Sequence: Yr 7 Science - Planet Discovery

Sequence Information

Sequence: Yr 7 Science - Planet Discovery
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Description:

Thomas Hoppe authored this sequence for EDUC261 at Macquarie University. Students discover more about planet features in our solar system.

Keywords:Planets; solar system

Subject:Science

Audience:Year 7

Run time:

Delivery Mode:

Resources:

Outline of Activities:]Intended learners
The LAMS sequence developed is aimed at Year 7 or Stage 4 students studying Science, in particular Outcomes 4.9.1 and 4.9.2 (BOS, 2003). The intended class is a mixed ability group with a few students from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Aims of the sequence
The uses of ICTs are thought to promote student engagement (Krause, Bochner and Duchense, 2003). The aim of the LAMS sequence was to give students a broad overview of the planets that make up our solar system and the opportunity to research their favourite planet in a bit more detail. The LAMS sequence developed was based on constructivist approaches to learning in particular social constructivism. Constructivism acknowledges that learners are ‘constructors or creators’ of meaning. The approach of a constructivist teacher is to allow students to actively participate in learning as opposed to being passive recipients of knowledge or information (Krause et al., 2003). According to Gruba (2004), making activities authentic and catering for student ownership has direct links with social constructivism.

The use of the various LAMS applications.
Shared Resources
The use of varied materials particularly in the Shared resources application enables the engagement of students through the acknowledgement of different leaning styles. The resources provided catered for both visual and linguistic learners. Some of the resources were text dominated and others were more visually appealing.

Forum
The use of the forum application in LAMS enables the distribution of learning amongst the class and also of cognition, through which broadens the students’ views and ideas (Krause et al., 2003).

Optional
The Optional feature was used to give the students a choice of planet that they could research. Poor motivation is related to low achievement among adolescents at secondary school. Students are less likely to be intrinsically motivated when they are given the lack of freedom to study a subject in depth (Krause, et al. 2003). Giving the students the option to choose a planet was included to give the students ownership over the activity and keep them interested by doing what they wanted to do rather than having to do all the activities and having no choice.

Provision of URLs.
The provision of the relevant URLs in the sequence removed the need for students to search the internet for their information. “Time spent searching the World Wide Web is often time wasted” (Sampford, p. 20, 2002). The provision of URLs in the Shared resources application eliminates the need for the students themselves to search for relevant internet sites to access and discover information. This aspect of the learning sequence is imperative if the lesson is a short time period, for example forty minutes. The time savings provide more time for students to process the information presented to them. The extra processing time enables all students, including students with reading difficulties, to participate in the activity. This, however, eliminated the need for students to acquire or practice internet searching strategies. Searching techniques for quality information are seen as an important lifelong skill (Sampford, 2002).

Digital divide and Equity.
The notion of the digital divide is an aspect to be considered when planning to incorporate ICT into a lesson. A 2002 study by The Smith Family highlighted the low levels of home internet connections amongst low income families when compared to that of higher income families (Holden, 2003). Another finding was that of the correlation between the level of parents’ education and computer/internet access (Maclaren and Zappala, 2002; Pluss 2004). As mentioned previously the URLs for the activity were provided to cater for students with minimal knowledge of effective navigation of the internet.

Another important aspect when using ICTs within the classroom is equity. Is there enough equipment in the room for everybody to participate? The use of LAMS can reduce the need for ALL students to have access to their own computer. The use of individual modules or steps within a sequence can be utilised to develop a time sharing component to the activity. For example, the activity can be divided into a number of components and the students are can arrange equal access to ‘driving’ the sequence.

Literacy
Students are required to compose their own story about visiting their favourite planet. This activity is aimed at increasing the students’ literacy skills which is an integral part of today’s curriculum. Recently, there has been a push to generate awareness that literacy is not the sole domain of the English department, but is a school wide focus.

Assessment
Assessment for the activity is the submission of their story. The uploading file facility was used as it was thought that this has advantages for both teacher and student. The teacher benefits as it easily determined who has completed the task. If the LAMS server is set up correctly, this will give the teacher access to the students work from home creating a ‘mark on demand’ environment and hopefully easing the anxiety of looking at a huge pile of papers that need to be marked.
Students benefit from the feature as it eliminates the need for producing a hardcopy of the story. Associated with hardcopies comes the possibility of losing the work or having any number of printing problems.
References

BOS (Board of Studies NSW), (2003) Science Years 7-10 Syllabus. Sydney: Board of Studies.

Gruba, P. (2004) Designing tasks for collaborative language learning. Prospect 19 (2) 72-81.

Holden, S. (2003) Bridging the digital divide. Professional Educator 2 (4) 4-5.

Krause, K., Bochner, S., Duchesne, S. (2003). Educational Psychology for learning and teaching. Southbank Victoria: Thomson.

Maclaren, J. and Zappala, G. (2002) The new economy revisited: an initial analysis of the digital divide among financially disadvantaged families. The Smith Family, Research and Social policy Team, Background Paper No. 5.

Pluss, P. (2004) Digital Divide in Australia. Geography Bulletin 36 (4) 56-59.

Sampford, B. (2001) Students searching the internet. SCAN 21 (1) 20-25.
Author view:
Image not available

Audience:

Subjects:

Language: English

LAMS Version: 1.0.0.b.6

License: Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike

Support Files: No files

Sharing with: Everyone in K - 12 Schools

Status: Active

Average Rating: (3). Based on 5 reviews.

Number of downloads: 150 times

Number of previews: 96 times

Authored By: Donna Gibbs

Date: 04 December 2005 09:34 PM

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Sequence Information
Sequence:	Yr 7 Science - Planet Discovery Preview \| Open LessonLAMS \| Download
Description:	Thomas Hoppe authored this sequence for EDUC261 at Macquarie University. Students discover more about planet features in our solar system. Keywords:Planets; solar system Subject:Science Audience:Year 7 Run time: Delivery Mode: Resources: Outline of Activities:]Intended learners The LAMS sequence developed is aimed at Year 7 or Stage 4 students studying Science, in particular Outcomes 4.9.1 and 4.9.2 (BOS, 2003). The intended class is a mixed ability group with a few students from low socio-economic backgrounds. Aims of the sequence The uses of ICTs are thought to promote student engagement (Krause, Bochner and Duchense, 2003). The aim of the LAMS sequence was to give students a broad overview of the planets that make up our solar system and the opportunity to research their favourite planet in a bit more detail. The LAMS sequence developed was based on constructivist approaches to learning in particular social constructivism. Constructivism acknowledges that learners are ‘constructors or creators’ of meaning. The approach of a constructivist teacher is to allow students to actively participate in learning as opposed to being passive recipients of knowledge or information (Krause et al., 2003). According to Gruba (2004), making activities authentic and catering for student ownership has direct links with social constructivism. The use of the various LAMS applications. Shared Resources The use of varied materials particularly in the Shared resources application enables the engagement of students through the acknowledgement of different leaning styles. The resources provided catered for both visual and linguistic learners. Some of the resources were text dominated and others were more visually appealing. Forum The use of the forum application in LAMS enables the distribution of learning amongst the class and also of cognition, through which broadens the students’ views and ideas (Krause et al., 2003). Optional The Optional feature was used to give the students a choice of planet that they could research. Poor motivation is related to low achievement among adolescents at secondary school. Students are less likely to be intrinsically motivated when they are given the lack of freedom to study a subject in depth (Krause, et al. 2003). Giving the students the option to choose a planet was included to give the students ownership over the activity and keep them interested by doing what they wanted to do rather than having to do all the activities and having no choice. Provision of URLs. The provision of the relevant URLs in the sequence removed the need for students to search the internet for their information. “Time spent searching the World Wide Web is often time wasted” (Sampford, p. 20, 2002). The provision of URLs in the Shared resources application eliminates the need for the students themselves to search for relevant internet sites to access and discover information. This aspect of the learning sequence is imperative if the lesson is a short time period, for example forty minutes. The time savings provide more time for students to process the information presented to them. The extra processing time enables all students, including students with reading difficulties, to participate in the activity. This, however, eliminated the need for students to acquire or practice internet searching strategies. Searching techniques for quality information are seen as an important lifelong skill (Sampford, 2002). Digital divide and Equity. The notion of the digital divide is an aspect to be considered when planning to incorporate ICT into a lesson. A 2002 study by The Smith Family highlighted the low levels of home internet connections amongst low income families when compared to that of higher income families (Holden, 2003). Another finding was that of the correlation between the level of parents’ education and computer/internet access (Maclaren and Zappala, 2002; Pluss 2004). As mentioned previously the URLs for the activity were provided to cater for students with minimal knowledge of effective navigation of the internet. Another important aspect when using ICTs within the classroom is equity. Is there enough equipment in the room for everybody to participate? The use of LAMS can reduce the need for ALL students to have access to their own computer. The use of individual modules or steps within a sequence can be utilised to develop a time sharing component to the activity. For example, the activity can be divided into a number of components and the students are can arrange equal access to ‘driving’ the sequence. Literacy Students are required to compose their own story about visiting their favourite planet. This activity is aimed at increasing the students’ literacy skills which is an integral part of today’s curriculum. Recently, there has been a push to generate awareness that literacy is not the sole domain of the English department, but is a school wide focus. Assessment Assessment for the activity is the submission of their story. The uploading file facility was used as it was thought that this has advantages for both teacher and student. The teacher benefits as it easily determined who has completed the task. If the LAMS server is set up correctly, this will give the teacher access to the students work from home creating a ‘mark on demand’ environment and hopefully easing the anxiety of looking at a huge pile of papers that need to be marked. Students benefit from the feature as it eliminates the need for producing a hardcopy of the story. Associated with hardcopies comes the possibility of losing the work or having any number of printing problems. References BOS (Board of Studies NSW), (2003) Science Years 7-10 Syllabus. Sydney: Board of Studies. Gruba, P. (2004) Designing tasks for collaborative language learning. Prospect 19 (2) 72-81. Holden, S. (2003) Bridging the digital divide. Professional Educator 2 (4) 4-5. Krause, K., Bochner, S., Duchesne, S. (2003). Educational Psychology for learning and teaching. Southbank Victoria: Thomson. Maclaren, J. and Zappala, G. (2002) The new economy revisited: an initial analysis of the digital divide among financially disadvantaged families. The Smith Family, Research and Social policy Team, Background Paper No. 5. Pluss, P. (2004) Digital Divide in Australia. Geography Bulletin 36 (4) 56-59. Sampford, B. (2001) Students searching the internet. SCAN 21 (1) 20-25.
Author view:	Image not available
Audience:
Subjects:
Language:	English
LAMS Version:	1.0.0.b.6
License:	Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike
Support Files:	No files
Sharing with:	Everyone in K - 12 Schools
Status:	Active
Average Rating:	(3). Based on 5 reviews.
Number of downloads:	150 times
Number of previews:	96 times
Authored By:	Donna Gibbs
Date:	04 December 2005 09:34 PM
User Comments on Yr 7 Science - Planet Discovery sequence Add comments to Yr 7 Science - Planet Discovery sequence