Reference material. Shadows

Shadows Lesson Plan

New subject matrix

New subject matrix


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Proposed teaching materials for Kindergarten
Outline


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Proposed teaching materials for 1st grade
Outline

Life Sciences -
Unit 1: Let's search for flowers; Let's look for sprouts; Let's find fruits; Let's collect leaves and fruits of trees. Alloted time: 8 months
Unit 2: Let's search for insects. Alloted time: 5 months

Physical Sciences -
Unit 3: Let's make toys that move with the wind; Let's make wind. Alloted time: 2 weeks
Unit 4: Let's make toys with rubber bands. Alloted time: 2 weeks
Unit 5: Let's search for magnetic things. Alloted time: 2 weeks
Unit 6: Let's play with shadows. Alloted time: 2 weeks

Earth Sciences -
Unit 7: Let's make a river with rain water. Alloted time: 1 week (rainy days only)
Unit 8: Let's collect stones (What kind of places can we find stones?; What kind of games can we make with stones?; Riverbank stones - What kind of stones can we find in riverbank?). Alloted time: 2 weeks

Skills and Scientific Attitudes -
Communicating; observing; manipulating objects

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Proposed teaching materials for 2nd grade
Outline

Life Sciences -
Unit 1: Let's sow flowers; The flower blossom; Let's collect seeds; Let's grow rapeseed (Brassica napus). Alloted time: 8 months
Unit 2: Let's search for creatures in water and in soil; Let's keep insects (Let's search for insects in the bush). Alloted time: 5 months

Physical Sciences -
Unit 3: Let's gather air. Alloted time: 2 weeks
Unit 4: Let's dissolve things with water (includes soap bubbles making). Alloted time: 1 month
Unit 5: Let's make sound (air; telephone). Alloted time: 2 weeks
Unit 6: Let's make toys with weights. Alloted time: 2 weeks
Unit 7: Let's turn on minilight bulbs (electric circuits). Alloted time: 1 month

Earth Sciences -
Unit 8: Let's search for sunlight and shade. Alloted time: 2 weeks
Unit 9: Let's play with sand and soil. Alloted time: 2 weeks

Skills and Scientific Attitudes -
Observation card; communicating; comparing


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Proposed teaching materials for 3rd grade
Outline

Life Sciences -
Unit 1: The rapeseed (Brassica napus) flower; Flower dissection; Parts of flower (petal; pistil; stamen; polen; calyx; nectary);
Unit 2: The warmness of soil, water, and air
Unit 3: Growing sponge cucumber; the sponde cucumber's fruit
Unit 4: Insects

Physical Sciences -
Unit 5: The power of wind and the wind car
Unit 6: Gathering sunlight; sunlight and temperature; sunlight and lens
Unit 7: The properties of air
Unit 8: The properties of a magnet; magnetization; compass

Earth Sciences -
Unit 9: Sun, clouds and temperature


Skills and Scientific Attitudes -
Observation card; portfolio; measuring

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Proposed teaching materials for 4th grade
Outline

Life Sciences -
Unit 1: Planting potato; starch; verifying the presence of starch in potato; microscopy: looking for starch in cells; influence of sunlight on growth; investigating the presence of starch in leaf
Unit 2: Raising butterflies; observing insects on the microscope; insect body parts

Physical Sciences -
Unit 3: Temperature, air and water; water physical properties; water vapor; boiling water; ice making; physical state changes; clouds and rain
Unit 4: Balance and weights
Unit 5: Batery and minilight bulb; electric circuits; switch; electric current

Earth Sciences -
Unit 6: The properties of the flowing water; erosion
Unit 7: The sun and the moon; sun and moon observation

Skills and Scientific Attitudes -
Controlling variables

We must ask fundamental questions

We must ask fundamental questions about what and why we teach children.

Life Science - Program Definition
What kind of a life science program would be most effective in elementary school?

1. "Living organisms should be used. Almost all children are interested in living organisms, and many of the goals that seem desirable for an elementary school life science program can only be achieved through the study of living organisms."
What are the goals desirable for an elementary school life science program?

"For example, we are concerned that children be responsable in their interactions with other living organisms. To achieve this, they will need educational experiences with living organisms." (The SCIS Life Science Program in SCIS ELEMENTARY SCIENCE SOURCEBOOK, Trial Edition, June, 1968. p85)

2. "The study of life science should start with the ideas the children have concerning life. Based on these ideas, biological concepts can be developed through the children's own observations." (op.cit. p85)
What kind of ideas children have concerning life?

Life Cycles
Another important concept in the life science program of the Project Sirius is life cycles.
Life cycle consists of the growth, development, reproduction, and death of living organisms. We can investigate life cycles in plants by asking such questions as "How do seeds grow?", "Where do seeds come from?". In the case of animals, "How do animals like butterflies, fish, frogs, crickets grow and develop?". (op.cit. p91)

Why study life cycles?
This question has a narrow relationship with a more profound question: "What is life?". To characterize life by using direct study of biological materials, we should ask ourselves questions as: "What are the characteristics of living organisms?". Such questions as "What is alive?" have no clear-cut answers. But these are "questions that are of critical importance in science, and early in their lives children can become aware that such questions are raised in science." (op.cit. p91)
What questions are of critical importance in science?

What is a life cycle?
"A life cycle is a complete circle in the life history of a kind of organism, from a staring point, through various plases or stages in its development, and back to the original starting point. Such phenomena as birth (in animals) and germination (in plants), growth and development, reproduction, and death are included in life cycles. Seeds germinate and become plants. These grow, mature, and produce flowers and then seeds. The seeds germinate again and the cycle is repeated. Frog eggs develop into tadpoles, which change gradually into frogs. Adult frogs can then lay more eggs. (...) A study of life cycles, therefore, is a study of animals and plants as they develop to adulthood, reproduce their own kind, and begin another generation." (op.cit. p91)

In the Project Sirius we will study the development of flowering plants, like beans, sunflower, rapeseed flower (canola), morning glory (Calystegia japonica), balsam (Impatiens balsamina).

Here follows an explanation of the concepts involved in the life cycles of flowering plants.

Life cycles of flowering plants
Summary



Life cycles of animals
Summary


Life cycles of flowering plants

The creative teacher

The creative teacher

What is a creative teacher?
You can visualize the creative teacher as the one who is imaginative, vigorous, active, and filled with spirit. He also makes use of lots of experiments, activities, and has a wide range of teaching methods that he performs beautifully.
From another point of view, the creative teacher can be someone who causes his students to be creative. He even may not have the qualities usually related to the traditional creative teacher. His main concern is to provide an environment in which children can manifest themselves using words, body, and experimenting. He creates a place that fosters expressiveness and originality.
This kind of teacher steems non ordinary questions or answers. He has courage to discuss, and, more importantly, supports the test of original thinking.
By showing a misterious strange phenomenon we can start creative thinking. By bringing new materials, or by using common materials used in new situations we can make children discover the hidden nature of things.

When creative thinking does not occur
Even when the teacher is experienced and have prepared an good class, there can be still no creative environment. Many of the cracks originate not from the preparation of the lesson, but of the teacher.
If the teacher talks too much to introduce the point, or if the teacher asks and listen to the children's commentaries but do not follow them up, these are ones of the most common mistakes. However, when children are left alone, they engage themselves actively in the problem.

TOBECONTINUED

Started project Sirius

Projeto "Ciência para Crianças" - um Curso de Ciência Elementar, codinome Sirius.

No Projeto Sirius, as crianças aprendem ciência fazendo ciência ao invés de ler sobre ciências. Em uma sociedade cada vez mais esperançosa por um aumento nos padrões acadêmicos em ciências, comunicações e matemática, este programa pode certamente atender suas necessidades.

Os passos do projeto envolvem: primeiro, da 1a. à 4a. série; segundo, de 5a. à 8a. série.

A matrix do projeto segue abaixo.

As 6 directivas que permeiam o Projeto Sirius:
1) Experiência direta com os princípios da ciência.
2) As crianças devem se engajar em investigações.
3) A compreensão dos princípios científicos devem estar no nível das crianças.
4) Os princípios da ciência irão do simples ao complexo.
5) Orientação e discussão são parte integral do programa.
6) As atividades de ciências induzem as crianças a experimentos científicos adicionais.

São condições dos materiais de ensino:

1) deve ser o mais barato possível.

2) devem estar disponíveis a todos os aprendizes.
3) Os experimentos e os materiais impressos são voltados PRINCIPALMENTE aos professores inexperientes. Assume-se que professores inexperientes não sabem que experimentos pode ser dados ou sugeridos às crianças.