Back to e-portfolio

Use of New Pedagogical Knowledge in Designing Instruction

Reflection

In education 536 we spent a lot of time working on backward design. Although I had read articles on methods of presenting material to students I believe this class caused me to focus on how to design lessons that would insure the information being presented was relevant to my instruction and presented using the best possible method. This is not always easy because you have to have a clear understanding of your end project and a thorough understanding of the concepts you want to present before you can decide what you will teach. Dr. Smith, our professor, took us through the step by step format of how to properly use "Understanding Backward Design," which has three stages.

"Stage 1 - What is worthy and requiring of understanding?

Stage 2 - What is evidence of understanding?

Stage 3 - What learning experiences and teaching promote understanding, interest and excellence?"

http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/Planning/models/princbackdesign.htm

I found this a worthwhile strategy for designing instruction. I believe it causes me to be more analytical, reflective and prepared for what I will teach and made me more aware of how important it is to make the learning relevant to students.

Evidence of Growth

Prior to UbD I wasn't always examining the big picture or enduring understandings I wanted students to take away from a particular lesson. The evidence I am presenting shows my new understanding of pedagogical knowledge, and how I incorporated this new knowledge into designing my unit on light.

Evidence Below

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unit Light Plan

This assignment is a culminating piece that encompasses all that we learned about the backward design model. I used light as a focus because I taught this topic and wanted to do a more creative, hands on, student oriented unit that would give the students a purpose for learning the material.

Patty McCarrin

April 1, 2006

Course: The Teaching and Learning of Science

Unit Plan

Understanding Light Phenomena

Stage 1: Identify Desired Results

Unit Description

In this unit students will study light through observations of light phenomena such as shadows, color, lens and mirrors. They will engage in organized activities that will help them develop their ideas about light. They will partake in activities that will widen their experience and help them come to a deeper understanding of the properties of light and how it affects their everyday lives. They will be asked to come up with ideas about light that they can test, to think about variables that will effect changes that they can measure. They will be gathering evidence and foothold ideas as a result of exploration. They will use their understanding of light to construct a shadow puppet show that they will perform for students in the lower grades at the end of their study. The main goal of the unit will be for students to be able to explain observable phenomena they have explored and the mechanisms by which they are formed.

Overarching Understandings include:

Light is an electromagnetic wave that travels without any medium. (http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/curric/stage6/phys/communicates/

Student_section/student_physics.htm)

Luminous objects are sources of electromagnetic radiation, whereas non-luminous objects must emit radiation by reflecting the radiation from another source. (http://www.spaceforspecies.ca/educators_guide/satellite_technology/grade_six_p4.htm)
Light interacts with matter by transmission (including refraction), absorption, or scattering (including reflection). To see an object, light from that object – emitted by or scattered from it – must enter the eye. (http://bob.nap.edu/tml/nses/6d.tm.htm#ps)

Unit Enduring Understandings:

In order for an object to be seen, the sun (or other source of visible electromagnetic radiation) must illuminate the object, and the object must reflect some of the radiation back to the eye, otherwise objects cannot be seen. (http://www.spaceforspecies.ca/educators_guide/satellite_technology/grade_six_p4.htm)
Light travels in straight lines unless something happens to make it do otherwise.

(STC/MS Project Staff. Light. National Academy of Sciences. 2002)

Objects are classified by the way that they interact with light.

(STC/MS Project Staff. Light. National Academy of Sciences. 2002)

Unit Essential Questions:

Why don’t all shadows look the same?
Why do we need light in order to see things?
What happens to light when it bounces off of things or passes through things?

What students will need to know and be able to do (knowledge and skills):

Detection of light requires its interception by matter.
Light travels in straight lines and spreads out as it moves from a light source.
The area illuminated by a light source increases with the distance of the area from the source.
The apparent brightness of a light decreases as the distance between the light source and the surface illuminated increases.
Transparent objects transmit light with little distortion; translucent objects transmit light but also diffuse light; and opaque objects do not transmit light.
Shadows are produced by an object when the object interrupts the path of light.
The appearance of a shadow produced by an object is determined by the way that object interacts with light.
The size of a shadow formed on a surface depends on the distances between the light source, the object obstructing the light, and the surface on which the shadow forms.
Small, or point, light sources cast sharp shadows; large, extended sources produce shadows with diffuse edges.
When a ray of light falls on a transparent object, some of the light is reflected from the object and some passes into the object and is transmitted.
A prism can be used to split white light into its component colors.

(STC/MS Project Staff. Light. National Academy of Sciences. 2002)

What do students typically misunderstand?

Students might believe that light only exists at the source that it is detected.

Students may not understand that all light has an initial source.

(Langley, Ronen, Eylon. Light Propagation and Visual Patterns:Preinstruction Learners’ Conceptions. 1996)

The nature of light does not vary – it is not affected by the environment or the type of light.

Light does not travel at all.

The distance light travels depends on its energy.

(Fetherstonhaugh and Treagust. Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University of Technology. Science Education. (76(6): 653-672. 1992)

Students may not be able to distinguish between luminous and reflected sources. (example: they may believe that the moon produces its own light.)

Students may think that an object can produce only one shadow.

Students may think that light travels in an undeviated, or straight, path through glass.

(STC/MS Project Staff. Light. National Academy of Sciences. 2002)

“The majority of elementary students and some middle-school students who have not received any systematic instruction about light tend to identify light with its source (e.g., light is in the bulb) or its effects (e.g., patch of light). They do not have a notion of light as something that travels from one place to another. As a result, these students have difficulties explaining the direction and formation of shadows, and the reflection of light by objects. For example, some students simply note the similarity of shape between the object and the shadow or say that the object hides the light. Middle-school students often accept that mirrors reflect light but, at least in some situations, reject the idea that ordinary objects reflect light “(Guesne, 1985; Ramadas & Driver, 1989).

“Many elementary- and middle-school students do not believe that their eyes receive light when they look at an object. Students' conceptions of vision vary from the notion that light fills space ("the room is full of light") and the eye "sees" without anything linking it to the object, to the idea that, light illuminates surfaces that we can see by the action of our eyes on them.” (Guesne, 1985).

Stage 2: Determine Acceptable Evidence

G: What is the goal of the performance?

Students learn how an objects shadow is affected by the intensity and position

of light in relation to both the object and the surface on which a shadow is

cast.

R: What role does the student assume in the performance?

The students will work together in groups of 2 or 3 to create different shadow

effects using different light sources such as an overhead projector, flashlight,

light bulb and a variety of screen mediums. (opaque, translucent and

transparent)

The students will use what they learn to create a short, five minute shadow

play based on a pre-approved and agreed on plot.

A: What audience does the student address?

The target audience is an assembly that will be held for the lower grades.

S: What is the situation for the performance?

The situation is that they:

Will familiarize themselves with transparent, translucent and opaque substances.
Students will use mediums to produce light effects and a screen to explore how to create a variety of shadow effects.
Students will keep a notebook of their results writing how the properties of shadows change based on the light concentration, light position and substance used to create shadows.
They will also record observations noted when the distance between the

light and an object changes and what happen when the distance between

the object and surface changes.

Investigate the web site Playing With Shadows: An Introduction to Shadow Puppetry. (http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3879/)
Create puppets and write their play.

P: What should be produced?

A puppet show that utilizes the information they learned about shadows

during their light investigations.

S: What are the standards for the product?

For the puppet show:

Information: Students will be required to have at least one long shadow, one

short shadow and one very blurry shadow. They should be able to explain

why they used the particular shadows in the play.

Organization: The group was well prepared; they knew their parts and the

production ran smoothly.

Creativity: The show was creative, everyone in the group participated and it

kept the attention of their audience.

Quizzes, Tests and Academic Prompts:

Students will be making predictions and conducting experiments based on these predictions. They will be writing up their results, sharing their findings with their group and the rest of the class. They will record this information in a journal that will be graded. They will be using online resources that have interactive activities that help them further explore the properties of shadows and light, completing on line assignments reviewed by teacher.

Other Evidence:

Verbal responses to questions posed by the teacher. Student conversation observed by teacher during the conduction of the experiments and recorded by teacher and conceptual responses given by students during power point presentation.

Stage 3: Plan Learning Experiences, Instruction, and Resources

W: Discuss the unit outline with the students. Give a pre-assessment quiz. Post enduring understandings, and essential questions. Discuss performance assessment and the rubric used to demonstrate evidence of understanding. Introduce the journal that will be used throughout the unit for reflection, experiments and self evaluations.

HOOK: “Students will progress through a series of work stations exploring properties of light recording observations and ideas about what they believe is happening and formulating questions about what they are experiencing.”

(STC/MS Project Staff. Light. National Academy of Sciences. 2002)

EXPERIENCES AND EXPLORATIONS:

Students compare their ideas about light and identify different sources of it.

Inquiry 2.2 “How is Light Produced” “Students explore a variety of light sources and discuss how light is produced from them.”

(STC/MS Project Staff. Light. National Academy of Sciences. 2002)

Inquiry 3.1 “Looking at How Light Travels” “In this investigation students will look at how light travels through air and water. They will devise an inquiry that tests the hypothesis that light travels in a straight line, discuss the speed of light and how it can be determined.”

(STC/MS Project Staff. Light. National Academy of Sciences. 2002)

Students will make a pinhole camera and write observations and questions about what they observed. Pg. 271

(Liem, Ti L. Invitations to Science Inquiry. Science Inquiry Enterprises, Chino Hills, CA. 1987.)

Inquiry 4.1 “How Light Spreads Out” “In this inquiry students investigate whether the appearance of a light source depends on a person’s distance from the source. They will measure and predict the area illuminated by a light source at different distances from the source.”

(STC/MS Project Staff. Light. National Academy of Sciences. 2002)

Inquiry 5.1, 5.2 “Blocking the Light” “Students will classify objects according to the way that they reflect and transmit light. They will investigate how shadows are produced and record their observations about how the sizes of shadows are formed. They will describe and compare shadows produced by both point light sources and nearby diffuse light sources.”

Students will explore several sights on line that give information about how to create puppets, make a screen background and how to use different lights to create effects for their puppet show.

(http://www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/definitions/shadow.html)

(http://www.osv.org/kids/crafts2.htm)

(http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3895/)

Investigate colored shadows (http://www.osv.org/kids/crafts2.htm)

Lesson on where shadows lie based on direction of light source. A good on line lab about locating an object based on the shadows. The idea of complete and partial shadows can also be developed from this. (http://www.learner.org/teacherslab)

Inquiry 7.1, 7.2 “Modeling Light” “In this inquiry students use a particle model and wave model for light. They compare and evaluate these models”.

(STC/MS Project Staff. Light. National Academy of Sciences. 2002)

Inquiry 9.1, 9.2, 9.3 “Color, Wavelength, and the Wider Electromagnetic Spectrum” “Students will measure wavelengths of a wave and model different wavelengths of light. They will discuss and model the relationship between color, wavelength and frequency. They will discuss the invisible electromagnetic spectrum and devise simple experiments to compare some of the characteristics of visible light and infrared.”

(STC/MS Project Staff. Light. National Academy of Sciences. 2002)

Inquiry 10.1 “Examining Spectra” “Students will build a spectroscope and use it to examine light from different sources, observe and draw a spectra produced by different light sources and discuss how a spectroscopy is used.”

(STC/MS Project Staff. Light. National Academy of Sciences. 2002)

Inquiry 11.1, 11.2 “Looking at Colors” “Students will examine transparent and opaque colored objects and surfaces and explain why they are colored. They will use a spectroscope to examine light passing through filters of various colors and predict and observe the color of opaque colored surfaces when they are viewed through a variety of color filters.”

(STC/MS Project Staff. Light. National Academy of Sciences. 2002)

Inquiry 12.1 “Colored Light” “Students will investigate what happens when lights of different colors are mixed together.”

(STC/MS Project Staff. Light. National Academy of Sciences. 2002)

Inquiry 14.1, 14.2, 14.3 “Introducing Mirrors” “Students will observe and discuss the reflection of light from a white screen, a silvered mirrored surface and a half-silvered surface. They will compare an object with its image in a plane mirror and determine, through investigation and measurement, that the image seen in a mirror appears as if it is actually located behind the mirror. The students will compare the distance of an object from a mirror with the apparent position of its image behind the mirror and predict the appearance of mirror images.”

(STC/MS Project Staff. Light. National Academy of Sciences. 2002)

Reflection Inquiries - Students will investigate images from a mirror and draw paths of light rays. “How High to Place the Mirror?” pg. 274 “Look at Yourself as Others See You.” pg. 275

(Liem, Ti L. Invitations to Science Inquiry. Science Inquiry Enterprises, Chino Hills, CA. 1987.)

Inquiry 15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 15.4 “Students will investigate the laws of reflection and refraction. They will observe the reflection of rays off of a plane mirror, use multiple mirrors to divert the path of a light ray, construct and explain the operation of a simple periscope. Students will measure the angles of incidence and reflection and construct a “law of reflection” based on data collected.”

(STC/MS Project Staff. Light. National Academy of Sciences. 2002)

(http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperiments/agesubject/lessons/ftoptics.html)

(http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlnasa/units/optics/11Activity05.pdf)

Refraction Inquiries – “The Reappearing Coin” pg. 277, “The Glass Rod Magnifier” pg 280

(Liem, Ti L. Invitations to Science Inquiry. Science Inquiry Enterprises, Chino Hills, CA. 1987.)

REFLECT:

Students will keep a journal of the investigations they explore. They will record questions that arise as they are conducting the investigations, surprises that they might encounter and write down future investigations they might like to develop as a result of these explorations. They will include reflections on what they have done.

In their journal they will also record answers to prompts that will be given at the beginning of each lessons.

EVALUATIONS:

Review pre-assessment questions and look at any misconceptions that are present. As lessons develop, make a point to bring them up and correct them.

Hang a poster with students’ first thoughts on light concepts. As concepts are developed refer back to this list and see if there are changes. Post the changes on a “new ideas” chart next to the first one.

Create concept questions to present on the overhead with a, b, c, d answers. Have students write on mini whiteboards the answer they choose. Have an a, b, c, d student get in a group and discuss why they choose their answer. Have students come back together at end of a few minutes and see if there are any changes. Discuss correct answer with entire class.

Complete the GRASP final task.

Grade journal.

Contributions to class discussion.

Shadow Puppet Show Rubric

Category	3	2	1	0
Puppet show screen effects.	Use translucent, opaque and transparent mediums to create effects. Can explain why used these mediums.	Use two of the three mediums to create effects. Can explain why used these mediums.	Use one of the three mediums to create effects. Can explain why used this medium.	May use mediums but cannot give an explanation.
Puppet Show Shadows	Produces blurry, long, short and sharp shadows using light sources to produce several special effects.	Produces blurry, long, short and sharp shadows using light sources to produce a couple special effects.	Produces blurry, long, short and sharp shadows but no special effects.	Does not produce all the shadow requirements. (blurry, long, short and sharp)
Verbal Communication	All students can clearly explain that the properties of shadows are determined by the intensity and position of the light source and distances and angles between the light, object and surface.	All students can clearly explain most of the properties described in section 3.	Student can vaguely describe the properties listed in section 3.	Students do not exhibit any clear understanding of how shadows form.
Creativity	Show was creative, everyone participated and it kept the attention of the audience.	Show was somewhat creative, everyone participated and it kept the attention of the audience.	Show was boring, everyone participated.	Did not complete the story. Was not able to perform.

Journal Rubric

5=Very Strong 4=Strong 3=Average 2= Somewhat Weak 1=Weak

The organization of the journal entries are clear and easy to follow

Consistent use of appropriate science language and terminology

Main ideas are clearly presented; Ideas are presented in an appropriate order.

Ideas are supported by information and logic

Appropriate conclusions are based upon evidence presented

Effective use of models, diagrams, charts, and graphs

Your Shadow Theater Roles

Lesson Connection: Shadows & Light, Science & Puppetry

ARTSEDGE materials may be reproduced for educational purposes.

The success of the play depends on your hard work as individuals and as a team. As a team, you must share a common goal. In this case, your goal is the production of a shadow puppet play.

By now, your team should have decided on a topic. Everyone should speak about what they would like the play to look like or be, and should decide on an overall concept and strategy to follow.

Everyone in the group must agree upon final decisions.

Follow your teachers’ instructions closely. Your teacher may wish to assign roles, your team may be asked to draw roles from a jar, or your team might be invited to vote based on why each member feels he/she would be best suited for a certain role. Once your team’s roles are assigned, make sure you know what’s expected. It’s important to know your roles and take them seriously.

Director: Your job is to oversee the production and make sure that the play is running smoothly. Call meetings regularly to check and review progress. You will help the Script Writer, Prop Maker, and Set Maker make decisions and help overcome any challenges that may arise. You will also work with the Script Writer to finalize the script.

Script Writer: After your group has decided on the basic plot of the play, your job is to work out the details and write out all of the parts for each of the puppets in the play (and the narrator, if applicable). Be sure to include directions for any scene changes that occur. Make sure you communicate with the Prop and Set Makers so they are aware of the puppets they need to create. And work with the Director to come to decisions and finalize the script.

Prop Maker: Your role involves making the props for the play. From the basic plot of the play, can you determine whether a character might need a particular item for a certain scene (i.e., food, a baseball, a magic wand)? If not, work closely with the script writer. Read the script and figure out, with the Director’s help, what props are necessary to tell the story.

Set Maker: You are tasked with making the sets for the play. If a scene is taking place in a garden, you might make a tree or a fountain. If puppets are at the beach, you might make water out of blue tissue paper. You don’t need to create elaborate sets, just one or two items that would signify the setting. Work with the Director to determine what is necessary.

Creating a shadow puppet play is not an easy task. Here are some helpful hints:

Make a checklist of all the tasks to be completed in your category.
Stay on top of things by checking each task off as it is completed.
Create a timeline for yourself.
Make sure you have a very clear understanding of your tasks. If you have any questions, ask the Director for clarification.
You should be able to give a status report at any time. Know what you have already accomplished; know what you are doing and what still needs to be done.

Back to e-portfolio