Here, a teacher and coach invite 6th graders to represent their thinking about sound and how a singer shatters a glass. Watch a student, Keonie, describe their model and respond to questions, and see how the teacher records and links ways of representing sound.
Honoring students’ intuitive ways of representing ideas can expand what counts as science and who participates. By making different representations available to the class, sense-making becomes a more collective and inclusive process.
Check out a research article that describes how representation is an integral part of modeling: Schwarz, C. V., Reiser, B. J., Davis, E. A., Kenyon, L., Acher, A., Fortus, D., Shwartz, Y., Hug, B., & Krajcik, J. (2009). Developing a learning progression for scientific modeling: Making scientific modeling accessible and meaningful for learners. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 46(6), 632-654.
Explore ways to select science read-alouds that center justice
This professional learning resource shares the story of the Seattle Public Schools science specialists and how they organized professional learning communities across the district to inquire about justice-centered science teaching and learning.
Build from structured partner talk to a structured whole-class share-out
This site is primarily funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Award #1907471 and #1315995