UtSTA 2024: Out-Of-This-World Science Teaching

Learn how your 2nd grade students can go from sleuth to scientist while using Red Butte Garden's Botany Boxes. The Seed Sleuths Botany Box directly supports SEEd standard 2.2.3 with hands on observations and experiments using 6 different seeds and fruits. Come observe, draw, wonder, and do experiments with fruits and seeds involving wind, water, gravity and animals. Then design your own seed and model how it would be dispersed.

This presentation is an introduction to student sensemaking through modeling aligned to SEEd Strand 2.1 Changes in Earth’s Surface. Participants will experience what scientific modeling looks like in practice through the lens of the 2nd grade Earth’s systems unit, “Moncton” from Ambitious Science Teaching. In this unit students are constructing explanations about a puzzling phenomenon, what caused the mountain town of Moncton to flood? Participants will observe what student modeling looked like in a classroom, define what modeling is, and learn strategies to support student scientific modeling and sensemaking.

This presentation is adapted from the Module: Introduction to Sensemaking through Modeling from Advancing Coherent and Equitable Systems of Science Education.