1. Ask Why,
Wonder How
Erin Denniston, M. Ed.
Science Education Consultant
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2. Petals Around the Rose
The name of the game is Petals Around the Rose. The name of the game is important. Roll
five dice and guess the score for the roll. The score will always be zero or an even number.
Your mission is to work out how the score is calculated and become a Potentate of the Rose.
2 Petals
Around
the Rose
12 Petals
Around the
Rose
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3. Petals Around the Rose
The name of the game is Petals Around the Rose. The name of the game is important. Roll
five dice and guess the score for the roll. The score will always be zero or an even number.
Your mission is to work out how the score is calculated and become a Potentate of the Rose.
4 Petals
Around
the Rose
10 Petals
Around the
Rose
3

4. Petals Around the Rose
The name of the game is Petals Around the Rose. The name of the game is important. Roll
five dice and guess the score for the roll. The score will always be zero or an even number.
Your mission is to work out how the score is calculated and become a Potentate of the Rose.
4

5. Nature of Science
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6. Myth-information
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7. How We Learn
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8. Let’s see how that works
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9. Asking Questions
• What did you want
to know?
• Where could you go
for answers?
• What new questions
might arise?
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10. WONDER
Science starts
with questions
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11. Stages of inquiry
Stage 0: Stage 1:
Cookbook Science Structured Inquiry
Stage 2: Stage 3:
Guided Inquiry Open Inquiry
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12. What’s that look like?
LEVEL PROBLEM PROCEDURE SOLUTION
0 none worksheet locate
answers
1 teacher poses teacher teacher
provides determines
2 teacher poses student student
proposes determines
3 student poses student student
proposes determines
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13. What’s Inside?
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14. Backwards Design
• Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe
• Used more for global or unit planning
• Lesson planning comes last
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15. Learning vs. Teaching
• What do you want students to know and
understand?
• How will you know that they do?
• What learning activities will get you
there?
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16. Essential Questions
• Have no simple “right” answer
• Provoke and sustain inquiry
• Address foundational concepts
• Raise other important questions
• Recur naturally
• Stimulate rethinking
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17. Project Based Learning
“We only think when we are confronted
with problems.”
John Dewey
(October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952)
American philosopher, psychologist,
and educational reformer
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18. How-To
• Relevant problem
• Design Brief
• ‘Found’ materials
• Assessment
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19. It’s EEEEEasy
• Engage
• Explore
• Explain (not you, them)
• Extend
• Evaluate
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20. Let’s try something else
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21. Imagination
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22. Resources
http://www.nsta.org
http://www.grantwiggins.org/index.lasso
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23. More Resources
http://www.miamisci.org/ph/lpintro5e.html
http://www.sedl.org/afterschool/toolkits/science/tk_5Es.html
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24. And a few more
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/CTE/te/K-5/Engineering/
http://www.mos.org/educators
http://www.masstec.org/
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25. Erin Denniston, M. Ed.
ebdenn@gmail.com
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