1. How and why did you use funds of knowledge data in designing the unit?

I used the funds of knowledge interview in many ways when deciding what to teach and

how to teach it. My student talk about how she loves hands on learning. Specifically, she said she

liked the science experiments we have done so far. These experiments allowed students to use

objects around the house to set up experiments on evaporation, transportation, and freezing. She

expressed that she wanted to do more science experiments in class. From this information I

decided that the unit plan would be a great opportunity to teach the scientific method. I knew that

I could create a hands-on learning experience by having each student design their own

experiment and put it to the test. This student would be engaged in the learning and so would her

classmates.

In the funds of knowledge interview my student told me that she loves drawing in her

free time. I realized that I needed to allow an opportunity for students to use their creative arts

skills in the unit plan. I planned for students to have an option in the observations section to

draw, write, and/or take pictures. Allowing the opportunity for the students to draw what they are

seeing in their experiments allows them to think deeply. While they draw, they might question

more deeply why their experiment is reacting in a specific way.

I asked my student what her favorite part about school has been and she talked about how

much she loved making friends. She has fun talking with peers and likes having time to work

with others. Her need of peer interaction sparked my idea for having students present their

experiment to each other in small groups. By presenting students have the opportunity to discuss

with one another and grow as reflective learners. I know that she is not the only one who would

benefit from peer interaction, in fact every student would benefit form this practice.
2. How and why did you use the research in context data you collected as you designed

your unit?

From my research I learned about how this area is the lowest socioeconomic location in

the valley. While designing my unit on the scientific method I wanted to give students the

opportunity to create and conduct their own science experiments. I needed to be mindful of

students’ access to certain resources. I understand that many students may not have access to a

variety of supplies and resources. As I planned the first lessons, I was sure to give brainstorming

ideas to students on what they might want to build an experiment around. These ideas were

made up of things that would be simple for them to find in their house or in their neighborhood.

During the procedures section of the lesson students will list materials they will use for

the experiment. In this section they will have the opportunity to highlight things that they need. I

want to make sure that every student can execute their experiment. Many will already only plan

to use materials they have, but some may need a few extra items. I plan to go drop off supplies to

each person who needs something. I need every student to be able to have this learning

experience of participating in experimentation. It is vital that students have an equitable

education where they each receive what they need.

I considered having them each make a science trifold poster after their experiment is

complete. If we were in person, I would do the posters because I could bring all the supplies

necessary to the school. Students would have the opportunity to use the printer and as much

paper as they need. However, in this situation online I want them to just use tools they have and

know how to use which includes the OneNote. They will use OneNote to design their experiment

and they can share their findings over zoom using the OneNote document.
3. How and why did you use the pre-assessment data of students’ knowledge, abilities, and

interests as you designed your curriculum and made instructional decisions?

The reassessment data showed that most of the students had no idea what the scientific

method includes. It made me realize how explicit my instruction needs to be with the vocabulary.

Beyond just teaching them how to use the scientific method I needed to make sure the lesson

explained the vocabulary. I decided that at the start of each lesson I need to review the previous

vocabulary we have learned to make sure students are remembering these terms. I wanted to use

inquiry style of teaching so that students could take what they learned and implement it in the

real world. By creating their own science experiments, using each step of the scientific method

as they learn the terms will be beneficial.

I was able to use student writing to inform myself on their funds of knowledge. Student

writing gives strong insight to their personal lives especially in the case of some specific writing

prompts. Their writing allows me to understand how they view themselves in the world. Also,

my mentor did an interest survey at the beginning of the year that I drew knowledge from. Most

students answered that their preferred learning style was to do things. In the section where they

wrote about their interests, they had a variety of answers, which is why I thought it would be

necessary for them to each have their own experiment. By creating their own experiment

students are able to pick what is most interesting to them.

lesson?

I used Nearpod when introducing new vocabulary. Most of the Nearpods I created

included activities for students to practice the information they just learned. This helped

reinforce the concepts, while giving me an opportunity to redirect students immediately who

were not on the right track.

In the OneNote students were filling in different parts of a document set up to help them

design their own experiments. I was able to use this document to check in on student progress.

When students were putting incorrect information or leaving the document blank I knew they

needed further instruction. I used small groups and individual meetings to help get these students

on track. While working with the students, I had them use critical thinking skills to explain their

ideas further. I was able to use this time to address misunderstanding on an individual level while

restating the vocabulary.

About halfway through the unit plan I decided to do use Kahoot to make a formative

assessment. Student played the quiz game and I collected data on who was understanding the

vocabulary. When I did this Kahoot game it made me more aware of how far behind students

were. I was glad I did this kind of formative assessment because the other formative assessments

were not giving me as clear of information. After the Kahoot, that’s when I realized that I would

need to give students another opportunity to practice the vocabulary. I knew there wasn’t enough

time to reteach everything completely, but I knew that the presentations would be a good

opportunity to reteach vocabulary and create repetition of the information. I also thought creating

a study guide would benefit the students.

My whole unit was taught online through zoom. It was difficult to implant the same type

of teaching strategies that I would in person, however I was able to use technology to implement

the whole unit. Throughout my student teaching and especially with science I learned a lot about

different strategies I could use to try to make these lessons effective. As mentioned previously, I

used Nearpod to introduce new vocabulary where I included activities for students to practice

what they learned. In every lesson after the Nearpod students were implementing what they

learned to design an experiment in their One Note.

I used effective teaching strategies to make adaptations to make my instruction accessible

to each student. I was able to model my expectations and give students multiple examples.

Throughout designing their own experiments, I modeled how to do each step using an

experiment we had all previously done as a class. That way students could see how that

experiment was built up in the first place and they were familiar with the experiment itself. This

was beneficial because they made connections between previous experiments and new

knowledge. After using the example from a previous experiment, I continued to help students

brainstorm their own ideas. When a student was stuck, I would ask questions and prompt them to

generate their own ideas. I reiterated the vocabulary as students worked on their assignments.

When students were struggling with ideas on what phenomenon they would be interested

in learning more about I had a list for them to choose from that I read aloud and shared on the

screen. When it came time for students to brainstorm independent and dependent variable to

create their research question, I adapted the instruction for each individual student. I looked

through each of the phenomena that they were interested in and in their OneNote documents. I

then gave each of them a list of things they could change (independent variables) and things they
could measure (dependent variable) in order to create a research question. Students were able to

use the examples if needed, but they also had the opportunity to generate their own ideas if they

did not need the extra support. This teaching strategy saved time in the process of students

designing their experiment.

6. Behavior: What were your concerns; what worked; what did not; challenges?

The most difficult part of online teaching and behavior is that you don’t always know

who is behaving how they should or not. Some behaviors, such as lack of focus is not something

the student or I can change. I can create engaging lessons, but if students are falling asleep on

their bed or helping a younger sibling, they will be missing some instruction. One way for me to

observe student behavior is through the zoom call when their cameras are on. It is not a district

requirement for students to have their cameras on, for privacy reasons. However, when students’

cameras are off I have no idea if they are even in the room with their computer. With a zoom

camera off students could be engaged, but they could also be in another world and I would not

know. During my unit my mentor and I implemented a behavior system he used in previous

years. Together we came up with rewards for students. Every student starts at the primary level,

once they have accomplished a list of things consistently, they move to secondary, and then

apex. One requirement for students to reach secondary is to keep their cameras on their whole

face for the whole school day, not including break times. I noticed how much more students were

keeping cameras on even after introducing this system.

My concerns include students not participating in Nearpod. I was worried about

participation, so I made sure to hold them most accountable for the OneNote document and I

tracked data of the Nearpod to see who participated and who was accurate in their answers.

Another concern I had was students being able to fill in their document but still not

understanding the specific terms. Therefore, I reviewed vocabulary terms during each lesson. I

think that the biggest challenge was this inquiry-based teaching approach in an online setting.

Time is one of the biggest obstacles in the online classroom. There are only four and a half hours

of instruction time each day, on top of that everything online takes about three times longer than

in person. I used the afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays to teach these lessons. I had three

main lessons with a short fourth lesson on revising a claim and a short fifth lesson modeling the

presentation.

8. How would you describe student learning during the unit, based on pre-and post-

assessment data?

Overall students did grow and learn in a few ways. However, as far as scientific method

vocabulary only the surface has been scratched. Some students improved in comparing the

pretest and posttest, but some students did the opposite. I think that trying to teach the whole

scientific method with all of the terms while students created their own experiments, was too

much to ask in only a two week period In the future I would have broken this unit into many

separate units. In the future I might do a whole unit on testable vs non testable questions, using

dependent variables, and independent variables. Focusing in on a few specific things at once,
referring to the scientific method would give students more of a chance to get an in-depth

understanding of the terms and identifying examples.

9. What will you do the same and/or differently in the future in terms of assessing student

learning and using assessments to design curriculum?

I know that next time I teach these concepts I will have a whole new way of doing it. I used the

post test for the unit plan specifically, but I had students give presentations on their science experiments

and that went much better. Students have learned how to create their own experiments, how to collect

data, and how to write (revised) claims. I feel confident that this unit is a steppingstone for them to keep

on experimenting. They were each able to explain their experiment to their peers. I needed to prompt

them to facilitate the discussion, however they each were able to participate successfully. I used the

opportunity during presentations to repeat vocabulary. For example, during their experiments I would

ask what they changed, then I would explain that this was their independent variable. They may no have

the exact terms for the scientific method down yet, but as they continue to practice these skills I know

they can get there. I know this because they were each able to explain their own science experiment.

I noticed as students took the posttest, they rushed through much faster than they did for the

pre-test. The pre-test took students about twenty or 30 minutes, whereas students took five to fifteen

minutes to complete the post test. When they took the pre-test, students were most likely guessing a lot

of the material, however many of them did significantly better on the pretest than the posttest.

I made students a study guide, but they had to take responsibility on their own time before the

test to study with it. In the future I would explicitly go through the study guide, and even provide a quiz

let flashcard set for students to practice the specific vocabulary.

experiment rather than match the vocabulary terms and definitions. In order to do this, I would write up

a science experiment with visuals. Students would need to identify the research question, claim,

observations/data, etc. When students can show that they know how to identify certain parts of the

experiment it is more applicable to the way they learned the terms to create the experiment.

I realized while I was teaching my lessons that this would be a lot of information for students to

retain over the two-week period. In the future I might do a whole unit focused on a few specific pieces

before I throw it all together in a unit plan on the scientific method. I would do the first unit plan on

dependent and independent variables so that students could easily identify the difference and define

them each clearly.

It is important to note that this class of students has been struggling in other ways so far in the

school year. For example, students when taking the CFA Chapter #1 math test on ratios after a lot of

instruction and review still had a difficult time. There were only a few students who did well on the test.

Every week students play a typing game called Nitrotype, during this typing game they track their race

times and write them in their OneNote on the Nitrostats document. From 5 of their races they find the

mean, median, mode, and range. Students have been practicing this procedure for seven weeks at this

point. Just this week, half of the students were able to complete their Nitrostats on their own without

any mistakes. I mention the math test and Nitrostats because it is vital to note the amount of repetition

this particular class for students needs in order to grasp a concept.