>> Kathy McGuigan:
Good evening, everyone.
My name is Kathy McGuigan, and
I would like to welcome you
to today's webinar from
the Library of Congress.
Tonight's event is
focused on Primary Sources,
and Visible Thinking Strategies
for the Stem Classroom.
Some housekeeping items
before we get started.
We'll be recording
this program, and --
and we will serve that recording
as soon as we are able.
As this event will be
recorded, any questions
or other participant
contributions may be publicly
available as part of
the library's archives.
You'll have the opportunity
to talk to each other
and the presenters via chat.
So, we're going to go ahead
and get started with that.
While I'm introducing today's
speakers, you can use the chat
to tell us your name, where
you're joining us from,
and why you came here today.
Make sure that you select
to All Participants in the
To box, or To All Attendees.
As I mentioned, today's
program is
on Visible Thinking
Strategies and Primary Sources
for the Stem Classroom.
And if you joined us last week,
you know about our
phenomenal presenters today,
but if you weren't with us, let
me take this moment to introduce
to you Peter DeCraene
and Lesley Anderson.
Lesley Anderson.
They're two incredibly
inspirational,
educational leaders who come
to us via the Albert Einstein
Distinguished Educator
Fellowship Program from
the Department of Energy.
And let me put that
URL into the chat,
and we'll get back to here.
Peter is a veteran math and
computer science teacher
with more than three decades
of experience in middle school
and high school classrooms.
In 2011, he was awarded
the Presidential Award
for Excellence in Mathematics
and Science Teaching,
the highest honor
bestowed to the --
by the United States government
for K-12 stem educators.
And Leslie has taught chemistry,
biology, environmental science,
and math to high school students
at the high tech high schools
in the San Diego area
for several years,
and served as an
instructional coach supporting
other educators.
Outside the classroom,
she has worked with NASA
to analyze polar climates,
studied sea turtles
with the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration,
and journeyed to the South Pole
as a polar trek
teacher/researcher.
So, I -- I'm glad that you
all are joining us tonight,
and I would like to turn
the program over to Peter.
>> Peter DeCraene:
I think I'm unmuted.
Thank you, Kathy.
And welcome everybody.
I'm so glad you're all here.
We're talking today about
visible thinking strategies
with STEM and so,
let's jump right in.
Our objectives today are
to use some variations
on the observe/reflect
question protocol
to uncover student thinking.
So, if you joined us last week,
or if you want to look at some
of the other webinar
videos, there's --
we really unpacked the
observe/reflect question
protocol where we asked students
just look at the primary source,
or in science terms,
the phenomenon,
to reflect on what they see
and maybe justify what
they're thinking about it based
on their observations.
So, they use some claim,
evidence, and reasoning.
But then also ask questions
about what comes up,
and wonder about
what they're seeing.
So, we're going to vary that a
little bit today, and we'll add
in some extra pieces,
and then we're also going
to model some visible thinking
strategies with you all.
So, let's get started and if
you want to get a closer look
at this picture, the --
the QR code down in the
corner will take you there.
And I think Kathy's got a
link to post as well for this.
So, just observe and reflect.
What's going on here?
Don't put anything in
the chat yet, however.
Just take a look at the picture
and see what you think about it.
What I'd like you to do is
type your ideas into the chat,
and again, the question
is, "What's going on here?"
So, when you type your idea into
the chat, also give it a number
that represents your
confidence level.
How confident are you that
what you're saying is correct?
And if you're not very
confident about it, it's a 1,
or all the way to
very confident,
give yourself a 5 on that.
I'm just curious to see how
you're thinking about that.
So, take a moment to type
your idea into the chat,
and list your confidence level.
Thank you, everyone.
So, I am kind of
stunned right now
because everyone who's
put something in the chat
so far has said something about
processing or washing oranges.
I've never had everyone
say that.
Would anyone like to
type into the chat,
and most of you are
very confident.
Everybody's saying 3 or higher
when you were listing the
number, or very confident.
Does anyone want to -- Kathy,
can they unmute themselves,
or is it more just to put
things in the chat tonight?
>> Kathy McGuigan: So, they --
they can't unmute themselves,
but if they raise their
hand, I can unmute them.
>> Peter DeCraene: Okay.
So--
>> Kathy McGuigan:
I'm just curious,
what makes you think that?
You've had the -- the
claim now that it's oranges
in a vat, or washing oranges.
What's your evidence and
reasoning behind that?
If you want to just put that in
the chat, that would be great,
or raise your hand so
Kathy can unmute you.
How do you know it's oranges?
Shannon lives with
orange groves.
Very cool, thank you.
The dimples in the fruit.
Thank you, Susan.
Oh, Shannon, if you could switch
to Panelists and Everyone,
not just to Panelists and Hosts.
Thank you.
Matt says, "Looks like
oranges floating in some kind
of industrial equipment."
Why do you think it's
industrial equipment, Matt?
Green metal.
How do you know it's metal?
Brownish water with fruit
looking clean and shiny.
[Inaudible] Okay.
Large, metal piece of machinery.
Actually, it might
be pale tomatoes.
Okay, thank you, Kathy.
Right. So, I like to push the
thinking on this a little bit
when I'm teaching this with
students because I want them
to understand that when they
say they see metal machinery,
how do they know it's metal,
because there's no way to --
to -- you can't knock
on it to hear it.
You can't, you know, smell it or
touch it or anything like that.
I have had students,
and other folks tell me
that they think they're
looking at egg yolks.
And there's all sorts of
things that go with that.
So, thank you very
much for all of that.
And I appreciate the confidence.
So, another question
I have for you is,
"What patterns do you notice
in the way the oranges
are arranged?"
If you could take
a moment and type
that into the chat,
that would be great.
What patterns do you notice
in the way the oranges
are arranged?
Thank you, Nayla.
They might be stacked.
Maybe they're not all floating.
Packed sardine level in there.
Seem to be somewhat linear,
says Susan, as if pushed
by a board or directed somehow.
So, when you say
linear, I assume you mean
that they're kind of in a line?
I guess I kind of
see a line like here?
Is that what you're
referring to?
Seem arranged in
rows, but not all.
Thank you, Leslie.
Susan says, yes, there's
another line here.
Anybody see something
besides lines?
They could have been
dropped as well.
Thank you, Mercedes.
Nayla says there
are triangle shapes.
Maybe like this?
Those three are kind
of in a triangle shape?
Or these three over here?
Any other shapes you see?
Diamonds. Thank you, Susan.
Flowerlike arrangements.
So, when you say diamond,
are you seeing something
like this one here?
And maybe the flower
arrangement, maybe that's --
here's the center and then
we've got the flowers --
the petals going
around this way?
Okay. Cool.
I think not everybody
sees this comment,
but what about a square?
Right? They show up in
a lot of different ways.
So, let me clear that.
No. There we go.
Little dots on some.
Sure, there's reflections
and they're nice.
Okay, so I am thinking about if
we want to simulate the oranges
with students, it's sometimes
hard to get a big vat of water
with oranges in it, but you
could simulate spherical
or round things floating
in water by --
by shaking some coins
around on a paper plate.
Do you see the same
patterns on the paper plate
as you do with the oranges?
Okay, yes.
There's some squares there,
some diamonds, triangles.
Definitely, those are in there.
Cool. So, when I'm doing
this with students,
yes -- so let's do this.
So, I'm wondering, why do
they come up like that?
So, what I'd like for you to
do is go to the jam board.
Kathy's going to put the link
in the chat, and see what --
how you might arrange
some circles.
There's three pages, all
the same on the jam board,
so just pick one and start
moving some pieces around.
I hope this works.
I've not done a jam board
on a webinar before.
I'm just curious what
people come up with.
How can you pack
in those circles?
>> Kathy McGuigan: And you
can just click that link
through -- through the chat.
>> Peter DeCraene: Yes, cool.
And I see a lot of
people in there.
Cool. How tightly packed can you
make them without overlapping?
There's some really great
patterns showing up in there.
Everybody seems to kind
of be packing them in --
in rows, but kind of
offset from one row
to the next, it looks like.
Nobody's got them in squares.
Maybe the yellow ones on Page 1
are kind of showing up in rows
that are aligned
and look square?
Okay. Cool.
So, the question is, "Why
do they float like that?"
If you want to come
back to the --
to the screen, to
the PowerPoint,
let's think about
this for a little bit.
Because this is one way
that I've launched a couple
of discussions in
mathematics is --
well, what questions
do you have first?
We went to observe and reflect,
and you all said it was oranges
and we're reflecting on
how circles can be packed.
What questions do you
have about this image?
Is it really oranges
being processed?
Thank you, Mercedes.
That's a good question.
What's the next step?
Thank you, Kathy.
Shannon, how do two dimensions
differ from 3D patterns?
Nice. Do the weight of
the oranges cause them
to float a certain way?
Thank you, Doris.
What happens with
the water after?
So now, we've invited
students in,
first just by asking
what they notice.
And everybody can
notice something
and has a chance to do that.
And everybody can take a
guess about what it is,
and everybody can kind of
say their confidence level.
Everybody has questions.
So, right away, we've
got this activity
that has a very low threshold.
Everybody can participate.
Everybody can get
onto a jam board
and rearrange some circles,
or if I was in a classroom,
actually have some manipulatives
and play with them,
try and arrange the things.
So, it's a way to get
everybody involved,
but now this has a
really high ceiling,
because we can address a
whole bunch of these questions
and see how far we
can go mathematically,
or from an engineering
standpoint, how far we'd go
with the oranges
being processed.
And indeed, these are
oranges being washed.
And we'll get more pictures from
the process in a few minutes.
But so -- so, here's the
next thing I'd like to do.
Which question's most important?
If you could just put a
-- a number in the chat.
Put Number 1 if you're
wondering,
"Why are the oranges
floating in the water?"
Is that the most important
thing you want to ask?
Or, "Who took the
photo and why?"
"When was the picture taken?"
"Why do the oranges
float like that?"
"What is the green thing
in the background?"
Or if you've got
another question,
please type that question
in the chat with a Number 6.
So, maybe you like your question
about the different patterns
and 3D versus 2D, or the --
some of the other
questions that people had.
But just -- I'm curious what you
think is most important here.
If I was doing this in the
classroom, there's a couple
of ways that I do that.
Sometimes I have the -- I have
students write their questions
on poster paper around the
room, and then I ask them --
I give everybody a -- some
sticky notes or some stickers,
and they can go put
the stickers up at
which questions they
find most important.
Or I give them some cards, and
we have questions like this.
We got six questions up there.
And they hold the card with
Number 1, Number 2, Number 3.
So, they get a feel for what
question they think is most
important because that can
generate the next step I go.
So, the questions that people
seem to be most intrigued
by were, "Who took
the photo and why?
Why do the oranges
float like that?
And what is the green
thing in the background?"
And William, thank you.
Is the water -- is
liquid just water?
Does it contain other chemicals?
Good question.
Let's talk about some of
the things, the questions
like some -- there's some
questions we can answer
pretty quickly.
Like, "Who took the
photo and why?"
Well, we can answer who
took the photo by looking
at the item record for
this particular picture.
This was made by -- this was
photographed by Jack Delano
who took actually a lot
of pictures that are
in the Library of Congress.
In March of 1943, and he
actually took a whole lot
of pictures at this
orange packing co-op
in Redlands, California.
I don't know exactly
why he was interested
in this particular series,
but it's very interesting
that he's got it there.
It turns out, there are some
other pictures of orange co-ops
and orange packing in the
library's collections as well.
People also wanted to
know, "Why are they --
why do they float in that way?
Why are they packed together?"
And you -- you had a little bit
of experience putting
them together
when we were looking
at the jam board.
Let's talk about it,
a class [inaudible].
I would do this with
a geometry class,
because now the question is,
"What's the most efficient
way to pack circles?"
And some of you noticed
the square pattern.
Some of you noticed
the triangular pattern.
Some of you noticed
the diamond pattern.
I didn't have that
one on the slide,
but it's basically two
triangles up against each other.
And some of you noticed
the flower pattern,
which gives us a hexagon.
Which was do you think
is the most efficient way
to pack the circles
based on your -- your --
what you're looking at and your
experience with the jam board?
Flower patterns.
Hexagons. Nayla says bees
have it all figured out.
That's a great connection.
Thank you.
Everybody's talking
about the flower pattern
that are hexagons.
So, this leads me
to a whole bunch
of possibilities in geometry.
How do we -- what do
we mean by "efficient"?
So, when we talk about the most
efficient way to pack circles,
we can talk about regular
polygons, like squares,
and equilateral triangles,
hexagons.
We can talk about area.
Which of those shapes
has the most unused area?
In other words, the most area
that doesn't taken
up by circles.
And it kind of looks like the
triangle has very little area
taken up by circles.
The hexagon has more
of those little spaces,
but it's pretty much
the same kind of shape.
The square has more area
that's not taken up by circles.
And we can talk about
to find those areas.
We can also talk
about tessellations.
There's a reason bees make
honeycombs in hexagons,
because that tessellates
a surface, right?
You can think about bathroom
floors are tiled in squares,
very often, because
that's another way
to completely cover
without spaces.
If you try to cover
a space with circles,
you end up with space
in between.
So, they tesselate
but with other shapes,
those curved shapes in between.
Does anybody see other
things you might talk
about in geometry,
or in another class?
Maybe it's not geometry.
Maybe it's an engineering
class, or biology class.
We mentioned bees and thank
you, Leslie, biomimicry.
Any other ways that you see
you might use this in class?
Thank you, Matt.
How atoms pack together
in chemistry.
Crystals, definitely.
Nice, Mercedes.
Simple class arrangements
of desks.
That's great.
That's really something that
students can get into as well.
There's one classroom at
my school that has desks
that are -- they've
got four sides,
but they're not squares
or rectangles.
And they're not trapezoids.
They're kind of irregularly
shaped.
And so five of them actually
fit into a kind of a ring.
It's kind of amazing how
they're built that way.
Packing your backpack.
Organizing your room or desk.
Definitely.
Definitely.
Thank you all for
participating in that.
So, using this particular
primary source,
using that orange, the
oranges being washed,
leads us to a whole bunch of
questions and a bunch of things
that we can talk about from
a mathematical or engineering
or biological or
chemistry point of view.
A lot of STEM thinking in there.
So, I'm going to push
your thinking on that.
You all said that it was
diamond shaped, or the triangle
that was most efficient.
What's better for
packing in a box?
Now, we have a very
different question.
A very different situation.
So, it goes back to this
idea of definitions.
For me, definitions in
math are really important.
It helps us to know what
we're talking about.
And I know, even in social
studies, when you start talking
about big ideas,
sometimes you have
to define what you're talking
about to make sure
everybody's on the same page.
And I know that's
definitely true in sciences
and that sort of thing.
So, I like to push
students' thinking
on this a little bit more.
Let's go to this one.
Someone was asking about 3D.
Here's another picture
from the same --
from the same series
of pictures.
What patterns do you see here?
Do you see the same
flower patterns, or lines,
diamonds, and squares?
What other patterns
do you see here?
Thank you, Leslie.
Offset rose.
Where do you see
the offset rose?
Is that true all
the way through,
or just in one particular place?
Thank you, Kathy.
A regular thing in tissue paper.
Nayla sees virus shapes,
now that we have a better
perspective on oranges in 3D.
What do you mean by
virus shapes, Nayla?
That's interesting.
Oranges branching off.
Oranges instead of just
like virus orientation.
Yes, and we're all
kind of cognizant
of virus shapes right now.
That's for sure.
So, I do want to point out that
the triangles are down here,
or the flower shapes, right,
if you want to think
about the hexagons.
But over here, when things
aren't three dimensions,
you get very different
and complex patterns.
And packing circles
is one thing.
It's a fairly easy piece to
talk about mathematically.
Packing spheres?
Something else entirely.
And so, that's an
example of something
that you can take that's
very simple mathematically,
something very complex.
I have a colleague who asks
students who are familiar
with tennis balls, you know
they come three to a can
in one column, she asks them to
find efficient ways to pack 4,
5, or 6, and to create
shapes of boxes,
for those numbers
of tennis balls.
And she gets some really
interesting figures out of that.
And the students justify
why they think their method
of packing those 4, 5
tennis balls is efficient.
So, it's a great
geometry problem
to work on with students.
From an engineering
standpoint, there's several --
we've got several pictures
from the same series.
So, I'll go through some of
these, and just show you a few
of them as we go along here.
And just take a minute
to look at them,
and see what's going on.
Thank you, Kathy.
Yes, I knew you'd appreciate
the tennis allusion there.
So, from an engineering
standpoint, put the picture
from the -- put the pictures
from the orange packing
plant in order.
I learned, or I believe
I should say,
that when the pictures are
loaded onto the website
to the library, there's
a numeric order to them.
So, if you look, not in this
particular link that Kathy put
in because this is a collection
of pictures, but when you look
at an individual picture,
there's a number in the URL,
and if you go one number
beyond, or one number back,
you'll probably see another
picture from the same series.
But I don't believe they're
necessarily in the order
that they were taken,
or the order
in which the process happens.
So, asking students
to put these in order,
and then justify why they
think they're in that order,
could be a really interesting
engineering connection.
And then also explain
what's happening.
What's going on in that picture?
In the link that Kathy gave you,
it's got all of the pictures
from this particular series, but
there's also some collections
in there that will
show up from 1923.
I think there's a couple
pictures from 1919.
And also some pictures
from the 1880s, I believe,
all about picking
and packing oranges.
So, there's all sorts of
ways we can think about it.
Another question that I
always wonder about this is,
"What does washing
fruit look like now?"
Some of you mentioned that
you have experience with that.
Is the picture pretty
much the same
as what washing fruit
looks like now?
What about sorting fruit?
Is that still done by
hand, or is it mechanical?
So, there's a lot of
things we can think
about with this particular
thing.
With this particular
set of pictures.
And a lot of STEM ways
of thinking about it.
So, I'm going to pass it off to
Leslie to talk about another way
that we can use primary sources,
and in getting at
student thinking.
>> Lesley Anderson:
Thank you so much, Peter.
So, we're going to investigate
primary source analysis
through an activity called
Zoom In and Zoom Out.
And the important part about
doing a zoom in and zoom out,
is that it's going to
allow our students to focus
on one particular
portion of an image,
or a primary source, at a time.
And I -- what I really love
about this particular activity
that we're going to look at,
is that it helps students
to revise their thinking when
they get new information.
Part of the scientific process
is, as we learn new information
from a scientific
perspective, how do we need
to revise our scientific
thinking?
And so, this can be a really
useful tool in a STEM classroom.
So, here's the image that
we're going to start with,
and I want you to
take 30 seconds just
to closely look at this image.
There's not a QR code
because I've edited some
of the information out here.
And so, I just want you
to really closely look
at this particular image first.
Don't put anything
in the chat just yet.
Just take a look.
All right.
We're going to introduce
something called a
Sentence Stem.
If you want to go to
the next slide, Peter?
Perfect. Thank you.
So, this sentence stem can be
used to help students to focus
on providing an answer
that's really specific
to not only showing
what they see,
but explaining why
they think that.
So, I want you to use
the same sentence stem,
"I think I'm looking at,
blank, because, blank."
What do you think you're
taking a look at here,
and more importantly, why do
you think that's what you're
looking at?
Go ahead and give us your
response in the chat.
As you're typing out your
responses, in my own classroom,
when I'm not doing this
virtually, I still give students
that wait time, that think time.
It's really important to give
them some time, by themselves,
to take a look at something.
Usually I'll have it
printed out in front of them.
Perhaps it's also
up on the screen?
But before they're
swayed by their classmates
or their peers during their own
thoughts, it's important to give
that independent time to really
process what they're looking at.
Then I might have them
write down their responses,
just like you're doing now.
And then we can turn it
into either a pair share
or a group discussion to
take a look at what --
what students are really
thinking about in the beginning.
So, thank you, Nayla.
I'm think I'm looking
at the width and depth
of the Deep Water Horizon oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
That was a lot of information
and I'm going to push you Nayla
to tell us why do you think
that you're looking at that?
What clues from this
primary source tell you
that you think you're looking
at the Deep Water
Horizon oil spill?
And how do you even know
that we're looking
at widths and depths?
And how do you know that
we're in the Gulf of Mexico?
Where are you getting
that information from?
Matt thinks that he's looking
at the pathway of an oil spill
because of the title,
the coastline,
and the way it spreads
from the source.
Beautiful.
Okay, thank you Matt
for sharing.
We've got a title in here that
tells us a lot of information.
Sometimes students
completely skip over titles
when they're looking
at things like that.
Matt, what makes you think that
you're looking at a coastline?
Leslie thinks that she's
looking at the magnitude
of an oil spill pollution
at some point in time.
I love that word
"magnitude" there, Leslie.
And what makes you think
that this is magnitude?
What are we looking at that
indicates that we're looking
at some sort of -- of
scale of some sort?
This particular sentence stem
that we have here is a really
low threshold for students
to enter, because even if a
student just comes in and says,
"I'm looking at a picture with
colors on it," that's a --
that's a very valid answer that
can start to enable them to --
to gain new information
and provide more to
the story of that.
Where is the source?
Oh, thank you, Peter.
Intensity of the spill
because of color range.
Interesting.
Okay, so we think that
the color that we have
on here might be different
because of the range.
At the concentration of oil
spill at the Deep Water Horizon
because of the title, color
variation, and map of the Gulf.
Really specific answer, Susie.
I love that.
And Nayla says, "Because there
are three hues of red arranged
in a spill shape with the
darkest color being closer
to the land, and
gradually getting lighter
as it moves away."
I love the -- the details
that you guys are now putting
into your responses, as we're
spending more time on this.
Colors are indicating a
decrease in intensity.
Beautiful.
So, what -- what we're
starting to see now, and again,
it can be really challenging
with students doing primary
source analysis like this.
You've got to give
them some time
to process and to think, right?
The really simple answers and
being able to identify looking
at the title and saying,
"This is Deep Water Horizon,"
that's a great entry
level for students.
But then when we start to gain
new information, that allows us
to start to understand a little
more what we're looking at.
So, go ahead and go to
the next slide, Peter.
I'm going to give you a
little more information here.
So, I'm uncovering some of the
hidden details that you have.
And now, I'll have Kathy put
a link to -- to this resource,
and you also have a QR code
if you want to zoom in.
But I tried to blow
up the legend for you
so you can see it right
here on the screen.
Take another 30 seconds just to
look and get new information.
Yes, so what new
questions or wonderings
or what validation
do we have now?
Prediction rather
than an actual event.
Subtitle tells me
it's a forecast map.
Just like in real
scientific thinking,
when we get new information, we
need to revise our own thinking.
So, maybe we thought that
this was an actual, you know,
map of where the oil was, and
now we're realizing and learning
that this is a forecast map.
We're solidifying the fact
that we know what the
colors indicate now,
because we actually have
the legend in front of us.
And we've got some
timeline, right?
What are we thinking about?
Where's -- where are we?
We have a date here.
We can actually see where
we're -- where we're moving,
or this oil is going
to be going.
Go ahead and go to the
next slide for us, Peter.
So, with my students, I like to
use the second sentence stem.
So, "I used to think,
now I think, because-- ."
And remember, we're really
focusing on that "because."
We want to use the
evidence for students
when they're describing why it
is that they now think this.
Well, now the legend shows
and indicates different
colors that are on here.
But as a part of this process,
I might also ask them
to ask questions.
What are you wondering?
Now that you have
more information
and I've revealed this
entire map to you,
there are some questions
that you might have.
And so, in my classroom,
after I've gathered a bunch
of questions from students,
go to the next slide, Peter.
We might be starting to
wonder how oil moves, and why
and how do we make predictions
about these forecast maps?
And so, in my chemistry
classroom,
I like to have students
focus on --
on understanding the
molecular composition of oil
and its relationship with water.
This is something you can do
with kindergarten all the
way up to high school.
If you're teaching in
the high school classroom
in a chemistry classroom, you
might use words like "polarity,
density, hydrocarbons,"
in order to explain
to students what's
actually happening
with the -- the oil and water.
But if you're in an
elementary school classroom,
you might even just be
talking about how oil
and water don't mix
with each other.
So, the -- the lab demonstration
that I typically do
with students is I've
got two different jars.
I think Peter, there's
one more slide
if you want to click -- perfect.
So, you put in one jar,
add it with water and oil
about a third of the way.
You can shake it, and have
students watch what happens
with the separation.
Either in that same jar
or in a different jar,
so you can observe them next
to each other, add oil, water,
and soap, and shake it.
And over time, the oil
and water will separate.
The jar with the soap in
it, will still separate
over a long period of time, but
it takes significantly longer
to separate than
the oil and water.
And students will also
notice that the oil tends
to separate on top of the water.
And there's a lot of questions
that students can ask about,
"Well -- well, what is
causing that separation?"
And more importantly,
"Why is it that the --
the soap is keeping that mixture
together a little bit longer?"
And it's -- soap is acting
as an emulsifying agent here.
Dawn dish detergent is
typically something that's used
in oil spills in order
to get the oil slick off
of animals and wildlife.
And so, students
might make connections
to seeing commercials for
this, and being able to relate
to understanding why
it is so important
that an emulsifying agent be
used in oil spill cleanup.
But really understanding what's
happening in the water column
and why the oil is kind of
keeping itself on the surface,
can help students make
connections in their own mind
as to why the oil is sticking
around on the top surface,
and how that is connected
to the forecast maps
that we took a look at.
Go ahead and go to
the next slide, Peter.
So, that wasn't an image
that we were looking at.
It was like -- it was a
graphical representation, right?
We weren't taking a picture and
drawing that red color on there.
But this is a map
from a similar series.
This is a satellite photograph.
It's really hard for us to tell
exactly where the coastline is
and where the oil spill is
because of the different
colors here.
We've got clouds that we're
taking a look through.
And so, students can
ask questions about,
"How do we know this particular
picture that we're looking
at for where the oil is, how
can that be used in conjunction
with our new understanding
of the chemistry of the oil
and water mixture, in order
to make those map predictions?
Next slide.
So, just like we talked
about, that's the same picture
that we're looking at.
One is a satellite image,
and now we're taking a look
at the map that's been
created from here.
And as we can see the
different colorations,
this is a great opportunity
to talk to students about how
to use a legend, what do
legends tell us, why do we think
that there is more -- a
larger concentration of oil
by the coastline compared to
other parts of the -- the ocean?
And so, this is a great
opportunity to kind
of dive in a lot deeper.
I'm going through the
labs really quickly,
but that's something
I might spend
like an entire class period on
with students, is just going
through and exploring the
chemistry behind that,
and talking about
creation of maps.
But we might also take this
in a different direction.
If we go to our next slide,
so this is another resource
from the Library of Congress.
This is Benjamin
Franklin's ocean current map.
So, another way for us to --
we really need to be thinking
about, not only where oil is
on the surface of the
ocean, but how do we know
where that oil is
going to get pushed
around with these currents?
So, Benjamin Franklin was the --
was credited as the first person
to quote, "discover,"
the Gulf stream.
And he's the first to work
with his cousin, Franklin --
oh, excuse me, Folger, to
design and create this map.
And how did he figure
out what was going on,
and how did he know
that this was an image
that he was going
to need to create?
So, he was the postmaster
general,
and he kept getting
letters from people saying
that the mail was
arriving much more quickly
in one direction than the other.
And Benjamin Franklin
scratched his head,
and he couldn't quite understand
why it was only more delayed
in one direction.
Well, he himself actually
did a lot of traveling
across the Atlantic and one
of the things that he noticed
on his trip was that
on certain days,
the table wine was being served
at a much warmer
temperature than other days.
And when he inquired about this,
he realized that the
wine was actually stored
in the hull of the ship.
And on days when the ship
is crossing warmer regions,
the table wine was
being served warmer.
And so of course, Benjamin
Franklin, the scientist
that he was, took
his thermometer out
and he was starting to
take temperature readings
across the Atlantic.
And this is where he started
to work with his cousin,
to map out the Gulf stream.
So, this is one of the
first reported creations
of a map of the Gulf stream.
This is just one small snippet
of the larger size of the map.
Go ahead and go to
the next slide.
So, in my environmental
science, my oceanography class,
I love to work with students
to explain how currents
actually work.
So, we can look at it on a map,
but that doesn't really get us
to understand and
identify where --
what is happening
with the Gulf stream?
So, you can take a bowl
and you would fill the bowl
with water, about halfway up.
And then you can dump
pepper flakes on the top.
If you don't have pepper
flakes, you can use basil
or anything else, pretty much
something small that's going
to float on the surface.
And the only other thing
that you need is a straw.
And if you take a straw and
you blow along the surface
of the water, thank you Peter,
you can get those pepper flakes
to move in a direction,
because the wind
from your straw is causing
some ocean currents.
And you can observe
and ask students to try
and make their currents move
in different directions,
ask them to kind of
play around a little bit
with their ocean surface
and see what happens
with the pepper flakes.
For the challenge option,
if you place the map
of the Gulf stream, Benjamin
Franklin's Gulf stream map
underneath the glass
bowl, you can actually try
and get students to
simulate the direction
of the pepper flakes
moving along the current.
So, you can really get them
to start understanding
what's happening,
and you're watching
those particles move
across the surface just
like oil would be moving
across the surface
of the ocean as well.
Next slide -- thank you.
And so, I want to share one more
map with you, related to the --
these oil spills that
we've been talking about.
So, these are two points on --
on our map here that
were both incidents
about six months apart.
The one on the right,
the yellow dot,
is from the Deep Water
Horizon oil spill.
You notice it's a little
deeper in the ocean.
And the point on the left
is from a fire that broke
out on an oil platform
just a few months before.
And what is really interesting
about this particular
image is the location
and closeness to the coastline.
A lot of students will ask,
especially in that first map
that we looked at, "Well,
why is there populations
that are mentioned
in these different --
in these different cities?"
And now we've got
names of cities
that are along the
coastline as well.
I think it's so important
for students to think
about the impacts of
disasters like this
on the coastal communities,
not only for the humans
that are there, but also
of the wildlife species.
And we talked about
that a little bit
with the -- the dish detergent.
But what are -- what are some of
the responsibilities that people
in these coastal
communities might have
for their environment, and
how that might that connect
to other classes outside
and beyond a STEM course,
is a really great place for --
for students to make those
additional connections.
I'll pass it back on
over to you, Peter.
>> Peter DeCraene: And there, I
think I found the unmute button.
So, just to kind of summarize
what we've been thinking
about here, as we're working
on making students thinking
visible, we've covered a couple
of strategies, and it's
gone a little bit fast,
so I want to give you
time to digest this
and summarize what
we're doing here.
The See-Think-Wonder
or Observe-Reflect-Question
Protocol opens up a lot
of space for student thinking.
It provides that low threshold
for students to get involved
in something, but it
still has a high ceiling
because you can ask lots of
really interesting questions,
and get to some really big
STEM topics through this.
Another visible thinking
strategy is
to identify students'
confidence and their view
on the importance
levels of things,
so that you as the
teacher can have direction
for the next steps
in which to go.
Very often, when I'm asking
for confidence levels,
if I see a student
making a conjecture
with a low confident level,
but several other students
making the same conjecture
with a high confidence level,
I'll start with the student
who has the low confidence
and say,
"Several people are really
confident about this.
Why did you think that worked?"
And so, we start
to build in some --
work on the status in the
classroom and make sure
that everybody has the
opportunity to say something.
Drawing pictures or
using a jam board
like we did provides some
insight into student thinking,
because we can see where --
how they're viewing
what we're doing.
And Lesley mentioned wait time.
I think wait time
is an amazing way
to really make student
thinking visible.
It allows for responses
from more students.
The other thing that I found
is when I use wait time
with group work, you know, if --
have you ever been
in a classroom
where you're having them
work collaboratively
and it gets loud, and
then it gets soft again?
And the -- the impetus to
jump in, in that softness
and to start talking yourself as
the teacher, is really strong,
but I've noticed that if
I wait another ten seconds
or 30 seconds, the volume
starts to build again
because the student suddenly
realized, "Wait a minute.
There's something new here."
Their brains process
in that quiet time,
and by allowing the
processing time to happen,
we get more information from
them, and we see more thinking.
And then the Zoom In and Zoom
Out, along with Sentence Stems,
provides information on how
they're revising their thinking
with the addition
of new information.
Does anyone have any thoughts
or questions about this?
We just really want to thank
you for sticking with us today
and participating in
this, and sticking
with your students
especially the last two years.
And again, we really
appreciate your participation.
This -- the webinars are so much
more interesting based on --
on what you tell us
how you're thinking.
So, what questions
or ideas do you have
about using primary sources with
your students in STEM classes?
And what thinking strategies
do you use with your students?
>> Kathy McGuigan: And for those
who would feel more comfortable
talking on mic, I can unmute you
if you raise your hand.
But I won't do that
until you let me know.
>> Peter DeCraene:
And I'm quite willing
to have some wait time here
because I know it takes a while
to type things into chat.
Shannon says, "Talk
science goals."
Do you want to elaborate a
little bit on that Shannon?
Thanks, Leslie.
Yes, visual strategies
are a great way
to introduce Newton's Laws and
free body diagrams in physics.
Yes.
>> Lesley Anderson:
There's actually a blog post
that was written earlier this
year where we've got suggestions
for using an old
picture, an old cartoon,
from the Wright Brothers,
and doing free body
diagrams on there.
I'll see if I can pull up
and find that particular one.
>> Peter DeCraene: Nayla says,
"I like how this method
encourages connections
between the past and
present and future
because it helps create
more rounded perspective
and facilitates innovative ideas
and solutions to problems."
Yes, the -- I find that also --
incorporating some of the
history and some of the stories,
helps students who don't
see themselves as science
or math people, to really find
another way into the material.
And I think that having
that rounded perspective
and being able to, as Leslie was
talking about, see the impact
or think about the
impact of the disaster
with the oil spill for example.
I think that also is
something really important
for students to see.
STEM subjects, math and
science and engineering,
they don't exist in a vacuum.
Shannon says, "In car talk,
science is a turk
[phonetic] strategy.
Please Google it for the site."
I will certainly do that.
Thank you, Lesley.
There's the Newton blog.
Mercedes says, "Funny enough,
we use the See-Think-Wonder
routine.
I actually learned about
these routines in one
of my education courses
using the Making-Thinking
Visible book."
Yes, great.
I think Kathy put a link to the
Project Zero work out of Harvard
in the chat a little bit ago.
There's a lot of Making-Thinking
Visible Strategies
and Routines out there.
Thank you, Susan.
"Yes, the technique of
withholding some information,
allows students space
for their own thinking."
Yes. Definitely.
>> Kathy McGuigan:
And one thing I want
to address is the
See-Think-Wonder Routine,
we have a -- approach to
working with primary sources,
which is
Observe-Reflect-Question,
which is essentially the same
thing as See-Think-Wonder.
And Lesley and Peter last
week were able to talk
about the teaching
tools that we have
around analyzing primary sources
specific to a STEM classroom.
I'm going to put the
recording into the --
the chat, and you can access
the recording from last week
in case you weren't with us.
So, you can take a look at that
at your -- at your own leisure.
Yes, and the passcode
is in there.
It's Library123!L.
Yes, you got it, Kathy.
So, we'll before we end
the program, I want to see
if there are any questions
for our presenters,
and I want to thank them for
not only staying on time,
but giving us a lot
of great information.
And I know we're throwing a
lot at you in the chat as well.
You should, when you
close out of Zoom,
you should be able
to save the chat.
Please do so, so that
you have all the URLs,
from today's program.
We will be posting the slides
tomorrow on our website,
and I'm going to ask, I can't
do -- I cannot talk and do that.
So, I'm going to ask Lesley
to go the Professional
Development Webinar page
and put that URL.
The slides will be up tomorrow,
and they will have the
URLs in them as well.
And I will also be sending
out the recording
to you all tomorrow.
The raw recording.
And the official recording
will be posted in a couple
of weeks to the webinar page.
But because you attended and
for those folks who registered,
I will go ahead and send
out the straight program.
And we will also be sending out
an email, certifying your time
with us for one hour of
staff development CEU, PDU,
saying that you were here.
And that's it.
We have one more program in
the series which is next week,
and Lesley or Peter, do you want
to give us a teaser for that?
>> Peter DeCraene: We're
going to be looking --
today we looked at using
some primary sources,
a couple different
primary sources together.
We're going to talk more
about that next week,
and look at some pairs and
some groups of primary sources
to generate more
questions for STEM classes.
>> Kathy McGuigan: Fantastic.
I can't wait.
So, thank you all
for joining us,
and we hope to see
you next week.
And you will get an
email from me tomorrow.
>> Peter DeCraene: Kathy,
before you close out,
just to let everybody know,
if you want to save the chat,
down in the -- where you type
in messages, there's three dots.
If you click on that, you can
save the chat right there before
you head out.
Thank you everybody
for participating,
and being with us tonight.
>> Lesley Anderson:
Thank you, all.