Sci TV

Miami-Dade County Public Schools

Division of Mathematics and Science Education

Survey Time

• Do you have elementary teachers who cringe when you mention the word science?

• Do you have elementary teachers who show less than a loving attitude toward science?

• Do you have principals who say what science program?

Act I : Sci TV Presentation

• Collaboration with WLRN TV & M/S• Grade Five• Video lesson design• Teacher’s Edition• Thematic units designed to be completed

one lesson per each nine week period• Research Results• PD Program

Act II: Sci TV History

• Grant awarded to WLRN to develop television shows based on the Competency Based Curriculum

• Phase I: Developed Social Studies series for auditorium sized classes

• Phase 2:Developed Science series for elementary grade five

Act III: Sci TV Curriculum Design

• Grade Five• Selected as the last grade on the

elementary level• Some preparation and exposure

to science material prior to entering the middle school

• Content driven with curriculum connections to other subject areas

Act III: Sci TV Curriculum Design• Teacher’s Edition

– 14 lessons– Every lesson includes a data table and graphing

activity– Theme extensions– Possible field trips– All materials are easy to find – Includes alternative and authentic assessments ,

including rubrics– Cooperative Learning group rating forms– Lab Team Response Form– Incentives– At Home Science Connections– Bibliography for teachers, students and media

specialists

Act IV: Sci TV Units

• Four Thematic Units• Based in the four clusters:

Nature of Science as Inquiry. Physical & Chemical Sciences, Life and Environmental Sciences and Scientific Thinking

Act IV: Sci TV Units• Four Thematic Units include:• (Average time to complete one

lesson was two weeks)• Physical and Chemical Sciences

– Shoot for the Moon (Rocketry)*– Wild Blue Yonder ( Bernoulli's Principles)*– Kitchen Cabaret (Mixtures & Solutions)*– Energy Makes the World Go Round

( Types of Energy)– Fireworks, Whistles and Bells

Act IV: Sci TV Units

• Life and Environmental Sciences– Florida Atlantis (Greenhouse Effect)– Microworld Mystery (Microbes)– Let the Sunshine In (Photosynthesis,

food chains and food webs)– Transport Systems (Body systems)– Habitats of the Everglades– Solutions for the Environment

Act IV: Sci TV Units

• Scientific Thinking– Wild Blue Yonder– Florida Atlantis– Discover the Key

Act V: PD Design• Pilot with 10 schools (1 teacher per

school)• Beta I: High needs schools (36 schools all

grade 5 teachers) 1 year• Added other Beta groups by school

choice• Structure-5 day summer institute

followed by intro and review sessions quarterly

• Received 60 Master Plan Points• Trainer of Trainer Model

Act VI: Sci TV Research

• 1997 findings by Dr. Yuwadee Wongbudhit review of student improvement from pre to post test. Average improvement 85%

• Schools that were Sci TV schools performed in the higher percentiles on the SAT

• Teachers reported that on the FCAT field testing their students were not intimidated by the data analysis section of the mathematics and science concepts.

• Teachers also reported an increase in their own content knowledge after teaching Sci TV

• Sci TV teacher journals and attitudinal survey

Video Overview: Lesson 15

Video : Lesson 5 Teacher’s Section

Act IV: Sci TV Units

• Earth and Space Sciences– Puddingtonics– The Motion of the Ocean

Video: Lesson 10 UM Virtual field trip

Video: Lesson 10 beginning

Sci TV Video: Students to the End Lesson 4

It’s a wrap. I want my Sci TV– 14 video lessons designed to meet the

fourteen grade five competencies, later aligned to national and SSS

– Classical music to prevent dating and stimulate the brain

– Four segments in a story format with an introduction to the inquiry, background information including virtual field trips, inquiry activity and authentic, real world project

– Characters students can relate to: Dr. Clueless, field scientists, fellow students, character experts in their areas, COSMO the puppet (vocabulary and operational definitions)

– “Sesame Street” style ( variety of mediums)– Each lesson is a story journey that leads to a

life journey– Makes teachers comfortable with science