Posted: 09/02/2014 05:08:18 PM PDT
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'What are the steps to the scientific method?' 'What is the core of the Earth composed of?' 'What is Pangea?' 'What is the most accepted theory of dinosaur extinction?' 'What is a light year?'
These questions, posed by Cole Westbrook, seventh grade science and social studies teacher at Ingrid B. Lacy Middle School, are questions he knows his incoming seventh graders already have the answers to - as for the rest of us, the amiable Mr. Westbrook is willing to share the answers.
'There are five steps to the scientific method,' Westbrook notes. 'Make observations, pose a question, make a hypothesis, design an experiment, and obtain data and draw conclusions.'
The other answers are as follows: iron; the pre-historic super continent made up of all the modern continents due to continental drift; a meteor strike on the Earth that disrupted the food supply to the dinosaurs; and the distance traveled at the speed of light for one revolution of the Earth around the sun.
This year, Westbrook's science students will study cells, microscopy, biochemistry, genetics, evolution, photosynthesis and animal physiology. Seventh grade curriculum revolves around life science.
'To me science is simply two things,' Westbrook said. 'How we make sense of and organize the world around us, and how we learn and explain why things work the way they do.'
This is Westbrook's eighth year at IBL. Prior to that he co-taught third grade for one year and was a volunteer teacher at the UCSF hospital school room. He is a graduate of San Francisco State University. His degree is in biology.
'As long as I can remember I have loved science,' Westbrook said. 'I remember dissecting a flower in fourth grade and after that I began taking apart anything I could get my hands on, and reading anything I could find, that explained natural phenomena.'
'I think that everyone in the world loves science because we are all born curious and it is our lifelong drive to satisfy that curiosity,' Westbrook went on to say.
Off the top of his head, who are Westbrook's picks for top five scientists?
'Robert Hooke, Flossie Wong-Staal, Adriana Ocampos, Albert Einstein and Neil Degrasse Tyson,' the teacher responded with the near speed of a light beam bouncing back from a mirror.
Westbrook said that all of us, as humans, react daily to science, that anytime we are confronted with a problem which we analyze and attempt to solve, we are using science.
'I love teaching science because students, like all humans, are curious about the world around them and we get to make discoveries together all year long,' Westbrook said. 'I get to be the captain of a ship where we are all united in a common goal of answering questions about life science together.
'I believe we are all scientists by nature,' Westbrook went on to say. 'That deep down we all enjoy the process of learning and solving problems together and learning from each other.'
Jean Bartlett can be reached at editor@jeansmagazines.org.
Entities 0 Name: Westbrook Count: 11 1 Name: Earth Count: 3 2 Name: Robert Hooke Count: 1 3 Name: San Francisco State University Count: 1 4 Name: IBL Count: 1 5 Name: Cole Westbrook Count: 1 6 Name: Jean Bartlett Count: 1 7 Name: Adriana Ocampos Count: 1 8 Name: Ingrid B. Lacy Middle School Count: 1 9 Name: Neil Degrasse Tyson Count: 1 10 Name: UCSF Count: 1 11 Name: Pangea Count: 1 12 Name: Flossie Wong-Staal Count: 1 13 Name: Albert Einstein Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1hSUpaV Title: 70:20:10 by Charles Jennings & Fuse Description: Charles Jennings introduces the concept of moving away from purely classroom based learning, & towards the 70 20 10 learning journey.Live example - http://bit.ly/19O8Y54 Fuse Universal are industry experts whose learning platform - Fuse has been develop to deliver against the 702010 model - http://bit.ly/19O8Y5 ------------------------------------------- Fuse are fanatic innovators in knowledge sharing and learning experiences, who inspire and teach through creativity and storytelling.
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