..stimulates and excites pupils' curiosity about phenomena and events in the world around them" (the National Curriculum, 2006) and that science also "satisfies this curiosity with knowledge." (the National Curriculum, 2006) Scientific inquiry teaches students investigate skills in the areas of: (1) Planning; (2) Obtaining and Presenting Evidence; (3) Exploration; and (4) Consideration of evidence and making evaluations. In the area of planning students ask questions and then make decisions how to search out the answers to those questions. Students use first-hand experience and simple information sources for locating answers to these questions and as well enter a thought process about the results of decisions and learn to make comparisons. In obtaining and presenting evidence the students learn to follow instructions in the lab in order to avoid risks to themselves and others and make exploration through use of the senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste as appropriate while making observations and recording those observations and measurements. Finally, students communicate their observations and findings through use of speech and writing, drawing, tables, graphs and pictures. In the application of consideration of the evidence and making evaluations, comparisons are made by students and patterns and associations are identified. Also, students make a review of their own work and go on to explain their work to other students.
V. The SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY MODEL is related by EDQUEST which contains specific steps including: (1) Problem statement (initial inquiry); (2) Hypothesis (Predicting); (3) Experimental Design (Materials and Procedure); (4) Data Collection (Observations/Measurements); (5) Analysis/Interpretation of the Data (Inferring); (6) Drawing Conclusions (Answering the question/problem); and (7) Extension (further inquiry). (EDQUEST, 2007) the illustration of this model is shown in Figure 2.
The Scientific Inquiry Model
Source: EDQUEST (2007)
EDQUEST (2007) states that Science Process Skills include the following with the accompanying descriptions: (1) Observing: Using all the senses; (2) Classifying: Grouping related objects and ideas; (3) Quantifying: Using numbers & measurements related to length, width, volume and ratios; (4) Communicating: Describing verbally or non-verbally, tabulating, graphing; (5) Interpreting Data: Explanation of an observation; (6) Hypothesis: A
As the student becomes adept at each level of learning and advances to the next level, the student's knowledge increases, but as well the student's capacity for learning grows as well. Bloom's Taxonomy sets out a specific guide that may be effectively used by the science teacher in the special education classroom or in the general classroom that is characterized by inclusion.
Bibliography
Building Bridges Between Science and Special Education: Inclusion in the Science Classroom. Electronic Journal of Science Education Vol. 4 No. 3 March 2000. Online available at http://ejse.southwestern.edu/original%20site/manuscripts/v4n3/issue.html
Bloom's Taxonomy (nd) Online available at http://www.officeport.com/edu/blooms.htm
Primary Science (2003) No. 202. Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. 2003.
The National Curriculum (2006) Teaching in England. Online available at http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachinginengland/detail.cfm?id=314.
Friedlander, Brian S. (2004) Changing the Face of Science Education in the Classroom with Technology. Inclusion Times: Technology for Children & Youth with Disabilities. Vol. 12 No. 1 September/October 2004. Online available at http://www.assistivetek.com/HomeImages/InclusionTimesV12n1.pdf
The Scientific Inquiry Model (2007) EDQUEST Middle School Science Resources. Online available at http://www.edquest.ca/content/view/91/
Special Education in the Science Classroom
Special Education Legislation Individualized Education Program Developing Standard-Based Individualized Education Program Objectives for Students with Significant Needs. By Sharon Lynch and Paula Adams. Due to the need to provide equitable education and knowledge to children with special needs, the idea of Individualized Education Program (IEP) comes in handy to help make this a reality. It is upon the government's recognition of the needs of the children who have conditions that may not allow
Then students use AlphaSmart software to paste the picture and explain in a paragraph why, how and where in the plot they feel that picture relates to the story. This tests three things: (a) student concentration; (b) student level of understanding of the general plot; and - student imagination. This is an important implementation because it opens the students' horizons and allows them to see the general links and
In their study, "Thinking of Inclusion for All Special Needs Students: Better Think Again," Rasch and his colleagues (1994) report that, "The political argument in favor of inclusion is based on the assumption that the civil rights of students, as outlined in the 1954 decision handed down in Brown v. Board of Education, which struck down the concept of 'separate but equal,' can also be construed as applying to special
Schools are pressed in terms of their funding, and cannot always provide as much individualized education as is necessary to help students in the classroom. The results of this study support the notion that preschool intervention can be extremely valuable for helping children with autism, even before the children enter kindergarten. Unfortunately, early intervention programs are struggling to find financial support even more so than standard public schools. Furthermore, children
Categorizations included 'steamer children', 'backward', 'defective', 'truant', and 'incorrigible'. At least two of these terms have persisted still today. In 1904, special procedures for identifying 'defectives' were presented at the World's Fair. In 1951, the categorization changed again, with a major section of special education called the 'slow learner' what today we refer to as 'learning disability'. Even here, this term has split into countless subcategories such as 'ADD', 'ADHD',
Intervention (RTI) like targeted individualized interventions and regular progress monitoring are occasionally missed due to the lack of fidelity to best practices and recommended guidelines based on evidence-based instructional strategies. As a future director of special education, I would ensure that RTI is responsive and responsible, first by developing standard procedures for progress monitoring. Research on specific learning disability shows that the tiered structure of RTI can be especially helpful
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