Teaching Science Thinking: Using Scientific Reasoning in the Classroom - Softcover

Moore, Christopher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1138237965 ISBN 13: 9781138237964

Publisher: Routledge, 2018

Synopsis

Teach your students how to think like scientists. This book shows you practical ways to incorporate science thinking in your classroom using simple "Thinking Tasks" that you can insert into any lesson. What is science thinking, and how can you possibly teach and assess it? How is science thinking incorporated into the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and how can it be weaved into your curriculum? This book answers these questions.
 
This practical book provides a clear, research-verified framework for helping students develop scientific thinking as required by the NGSS. Your students will not be memorizing content but will become engaged in the real work scientists do, using critical thinking patterns such as...

• Recognizing patterns,
• Inventing new hypotheses based on observations,
• Separating causes from correlations,
• Determining relevant variables and isolating them,
• Testing hypotheses, and
• Thinking about their own thinking and the relative value of evidence.

The book includes a variety of sample classroom activities and rubrics, as well as frameworks for creating your own tools. Designed for the busy teacher, this book also shows you quick and simple ways to add deep science thinking to existing lessons.

About this title

About the Author

Christopher Moore is the Dr. George F. Haddix Community Chair in Physical Science and associate professor of physics education at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Holding a M.S. in applied physics and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University, Dr. Moore has worked as a physical science teacher at several secondary schools in Virginia, as a professional materials scientist, and as a scholar of and consultant on science education. His education research focuses on the development of scientific reasoning and expert-like science practice abilities, with emphasis on practices that cross disciplines. He is author of the book Creating Scientists: Teaching and Assessing Science Practice for the NGSS, as well as dozens of articles for scholarly and practitioner journals. He has developed pre- and in-service teacher training workshops on scientific reasoning for school districts across the USA and internationally.

Review

"I liked the approach that author Christopher Moore uses in the opening chapter of Creating Scientists. He introduces the idea that 'creating scientists' should be the goal of any good science teacher and also the goal of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Moore helps readers better understand the reasoning behind the NGSS and how to bring their challenging vision to life in our classrooms. If teachers focus science lessons with his goals in mind, students will benefit."
Joyce Depenbusch
Middle School Science Teacher, Kansas
"This is the book I have been waiting for! I can't wait to use it in my work promoting cognitive apprenticeship in the context of collaborative inquiry between teachers and their students. This book offers an exceptionally clear guide for navigating the complexity of teaching for deep understanding, transfer and use. It makes use of generative principles and threshold knowledge that are unconstrained and can be used at any grade level and in any scientific domain - in fact, I'd argue, in any and all disciplines."
Jeffrey WilhelmInquiry Expert, Boise State University

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1138237965
• ISBN 13: 9781138237964
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 210