified the similarities and differences of a pair of liquids.
They participated in a collective discussion, shared ideas, listened to others,
agreed and disagreed and constructed new understandings
2:How can you teach a concept of “matter” to students?

I did these last year with my Kindergarten class. It was awesome! I took
photos of each step and we made a class book using interactive writing to
 describe the process. I also used this as an opportunity to talk about the
changing states of matter....from liquid to gas when the water boils and when
the colored jello water hardens to solid jello. It was a great experience. Good
luck!

3:What is the difference between traditional and guided approach?

Traditional vs. Inquiry Approach

Learning progression describes what children know and learn about a

topic/strand as they move from one grade to another. It focuses on concept
building as concepts become more difficult in higher grades. Learning
progression is based on benchmarks for that particular topic.

The benchmarks can be taught to the students through traditional teaching

approach or through inquiry based approach. A comparison of the traditional
and inquiry based practices for teaching of science is listed below:

1) In the traditional approach content is taught before doing any activity

hence activities confirm the content. But in inquiry based curricula, activity
leads to the content or to the discovery of content.

2) In the traditional approach information is given to students when they are

taught content but in inquiry based approach the focus is on building
concepts of students.

3) In the traditional classroom students do not have any role in planning the
lesson or activity but in the inquiry classroom students are involved in the
lessons.

4) Traditional approach is teacher directed but in inquiry approach students

are involved in activities and directions are given by the teacher.

5) The focus of the traditional approach is on obtaining the right answers and
inquiry approach focuses on the process of learning that students undergo
during the investigative process.

4:What is the difference between powder jelly and liquid jelly?

 The main idea of this lecture is to enable the students to differentiate
between dry jelly powder and the liquid jelly. Teacher explained the concepts
of melting and dissolving to students. Solid melt when it is taken out of the
fridge or it is given heat. For dissolving, solids need to be mixed into the
liquids. For example, when we mix sugar or salt into water it disappears.

Making jelly, observing and recording different stages of jelly

Overview

· Children worked in pairs, made jelly by adding hot water to jelly crystals,
stirred the mixture and finally put it in the fridge.

· They compared the jelly crystals with the liquid jelly. They carefully
observed the liquid as jelly crystals dissolved.

· They shared and recorded their findings by drawing pictures and by writing
observations.

Learning objectives

Concepts

o Students understood that when a solid is dissolved in a liquid it “disappeared”

– it was spread evenly and was no longer visible.

o A solid melted or changed into a liquid when it was heated.

o Some properties of solids and liquids changed when they were mixed
together and some stayed the same.

Skills/ Abilities

Students were able to:

§ handle materials and simple equipment.

§ observed carefully using most of their senses: seeing, feeling, smelling and
tasting.

§ identify the changes.

§ They put the events into current order.

§ Identify properties such as appearance texture, smell and taste.

§ use the appropriate words to describe properties of jelly liquid. They extended
their scientific vocabulary.

§ Students participated in a collective discussion and constructed new

understanding.

§ keep record of their exploration in pictures and words.

Attitudes

Students wrote details while writing about the observations.

They kept the records of their findings.

They developed an interest in and enthusiasm for investigating properties of

materials.

Materials for the activity

v For each student teacher provided an observation sheet to record the

different stages of making jelly.

v And for pair of student a transparent plastic cup, 4 plastic teaspoons and
tissue papers. Three flavors of jelly powder for16 cups of jellies. And supply
of hot water.

Class activity

Teacher gave a cup of jelly powder to each pair of students and pour hot
water in their cups. She asked them to mix the jelly powder in the water and
carefully
observed

what happened. Students started stirring the powder into the water and
observed that jelly crystals were disappeared.

At this stage the teacher explained that jelly powder was dissolved into the
water. She told the students about melting and dissolving. She said that
melting and dissolving both are different phenomena. She gave the example
of ice, that it melts when we put it out of the fridge or heat it.. On the
contrary, solids dissolved when we mixed them with liquids.

After observing the whole activity teacher gave the worksheets to each
student to test their observation skills. Students wrote their names and date
on the sheet. There was a column of word bank on the sheet, where the
 teacher had written all the words in English and Urdu. Teacher discussed all
the vocabulary with the students. There was also a column for the students
where they had to draw the pictures of jelly crystal before and after it
dissolved based on their observations. Students wrote their ideas about the
shape, color, smell and taste of jelly on the worksheets and at the end of
lesson discussed it with the teacher..

5:What skills you developed in the students by observing bicycle

part and their functions.

Students are able to observe a bicycle and

1. Identify and explain the function of different parts of bicycle.

2. Identify the major materials that make-up the object.

3. Identify the properties of the materials that make them suitable for use in
the object.
Learn to make connections between structure of different parts, the material
they are made of and their functions using logical reasoning and evidence
6:Being a teacher, how can you explain about materials?

Materials

For each student

A worksheet for recording temperature of different objects or children can be

given a template and they can record in their science note books.

For groups of three students

- 1 alcohol in glass laboratory thermometer

- 1 beaker containing tap water

- 1 chart depicting the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales (optional)

- 1 chart with a table for recording temperature

- 1 one – litre empty plastic bottle to which a ballon is attached.

- 1 plastic or glass bottle e.g. empty bottle of Shezan works out best one
third filled with colored water with a straw in it, not touching the bottom and
sealed/held in place from the top by using modeling clay.

- A basin or pans of aluminium foil

- Supply of hot water

7:What is the process of formative Cycle?

A formative assessment occurs mid-cycle provides feedback that informs an

educator’s practice, showing where she/he stands relative to standards and
goals, and what she/he can work on next. The formative assessment and the
summative evaluation use the same format in the Educator Development
and Feedback System. A formative assessment can be used to change an
educator to a more or less directed plan if concerns have emerged or
performance has improved significantly.

Example of Formative assessment (Lesson 1 Teaching of General

Science)

For example in Lesson 1 of teaching of general science. We did experiments

with candle, cotton and other objects. Students observed theses objects and
describe their properties. The goal of our lesson was also that students must
be able to describe all the objects, use the two or three dimensional shapes
and define their properties. Teacher assessed the student’s prior knowledge
first.

Stage 1: Goals

Our goals were to understand that property is a characteristic used to

describe an object and observed the objects and described them in terms of
their color, shape, size and texture. Also developed the related vocabulary.

Stage 2:

Teacher collected evidence of student thinking related to the property.

Stage 3:

Teacher interpreted evidence of student thinking that students could not

differentiate between a square and rectangle, or rectangle and a cuboid.

Stage 4:

Teacher referred to the shapes chart which she had made for student’s
understanding of the shapes. She had put the chart on the board. Than she
placed the cleaning pad against to the shapes of square and rectangle and
asked to the students which shape is identical to the cleaning pad.

Stage 5:
Teacher asked reflective questions such as “make a choice – which shape
does your cleaning pad resemble?” she also talked about the difference
between a square and rectangle. All sides of square are equal; only opposite
pair of sides of a rectangle are equal.

1 summative assessment?

Summative assessment takes place after the learning has been completed
and provides information and feedback that sums up the teaching and
learning process. Typically, no more formal learning is taking place at this
 stage, other than incidental learning which might take place through the
completion of projects and assignments.

Examples of summative assessment:

v Examinations (major, high-stakes exams)

v Final examination (a truly summative assessment)

v Performances

v Student evaluation of the course (teaching effectiveness)

Instructor self-evaluation
2.

formative assessment?

Formative assessment provides feedback and information during the

instructional process, while learning is taking place, and while learning is
occurring. Formative assessment measures student progress but it can also
assess our own progress as an instructor.

Examples of formative assessment

§ Observations during in-class activities; of students non-verbal

feedback during lecture

§ Homework exercises as review for exams and class discussions)

§ Reflections journals that are reviewed periodically during the

Semester

§ Question and answer sessions, both formal—planned and

informal—spontaneous

§ Conferences between the instructor and student at various points

in the semester

§ In-class activities where students informally present their results

§ Student feedback collected by periodically answering specific

question about the instruction and their self-evaluation of

performance and progress

3.

How can u link formative assessment to inquiry?

Different stages of inquiry that can be an entry point to assess the student
learning are:

o Observing- interacting with the material

o Talking to each other

o Raising questions

o Sharing or communicating the findings

Each of the above stages of inquiry is an entry point for the teacher to carry
out assessment that will provide information on how students understand
science concepts, and on how effectively they are using the skills of science.

The teacher can then use this information to determine what next steps
students need to take in order to increase their understanding of science
concepts and improve their ability to use the process skills of science. The
teacher can then guide students in ways that will help them take next steps
in learning.
Inquiry based teaching provides continuous opportunities for formative
assessment. While formative assessment is essential when teaching science
through inquiry, this powerful teaching strategy can also be applied
effectively to all science teaching approaches – traditional book centered
learning and paper and pencil tests
4.

which qualities students should have while reporting observation?

 The role of the teacher as a facilitator is that he/she must ask such questions
that focus the attention of the students towards the salient features under
observation. Teachers must also help the students to ask questions

5.

Rubric assessment?

A rubric for assessment, usually in the form of a matrix or grid, is a tool

used to interpret and grade students' work against criteria and
standards. Rubrics are sometimes called "criteria sheets", "grading
schemes", or "scoring guides". Rubricscan be designed for any content
domain.

6.

which strategies teacher can use for observing students skills?

Ø Concept

Ø Skills/abilities

Ø Attitudes

Concepts

Students understand

- That a property is a characteristic used to describe an object

- Some properties used to describe objects are color, shape, size and texture.

- Some properties describe the material the object is made of such as color
and texture and some properties describe the object as a whole such as
shape and size.

Skills/Abilities

Students are able to

- Observe objects using their senses particularly seeing and feeling

- Identify common properties such as color, shape, size and texture

- Understand and use appropriate words to describe properties of objects

- Record properties of an object in table

- Draw objects that correctly portray some of the features being describe
participate in a collective discussion, share ideas, listen to others, agree and
disagree

- Make connection with their immediate environment

Attitudes

- Develop an interest in and enthusiasm for exploring and investigating

properties of materials and objects.

- Learn to work in a team, sharing materials, interacting and discussing

Materials

Materials that are used in the lesson:

For each student

An observation sheet to record the properties and drawing of an object

For a group of four students

A tray containing 7 items: a can, a scouring or cleaning pad, a marble, some

cotton wool, a button, an eraser and a small magnet

For the entire class

1 chat with pictures of shapes and colors

Second chart will be the property bank chart

Activity

Teacher started the lecture with an activity by introducing the

word Property to the class. Teacher explained this word by the example of
ruler. She asked the students that what is this? Somebody said that it is
made of steel. Another student said that its color is silver. Someone said that
it has numbers on it. At the end teacher concluded that all these are the
properties of ruler. Through property we can identify something. Color,
material etc. are all the examples of properties. A student also mentioned
that property is something which we own. To avoid the confusion teacher
must clarify that property can be the quality of something and can also be
something which we own.
Teacher showed the chart of shapes to the students. Teacher gave the tray to
the students with different objects and told them to look, observe and feel
the objects. Teacher encouraged them to discuss these with their friends.
She also introduced the property chart to the students. After giving them
some time teacher started asking about the objects. A student said that
cleaning pad is soft as we can fold it. It is also rough when we touch it with
our hand. This was the collective brainstorming session. Teacher entered this
information in the table.

Teacher asked about cotton. Students shared their ideas that its color is
white, it is cotton wool, it is softer than the cleaning pad. And it is also
shapeless. A student said that cotton is smooth. Teacher respond that if we
feel it, it has lumpy texture so it can not be smooth. Teacher made this clear
with the example of table that this is a smooth surface. Teacher entered all
this information about cotton wool in the table. Same method is repeated
with all the objects in the tray and all information in the table. Below is the
table with information:
 At the end teacher compare all her objects with the things around the
students in the class and also with her chart of shapes. After student’ s
observation teacher gave them worksheet to analyze their individual
understanding.

7.

How teacher can explain types of material?

In this lesson children explored that materials are of three types.

Transparent

Materials are transparent if everything can be seen through them clearly.

Translucent

Materials are translucent if blurred or vague outlines can be discerned or the

color of things when viewed through such materials is changed.

Opaque

Materials are opaque if nothing can be seen through them.

Learning objectives

a. In this lesson students observed the objects primarily using their sense of
sight.
b. Students categorized materials as opaque, translucent or transparent.

c. Students participated in a collective discussion, share ideas, listen to

others, agree and disagree.

d. Students recorded their findings in a table.

e. Students developed an interest and enthusiasm for exploring and

investigating properties of materials and objects.

f. Students learned to work in a team, sharing materials, interacting and

discussing.

The teacher introduced opaque, transparent and translucent objects to the

students. Each student was given an observation sheet to categorize objects
as opaque, translucent or transparent. A group of four students was given a
tray containing the following items: a red lid, a plastic spoon, small plastic
jar, and a plastic cup. Teacher prepared three charts with the headings of
opaque, translucent and transparent.

First teacher explained the word property and students were asked about the
properties of different objects. Teacher wrote the information on the charts.
Color, shapes and structure of objects were written down. Then teacher told
the students that they have to classify all objects into three categories. She
told the definition of transparent objects and put all transparent objects on
the chart. Things through which we can not see are opaque. For example the
lid of a jar, teacher put the lid on the chart labelled for opaque objects.
Things which have the blur images are called translucent. Objects were than
classified into three categories and were placed on the respective chart
papers.


Mcqs 10

Subjective question 7

Paper 3:

1.

What strategy can a teacher use to find out the observing skills of
Student?
 Students are able to:

- Select a simple manufactured object

- Explain the function of the object

- Identify the major materials that make-up the object

- Identify the properties of the materials that make them suitable for use in
the object

- Identify the raw materials that make-up one of the materials and the
refining process that makes them usable in the object.

- Conduct research using the internet

- Communicate by creating an xibit and giving an oral presentation

Raising questions/critiquing the findings of their peers using logical reasoning
and examining one’s own work critically 5 marks
2.

Give an example of observing skills from science teaching and

learning?

For each student

A worksheet on what are bikes made of and why a project research guideline
is needed.

For the entire class

1 chart with a list of possible objects to select for research.

1 chart to be used as a word bank especially Urdu and English versions of

relevant words.

1 bicycle.

Preparation

- The charts giving a list of objects and project schedule should be prepared
- A bicycle should be arranged and brought into class just before the start of
the period.

3.

Briefly define assessment?

Assessment is the process of gathering and discussing information from

multiple and diverse sources in order to develop a deep understanding of
what students know, understand, and can do with their knowledge as a result
of their educationalexperiences; the process culminates
when assessment results are used to improve

4.

What is important of prior knowledge of student?

This lecture represents the role of prior knowledge in learning. The prior
knowledge of students affects their learning therefore educators must keep
this in mind when they design a lesson.

Teachers need to be aware of children’s prior or existing ideas, of the

learning goals and the nature of the difference between the two when they
are planning and teaching so that they can take appropriate steps to bridge
the gap. Children develop ideas, based on their everyday experiences, about
natural phenomena before they are taught Science in school.
Some of these ideas of students are in agreement with scientific views and
can act as resources for developing a more extensive and solid
understanding of science concepts and their ability to engage in scientific
investigations e.g. characteristics of familiar animals and learning about
classification of animals into mammals, birds, fish, reptiles etc. But
sometimes children’s intuitive understandings contradict scientific
explanations and these can pose as an obstacle to science learning. For
example ideas about forces and motion
5.

What type of attitude teacher resist during summative assessment?

3 marks

6.

What preparation a teacher to do for developing the observation

skills in student? 3 marks
 7.

What are benefits of working in cooperative group? 5 marks

.................


- Example of formative assessment

- project research

• Project Research Guideline

• Function of your object or an accurate description of what your object does

or what it is used for.

• Major Materials –an accurate description of the major materials that make up
your object

• Why these materials were chosen which should include the properties of
these materials which make them suitable for use in the object

• Origin of one of the materials – (a) the raw materials from which the material
is made, (b) the processes the raw material undergoes to become the refined
material used in your object

• History of your object – (a) the person or persons who invented your object,
(b) when and where it first appeared and (c) how the original designs and
choice of materials differ from those in use today

• Picture or photograph of your object – if your object is small enough you can
even tape it along with the picture.

• along with the picture.

Project Starter Activities

Activity 1

Short Paragraph naming your object and reason for choosing it.

Deadline: 1 week later

Activity 2
 An outline of the information you will research and the sources – books and
internet sites – you will use.

Deadline: 2 weeks later

- difference between dissolving and melting

in melting only one substance is involved and the liquid and solid are the
same material. Heat is needed for melting to occur. Dissolving involves
two materials; the resulting solution is a mixture of both. The dissolved
substance is still present in the solution even though it can't be seen.

- skills measuring temperature

Students are able to:

- Make careful observations and draw inferences/conclusions.

- Give tentative explanations or hypotheses about what they observe.

- Make connections with evidence and claims and explore how valid the
connections are.

- Measure temperature using a liquid in glass thermometer.

- properties of object and material

1. Objects are made of specific material.

2. There is a lot of variety of material.

3. The same kind of object can be made of different materials.

4. Students must know the basic properties of object and materials.

Materials can be changed
- how student can learn about thermometer when they got to know
that air and water expands when heated

- Note on hypothesis

a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence

as a starting point for further investigation.
 a proposition made as a basis for reasoning, without any assumption of its
truth

1-briefly explain process of assessment?

2-why should we change one variable in an experiment??

Why is it important in science to change only one variable at a time?

In science it is important to change one variable at a time so you may see
which variable actually changed the data. If you change multiple and the
data changes, you wouldn't know which variable it was. So it is better to do
one.
Sketch a graph of how the period (y-axis) of a pendulum changes with its
length(x-axis)
What is the period of a pendulum whose length is 3.6 meters?

Fair test template

Fair test template had four points.

1. What was the experiment?

Teacher asked the students about their investigation and got responses from
the students.

2. Which variable was changed in the experiment?

In the second step teacher asked the students about one thing that was
changed in the experiment. Student answered that two types of sugar was
used in the experiment.

3. Which variables were kept the same in the experiment?

Students told that the amount of the cold water used was the same, and the
amount of sugar used was also the same.

4. What are the findings?

The finding was that sugar powder completely dissolved in the water but
sugar grains did not dissolve completely.

Teacher wrote all her findings on the chart paper with the help of students at
the end of the lesson.
3-what is the purpose of formative assessment?
4-how can teacher introduce the properties of objects to students??
5-why is it important that teacher conduct an experiment by self
before doing in class??
6: how can teacher develop the skill of communication in students??
7: which activates teacher can use to motivate students to
participate in class??