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RE: Inquiry and the Process of STEM
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From: Heather Montgomery <sipsey21_at_hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:57:21 +0000
I am generally a lurker on this list but can't help but get involved in thi s discussion. I am a strong proponent of teaching children that science is active, not passive and that it isn't already all "done" and loved readin g Marc's list of books that incorporate the nature/process of science and C harles' position about non-science books which illustrate skills needed for the scientific method.
As a writer, I constantly struggle to incorporate both content and proces s in my books. I frequently am asked to write books on content but as a tea cher I know how much more powerful it is to turn students on to the process . In illustrating the skills and practices (curiosity, questioning, att ention to detail, recognition of patterns, etc.) of science we teach th e child to fish as the saying goes. Editor Melissa Manlove once told me tha t a picture book should "begin a conversation" with a child and I love that analogy. In looking for books to use with my students, I look for those books which hook them enough to continue that conversation after they put t he book down. The best books result in that "Aha" moment that Megan recentl y described but also tug at them and motivate them to dig into the topic fu rther. That was my goal with my most recent book about newly discovered ani mals. If I can get kids hooked with the weird animals on this planet, ins pire them with the scientific process of discovery
(new animals are found e very day!) and challenge them with the mysteries yet to be solved, think of the power in that.
A science teacher I had once said "Science should be a verb." I'm looking f or books that illustrate that concept! Which do you suggest?
Heather
Heather L. Montgomery www.HeatherLMontgomery.com Nature and Science Books for Kids 256-426-5871
Available Now: Wild Discoveries: Wacky New Animals (Scholastic, 2013)
Subject: Shivering Discovery From: Charles Bayless Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:05:29 -0400 X-Message-Number: 3
... But that portfolio of knowledge is the product of a process - the scien tific method, the process of discovery, speculation, etc. I advocate tha t while it is important to teach children the portfolio of knowledge around the various STEM silos, it is far more critical to inculcate in them the ha bits and orientation of the scientific method.
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Subject: Re: Inquiry, Process, and Discovery From: bookmarch_at_aol.com Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:48:00 -0400 (EDT) X-Message-Number: 4
... there is an increasing shelf of books that seek to engage readers in p rocess and method as much, or even more, than conclusion -- to name jus t a few: the whole Scientists in the Field series; Sally Walker's forensi cs books, Loree Griffin Burns's books; and, I dare say, the books I have written with various scientists and historians such as Scott Nelson , Mike Parker Pearson, and Lee R. Berger. Inquiry is, of course, at the heart of the Common Core -- across ELA, math, science, and surel y social studies when those standards are released and so we are likely to see more books that turn attention from passing along settled knowledge to engaging readers in the question of how knowledge is created.
Marc Aronson
Received on Fri 15 Mar 2013 03:57:21 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:57:21 +0000
I am generally a lurker on this list but can't help but get involved in thi s discussion. I am a strong proponent of teaching children that science is active, not passive and that it isn't already all "done" and loved readin g Marc's list of books that incorporate the nature/process of science and C harles' position about non-science books which illustrate skills needed for the scientific method.
As a writer, I constantly struggle to incorporate both content and proces s in my books. I frequently am asked to write books on content but as a tea cher I know how much more powerful it is to turn students on to the process . In illustrating the skills and practices (curiosity, questioning, att ention to detail, recognition of patterns, etc.) of science we teach th e child to fish as the saying goes. Editor Melissa Manlove once told me tha t a picture book should "begin a conversation" with a child and I love that analogy. In looking for books to use with my students, I look for those books which hook them enough to continue that conversation after they put t he book down. The best books result in that "Aha" moment that Megan recentl y described but also tug at them and motivate them to dig into the topic fu rther. That was my goal with my most recent book about newly discovered ani mals. If I can get kids hooked with the weird animals on this planet, ins pire them with the scientific process of discovery
(new animals are found e very day!) and challenge them with the mysteries yet to be solved, think of the power in that.
A science teacher I had once said "Science should be a verb." I'm looking f or books that illustrate that concept! Which do you suggest?
Heather
Heather L. Montgomery www.HeatherLMontgomery.com Nature and Science Books for Kids 256-426-5871
Available Now: Wild Discoveries: Wacky New Animals (Scholastic, 2013)
Subject: Shivering Discovery From: Charles Bayless Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:05:29 -0400 X-Message-Number: 3
... But that portfolio of knowledge is the product of a process - the scien tific method, the process of discovery, speculation, etc. I advocate tha t while it is important to teach children the portfolio of knowledge around the various STEM silos, it is far more critical to inculcate in them the ha bits and orientation of the scientific method.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Inquiry, Process, and Discovery From: bookmarch_at_aol.com Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:48:00 -0400 (EDT) X-Message-Number: 4
... there is an increasing shelf of books that seek to engage readers in p rocess and method as much, or even more, than conclusion -- to name jus t a few: the whole Scientists in the Field series; Sally Walker's forensi cs books, Loree Griffin Burns's books; and, I dare say, the books I have written with various scientists and historians such as Scott Nelson , Mike Parker Pearson, and Lee R. Berger. Inquiry is, of course, at the heart of the Common Core -- across ELA, math, science, and surel y social studies when those standards are released and so we are likely to see more books that turn attention from passing along settled knowledge to engaging readers in the question of how knowledge is created.
Marc Aronson
Received on Fri 15 Mar 2013 03:57:21 PM CDT
