To start off the new year, and following in the footsteps of our interview recently with Maestro Kates about our Wise Music Program, we focus this week on our science program. We asked our two esteemed science teachers to interview each other, and we hope you find their responses enlightening!
Mrs. Coatney: So, Mrs. Snyder, what is your favorite thing about teaching science here at Wise?
Mrs. Snyder: Working with you, of course! I also love that I get to work with every student in the school. For most students, I get to be one of their science teachers from Kindergarten all the way until Grade 6, which means I get to see them continue to grow as scientists year after year! It has been great splitting the grades with you as well. With me focusing on the development of our K-3 curriculum and you on 4-6, we have been able to really take our science classes to the next level! Going back to school a few years ago to earn my Master’s in STEAM Education gave me new tools to help develop a more complex and purposeful STEAM curriculum here with you and the rest of our STEAM Team. I truly believe that creating meaningful projects that work across the disciplines has proven invaluable for all of our students.
Mrs. Snyder: A lot of our standards spiral through the grades, meaning multiple grades learn about similar topics, but do so in more depth and complexity as they move up the grade levels. What is something students get to do in 6th grade that younger students can look forward to?
Mrs. Coatney: In grade 6, students get to choose their own Science Fair projects! They get to come up with fun and creative experiments that interest them, like testing different slime ingredients to find out which makes the substance bouncier, or experimenting with different materials to make solar powered cars more efficient! Then, students get to show off all their hard work at our end-of-year Open House. We begin exposing our students to the scientific method in Kindergarten, so being able to fully apply it in such a significant way in grade 6 is a great culmination to their science journey here at Wise.
Mrs. Coatney: We work really hard on skill-building at every single grade level. Since you focus on K-3 curriculum, what should a third grade student be able to do in science by the end of the year?
Mrs. Snyder: Great question! And the reason why I say that is because that is exactly what they should know – how to ask meaningful questions! We work hard throughout the year engaging students in inquiry, learning to use relevant question words, and encouraging deeper level questioning, as those are the types of questions that help scientists make new discoveries. We move away from “if/can/do” questions and focus more on “how/why” queries.
Mrs. Snyder: I love that grades 4-6 use science notebooks throughout the year. Why do you find them so beneficial?
Mrs. Coatney: Science notebooks open up a dialogue between teacher and student. Students use them as a central location to store and organize their notes and assignments, which they then refer back to during quizzes and experiments. Their notebooks are turned into the teacher three times a year for teacher feedback and assessment. It’s incredible how quickly students become attached to their science notebooks and improve the quality of their entries once they understand their purpose. Science notebooks give the teacher a better glimpse into how students think, which informs future lesson plans and helps the teacher fill in gaps of understanding.
Mrs. Coatney: Here at Wise, parents may have heard that we use the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). What are these and why do we use them?
Mrs. Snyder: California adopted the Next Generation Science Standards a few years ago. These new standards really focus more on science practices and processes, instead of memorizing specific science content. This means that students can engage more in doing science, instead of just accumulating facts, which they could just Google search for anyway! Here at Wise, we plan all of our lessons to align with NGSS. Wise students learn how to observe, question, and define problems. They develop and use models, plan and carry out investigations, and use mathematical and computational thinking. By 6th grade, Wise students are constructing explanations and designing solutions, engaging in argumentation from evidence, and obtaining, evaluating and communicating information! They are empowered with all these science skills and practices to become successful science students in middle school and beyond.
Mrs. Snyder: What is your favorite part of teaching science?
Mrs. Coatney: Planning and attending meaningful science field trips with students! It is incredibly rewarding to be able to give students real-world science experiences. Last year, we went to TreePeople park with grade 5 which had an excellent guided program that tied in perfectly with our unit on ecosystem dynamics. We also attended the Natural History Museum with 6th grade, which had a fantastic “citizen scientist” program that connected seamlessly with our characteristics of life unit. This year, I am very pleased that we finally got to take 5th grade to the Griffith Observatory during our unit on Earth in space! Students were so engaged and loved seeing all the telescopes and instruments that scientists use to study space.
Mrs. Coatney: What is your favorite type of science to teach?
Mrs Snyder: I have to admit – I don’t think I can pick just one! Our life science units focus on the important relationships between both living and nonliving things, our earth science units focus on the natural and human-caused shifts that continue to affect our planet, and our physical science units dive into interesting phenomena that both fascinate and inspire our students such as magnetism and chemistry. What is so wonderful about science here at Wise is that the learning goes beyond the science lab. Our general studies and Hebrew/Judaic teachers work hard with us to incorporate science topics into their own curriculum, allowing students to apply their scientific knowledge in a variety of ways. I’m proud to be a part of such a STEAM-centric school!
