Golden Lines Chapter 2, July 2010

Submitted by mstafford on Mon, 2010-07-05 18:59
in

I am a math teacher and as such it was Strand 2 that I found most interesting. The golden line for me is this: "This strand also involves mastering the conceptual, mathematical, physical, and computational tools that need to be applied in constructing and evaluating knowledge claims." Students are always asking, "When are we going to use this?" From measuring the heights of trees in the school yard to looking at population densities, math becomes the tool of the scientist and the need to know it obvious. The school yard project is rich and provides numerous opportunities to teach math in context. Near our school we have a wooded nature trail and a similar study might be possible. I have always wanted to map this area and create learning stations for our school and the community. Just maybe it will be an outcome of this summer's Vital Signs program.

‹ Golden Line from Chapter 2 Ready, Set, Science! Golden Lines- July 2010 ›

Comments

Submitted by smoore on Tue, 2010-07-06 11:34.

I teach science and math, and

I teach science and math, and although taught separately, are connected. The skills and tools learned in each, from collecting data to analyzing it, from word problems to quantitative v qualitative data, concepts are reinforced within the subjects.

I too thought the 'Biodiversity in a City Schoolyard' was a great idea. As data was accummulated, more questions arose that prompted more investigations, and then the integration of Pythagorean's Theorem was great. It was great to see how excited and involved the students got, and the rest of the school community.

Submitted by mstafford on Tue, 2010-07-06 13:51.

On math in science

Since you teach science as well as math, I am assuming you have a strong science background. I don't! I majored in math and studied abstractions without any applications. I am looking forward to the workshop and making use of the math I teach in context! Looking forward to meeting you!

Submitted by sandythesleuth on Tue, 2010-07-06 19:52.

I am very glad to hear that

I am very glad to hear that there will be someone else "in my shoes". I have been teaching Math for 25 years and just last year was assigned an additional subject, Science in Grade 7. As I am sure you know this is a scary thing to do. After all I do not have much background knowledge to rely on. It amazes me the number of people that think just because you have been teaching math that science seems to go hand in hand and be easily taught. I have two masters degrees, one in Mathematics and the other one in Middle Level Education and I am feeling very unprepared to teach Science effectively. I am very much looking forward to this training and see how it will fit with our curriculum.

Submitted by Science Lady on Tue, 2010-07-06 08:28.

Golden Lines response

I also struggle with helping my students with "When are we going to use this?" syndrome. Having them develop these skills in the field would be very helpful for them. They may also begin to see that the knowledge and skills they learn are stocking their "toolboxes" so when they come up against a problem in the future, they will have the "tool" to solve it. As a science teacher, the development of the four strands would only help in their understanding of math.