Science and Engineering in Preschool Through Elementary Grades The Brilliance of Children and the Strengths of Educators (2022) / Chapter Skim
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6 The Potentials and Pitfalls of Integrating Across Domains
6 The Potentials and Pitfalls of Integrating Across Domains
Pages 129-156
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From page 129... ...
• There are key opportunities for integrating science and engi neering with English language arts, mathematics, and compu tational thinking.
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From page 130... ...
Interdisciplinary connections can be capitalized on in ways that are supportive of children's learning within science and engineering, as well as in content areas like English language arts (ELA) , mathematics, and social studies, and in other areas like social-emotional learning, approaches to learning, and executive function (Bustamante, Greenfield, and Nayfeld, 2018; Bustamante, White, and Greenfield, 2018; Pearson, Moje, and Greenleaf, 2010)
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, the committee proposes four main approaches that have typically characterized efforts to connect content domains: 1. Superficial Connections (Add-On or Sequential)
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Partial Integration Content integration achieves learning goals in two or 2 or more Intentional more disciplines simultaneously. selection Often, one domain as the primary driver of the practices, concepts, and development, with the other used in support.
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Engage children in investigation and design experiences that draw on multiple domains. When instruction situates children's science and engineering learning in meaningful and rich contexts, children engage in activity that recruits -- and potentially deepens -- prac tices, skills, and knowledge developed in other parts of the school day and may build positive identities in science and engineering (e.g., English, 2016; McClure et al., 2017; Moore, Johnston, and Glancy, 2020; NRC, 2014b)
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Computational • Computational thinking (CT) can support learning across domains Thinking and disciplinary learning provides a meaningful context for engaging in CT.
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Evidence of Effectiveness Opportunities for Integration • Substantial evidence that integrating • Use texts to support explanation and literacy and science can support more understanding. time for science/engineering learning • Use texts to support understanding of without detracting from children's science and engineering practice and help literacy learning, including for emergent children develop identities and interests.
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From page 136... ...
. This body of work, though emergent, suggests that connections between science and social studies in terms of socioscientific issues might be particularly relevant to justice-oriented science and engineering instructional approaches aiming to situate learning in contexts relevant to children's lives, supporting learning both of natural science and engineering and of ideas and practices related to the social sciences.
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. For example, research shows that emergent multilingual learners are more likely to understand and learn English when it is embedded in meaningful, authentic science and engineering learning activities (NASEM, 2018a)
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Integrating science and literacy may be particularly beneficial for emergent multilingual learners. For example, third grade science domain knowledge was significantly associated with third grade reading comprehension, particularly for students classified as English language learners (Hwang and Duke, 2020)
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Science learning benefits from incorporating understanding of text features and ways to help children learn to navigate expository text. Providing text to help children deepen their explanations after engaging in investigation, design, and sensemaking supports ongoing sensemaking without usurping it (as providing expository text prior to investigation or design might do)
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d Grades 1–2 Science IDEASe read and discuss a variety of texts: ScienceStart! informational texts, including read-alouds, SOLID Start for preK–2, and informational, narrative, and Science Literacy Project hybrid texts, for 3–5 ISLE Grades 1–2 Science IDEAS learn and apply comprehension strategies*
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THE POTENTIALS AND PITFALLS OF INTEGRATING ACROSS DOMAINS 141 In Science, for 3–5 In Engineering, for PreK–5 Science IDEASe Engineering is Elementaryi CORIf Project Lead the Way Launchj Seeds of Science/Roots of Readingg PictureSTEMk ML-PBLh EngrTEAMSl LEGO Engineeringm Science IDEAS Engineering is Elementary CORI Project Lead the Way Launch Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading PictureSTEM ML-PBL Science IDEAS CORI Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading ML-PBL Science IDEAS Engineering is Elementary CORI Project Lead the Way Launch Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading City Technologyn ML-PBL PictureSTEM EngrTEAMS Science IDEAS Engineering is Elementary CORI Project Lead the Way Launch Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading City Technology ML-PBL PictureSTEM EngrTEAMS Science IDEAS hFitzgerald (2018, 2020) iAguirre-Muñoz and Pantoya (2016)
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. Opportunity 2: Incorporate text describing doing and using science and engineering to provide expansive views of science and engineering and help children develop identities and interests.
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Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading Science IDEAS CORI Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading ML-PBL Benenson, Stewart-Dawkins, and White (2012) CORI Aguirre-Muñoz and Pantoya (2016)
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The teacher supported children to identify and use information from the text to revise models they constructed to answer the question: How do squirrels survive in their environment? The design and inte entists" through fictional accounts of science work, descriptions of the history of science ideas, and descriptions of contemporary science problem solving more likely to provide descriptions of science practice (Kelly, 2018; May et al., 2020)
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The design and integration of texts in ML-PBL also engaged children in using text in the service of disciplinary knowledge building and engaging in science practices. Children then participated in an interactive read-aloud of a researcher-designed text about two children who troubleshoot the design of a toy and observe how friction affects objects' motion.
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. Second, supporting learners in writing explanations and supporting claims with evidence engages and develops science and engineering concepts and also literacy skills relevant to writing persuasive text and supporting claims.
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. For example, in literacy, particularly with emergent multilingual learners, teachers often preteach key vocabulary, often perceived as a recommended strat egy in English language development.
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Two of the science and engineering practices highlighted in the NGSS are mathematical in nature (analyzing and interpreting data and using mathematics and computational data)
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Unlike ELA, there are few programs that have systematically sought to support the integration of mathematics and science or have collected evidence on children's learning in both mathematics and science/ engineering, though a few programs of research have sought to examine how mathematical reasoning and skills contribute to the learning of a particular science understanding at the preschool and elementary level. Wiser and colleagues (2006, 2009)
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. These learning trajectories explicate levels of thinking along a birth to sixth grade development progression that, if ignored, can lead to rote use of measurement tools within science and engineering.
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In contrast, organizing and interpreting data to solve a problem is central to work in science and engineering contexts, where a key strategy for managing uncertainty and error is to look for patterns and aggregate across cases. For example, Lehrer and Schauble's program of research demonstrated that mathematical and scientific reasoning can be mutually supportive in the context of children's inventing and revising representations related to plant growth, as shown in Box 6-2.
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. This can happen if simple application of already-learned BOX 6-2 Mutually Supporting Mathematical and Scientific Reasoning Lehrer and Schauble's program of research has demonstrated how math ematical and scientific reasoning can be mutually supportive as children work on inventing and revising their representations related to plant growth.
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. 2 Portions of this section include content from two papers commissioned by the commit tee, titled "The Integration of Computational Thinking in Early Childhood and Elementary Science and Engineering Education" (Ketelhut and Cabrera, 2020)
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at a family science center. They then analyzed the actions of ten 5- to 7-year-old children as they interacted with this exhibit to see if they demonstrated computational thinking.
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Integrating science with ELA can also help to improve achievement outcomes for emergent multilingual learners (Hwang and Duke, 2020)
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• Support children's knowledge in individual disciplines. • More integration is not necessarily better. Integrating with English • Use texts to support explanation and understanding. Language Arts • Use texts to support understanding of science and engineering practice and help children develop identities and interests.
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