Week 2: Introduction into NGSS

 Part 1: Magnets

In class we explored the world of magnets. We started by thinking about where magnets exist in our world. This could be in wind turbines, providing us with power,  in toys or even an MRI, which is just a giant magnet. In school I don't really remember covering anything about magnets directly until my second semester of college physics that went over electricity and magnetism. However, after conversations in class I made the connection that dipoles in a molecule is pretty much a magnet. I never thought about it in that way, but it makes sense. I am surprised that we don't talk more about magnetism in chemistry. Thinking about it farther, I think we covered the idea of free electrons in metals in my engineering material science course. My predictions were definitely off. I over complicated the experiment in my head thinking that the circuit board was going to produce an electromagnet to disrupt the magnetic field. Turns out it was Iron that actually caused the paper clip to drop. We also talked about Cobalt and Nickel being magnetic. This goes back to the notion that these three metals have free electrons that move through the metal allowing them to flow with the magnetic field and create a charged material. I do want to know why the iron disrupts the field for the paperclip though. Is it because the paperclip becomes charged in the presence of the magnet and when the iron is placed between the magnet and the paperclip it becomes charged and results in the positive side of the paper clip aligning with the positive side of the iron (it could be negative too), thus resulting in the repelling of the two materials and the paperclip falling? That would be my guess, but I would like to investigate or find the science behind it. 

Part 2: Exploring NGSS

The NGSS consists of three pillars that support understanding in science. The first is science and engineering practices, this is my wheel house with my engineering background, but it is teaching students how science and engineering is done. This dimension is in place to show the importance of modeling how science and engineering is done. In a way this is the component that teaches the nature of science and engineering and is in place to ensure students understand what science and engineering is. The next is the Disciplinary Core Idea, or the DCI. This one covers the meat of the science concepts. It is the part the standards that directly addresses the scientific concepts. This is stuff like understanding human impacts, earth systems, forces, etc. Lastly, we have the crosscutting concepts. This also can address the nature of science, but I think of it as how does this content relate to your life and other things you are learning in school. The article we read talked about the importance of addressing economic concepts or psychological or sociological concepts in science, this is especially prevalent in the field of earth science. Even the component of understanding how to read nonfiction and communicate your ideas with others. 

I would say the major goals of the NGSS curriculum is to have students understand how to think critically, understand how science is done and how it can be used to answer the questions they are curious about. I think there is a component of understanding the DCI, but the fact that they include all the pillars shows that they value students making connections to other subjects and their lives, but also care more about the thought process behind the idea or concept than a regurgitation of the concept. 

I feel that the most important principle to me is the idea that science and engineering both require understanding of the concept but also how it is done, or the practice of science and engineering. I see science everywhere. I even see learning as doing science in a way, you are developing your own theories and ideas, questioning or challenging them, collecting evidence and then solidifying your theory or changing it. By addressing how science is done I feel that students better understand where scientific information comes from, and they also learn how to question ideas and the information around them. In our society today I feel that this is increasingly important when our information is given to us through a filter of what social media believes we want to hear. I also feel that by showing how science is done we as teachers can better connect to our student's lives by showing them that what they do in their everyday life is science and encourage them to continue questioning the world around them and to ask why.

My dad teaches economics and yesterday we were talking about how subjects like science and economics are so connected across our world and even different subjects in school. Science and Engineering is where our innovation and information comes from, while economics is a motivator for things to be adopted in our world. As I was reading, it was nice to see that they address this and call out the importance of talking about other subjects in science. I see this especially with social studies, and that may be because my dad is a social studies teacher, but to understand science in the context of our world you need an understanding of the social sciences. For example, you need to understand the culture and the role of the catholic church in society when scientists like Galileo were finding that the earth was the center of our universe or even the push against the Theory of Evolution. Also, understanding the role the World Wars played in nuclear research or understanding of Plate Tectonics. Even looking into the governments role in policy around science. Just look at the US government or even the UN and how policies set in place by these organizations can change how we interact or trust science, like climate change. I just really like how they are making connections to other subjects and materials, because in the "real world" subjects are not separated by hours in a day they are truly intertwined like a spiders web and to try and only address the idea through one lens is completely ignoring the complexity of the spiderweb. 

Part 3: Connecting Lessons back to NGSS

I was looking for a standard for the Sun/Moon activity. I found MS-ESS1-1 Earths's Place in the Universe (MS-ESS1-1). This is a middles school standard under earth and space science. It requires students to be able to develop and use a model of the earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipse of the sun and moon, and seasons. I picked this one, because I felt that it described what we did in the lesson. I also like how it has students make a model, because I feel that this visually helps in the understanding of these concepts. Also by having students develop a model I feel that it encourages a hands on exploratory lesson over a lecture based discussion of the topic, it is encouraging students to create the model on their own.