3 May summary and follow up (see also Wil's notes)

Developing teachers into "scientists", includes being familiar with other bodies of observations/interpretations, helping students become familiar with them as well, overlaps with need to provide some "science" visibility, with technology considerations?

Have strong foundation for observation/interpretation opportunities in existing practices/new school grounds.

• "Make you own inquiry transparent"
• Not just "wow" but what can one do with it?
• "Why are there flies on this smelly thing?"
• science journaling, tulip growing program

• prominent displays of changes of pictures of a single location over time
• zoom pictures/capability from outer space to school grounds (and smaller?)
• diversity patch
• turtle patch
• more on recycling
• weather station
• galaxy pictures
• geological/paleontological artifacts on grounds

Find ways to not only make observations easy and interesting but to make them "generative", ie to cause new questions/stories that in turn motivate new observations, want active feedback from interpretations to new observations to new interpretations etc. Want students to come to see making observations/interpretations as a route to ensure pleasure of new observations/interpretations. At what ages/stages can various levels of sophistication at this process be encouraged?

• enjoy of new observations
• enjoyment of posing questions
• enjoyment of generating interpretations that create new questions?
• sustained observation/interpretation cycle?
• recognizing multiple interpretations for given set of observations, influence of interpretations on observations

The new conversation: getting started on a PreK-6 curriculum plan

Alice Lesnick (alice.lesnick@verizon.net)

Why are teachers doing the particular "science" activities at each level that they are currently doing?
How do existing "science" activities at each level relate to those at other levels?
What do we collectively think students should have been exposed to by the end of 6th grade?
How might we best orchestrate a PreK-6 sequence to achieve this?
What additional factors need to be taken into consideration in designing a coherent process AND content sequence?

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