I interviewed my grandma that lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She has lived there her entire life. She is retired now and spends a lot of time outdoors with her new puppy that she got when she retired. During the interview she spoke a lot about how much longer the winters have become. She also spoke a lot about how much hotter summers are. We spent a lot of time discussing the flood of 2008 and how much damage Cedar Rapids took from that and is still recovering. Her job at the time was right in the middle of the flood zone, so she spent many weeks out of work. Families lost everything from the flood. Looking back, nobody related this to climate change. The city has rebuilt important businesses right in the middle of the flood zone. The city also has many houses and businesses that are still vacant from the flood. Although we are not familiar with numbers and statistics, it is known that farmers have also been affected by Iowa becoming wetter over time due to climate change.

ROCK CYCLE

My understanding of the rock cycle is best understood by looking a diagram. There are three types of rocks; igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks are formed from magma cooling over time. Metamorphic rocks are formed from the rock heating and cooling. Sedimentary rocks are formed from sediments in a river. If the rock was first igneous weathering and erosion will turn the rock into sediments and then the rock will transform to sedimentary by compaction and cementation.

Iowa Assessment

I thought the exam wasn’t entirely too difficult for me however I wouldn’t be comfortable giving it to my students because I think some of the questions were very poorly written. I don’t think every student would have the same opprotunity to get a good test score. I don’t think all students would be interested in this test- it is not relatable and some of the questions are hard to understand. The scenario question was hard to follow and the questions too follow were hard to follow as well. I forgot how different each of the topics are on the Iowa Assessments. This always threw me off because my brain would have to be all over the place. As a kid I also became uninterested in tests very easy. I couldn’t relate to the test questions which made the questions much harder to apply.

THINGS I DIDN’T KNOW

• Carbon tax- a capitalist economy to try to invest in renewable, to bring less money and subsidies out of oil companies.
• I didn’t know a lot about politics and its relationship with climate change and what is being done today.
• The methane produced from the cattle industry is a massive polluter, but if citizens simply excised eating beef from their diet, a significant portion of that pollution would be quelled.
  

THINGS I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT

• The influence of corporate money into politics and climate change. I feel like this concept is touched on- but with little background knowledge before hand I still don’t understand.

OTHER IDEAS NOT EXPRESSED

How could people not believe in climate change. What more do they need to know? Why is the public not informed? That is sick.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW

what parts of the world are being affected the most right now at the fastest rate?

I want to know MORE about what changes to my diet I can make and what more I can do to spread awareness to this issue to my peers.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT IN THE VIDEO

I learned a lot from the video- I learn much more about carbon footprint and the damages we are making on this earth without even knowing it. They touched on short term and long term solutions to climate change. Simply like changing ones diet. They discussed misconceptions and truths about climate change. They also addressed political influences of climate change.

WHAT ARE YOUR CONCERNS

Did Barack Obama really not believe in climate change at the beginning of his election or is this fact news?

How do people not believe in climate change?

I agree with the article that science is an inquiry oriented subject. In the beginning of the article I liked what the author said about addressing our students’ misconceptions first and then expanding upon that in your lessons. A lot of times, teachers have a lesson set aside yet don’t address prior knowledge before hand. We then are not getting rid of any misconceptions along the way we are simply building upon them.

Surprisingly or not, learners will bring their own personal experiences to the classroom. Which is why their experiences should always be in the center of your lesson. As stated by the article, teachers who take personal, adaptive view of knowledge are known as constructivists. In other words, her focus was to teach for conceptual change and understanding. In order to do this, you must also create a welcoming environment for your students to want to share their opinions and prior knowledge with you. A lot of times, students will feel anxious about their ideas after they are told they are wrong. Some students may shut down and not want to participate anymore. We want students to be aware of the new beliefs and eliminate all misconceptions. The article discusses a lot about the importance of the language teachers use when creating an opportunity for students to change their misconceptions. I enjoyed reading this article due to its insight and research about changing the conceptions that students come into our class with.

Due to gravity, when you travel to different planets you may notice that your weight is different. Wake up with a new diet plan, perhaps? Unfortunately, that isn’t how it works. Your mass will remain the same regardless of your location. What changes is the gravity!

The weight of planets are different therefore the force of gravity is different from planet to planet as well.

I did some research on how much this weight differs! Here is what I found:

On Earth you may weight 110 lbs. However, on Mars you will weight 42 lbs.

Your weight on the moon is 16. 5% of what you would experience on the earth.

Earth: 100 lbs

Moon: 16. 5 lbs

Jupiter: 240 lbs / 2.4 times that of the surface gravity of earth

Mercury: 38 lbs / 38% of surface gravity

Basically, you must figure out what percent the surface gravity is on that plant.

http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/ask/20–How-strong-is-the-gravity-on-Mercury-

I found this article to be very interesting and relatable. There are a few ideas that stuck out to me. I feel like if there is one thing that I have learned this semester cross curricular is that all of our instruction should be inquiry based and student led. I believe that from this foundation, teaching and learning will occur. One of the main ideas from this article included the importance of teaching conceptually. I can attest that I, too, was taught science the way that a lot of the students in this article probably were taught. I spent a lot of my childhood, memorizing vocabulary and concepts to past the test. This is where misconceptions come into play. We never really learn the concepts. In science investigations, I remember following instructions written on worksheets and answering questions at the end to “test my understanding.” Instead, we should present a problem to our students, and let them take the highroad from there. Allow our students to be curious and investigate. Use manipulatives and ask questions. The article addresses the difference between elementary, middle, and high school students’ scientific vocabulary in comparison to the actual understandings of the concepts.

Like addressed in the article, teachers can prevent these misconceptions early on. Utilizing concept maps, constructing conceptual frameworks, questioning strategies, and clarifying information for students are many ways that this can be accomplished.

1. What does it mean when someone knows how to think?

To me knowing how to think means using prior knowledge and new knowledge together to create your own thoughts. It is focusing on one thing and creating your own opinions based upon that knowledge.

2. How does a teacher teach a student how to think?

A teacher can teach a student how to think by asking questions. Inquiry based learning is key. Allowing students to lead their own learning. Prompting students to reflect on their learning is another way to teach students how to think. As humans we are always thinking about something in our brains- so during instruction teachers can teach students how to think by being interactive and engaging. Asking for volunteers for students to contribute their thoughts. Getting students engaged in relevant, real world problems.

3. Have you ever been n a class where you really had to think?

Instances where I am not interested in the topic or I have little prior knowledge on the topic are instances where I’ve found myself really having to think in a class.

Many of us have grown up with the misconception that changing seasons has everything to do with the distance the earth is the from the sun. According to recent discoveries (HA!) this is untrue.

In the video, Heather was interviewed before and after being taught the astronomy lesson. She stated that she believes that the light of the sun indirectly and directly bounces off the earth in which that is what creates the seasons. The teacher in the video talks about the misconceptions teachers have for their students. Often times we might assume that our students understand the basic ideas and that isn’t always the case. I found this interesting, because we really do have our own ideas about how the world around us works. Whether it’s right or wrong.

I also found it interesting that Heather seemed to understand the new knowledge that she was taught but could not let go of her misconceptions. Her misconceptions were not discussed in the classroom. She provided her own misconceptions and theories to the new information she was taught. New information is always competing with preconceived private theories.

As a teacher, how do you make students aware of their misconceptions and get rid of them? Clearly, we were all taught that the distance of the earth to sun has nothing to do with the change of seasons however that has stuck with us forever . In the video they spent time with Heather- one to one instruction and asking questions to gage where her head is as well as her understanding. However, she still holds onto her own misconceptions.

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