Phenomena!

This year has been filled with new and interesting teaching challenges.

Admittedly, I am a secondary Science Teacher, not an elementary teacher. I have great respect for my fellow teachers, especially those who work with elementary aged students.

I had the opportunity to present three separate Science lessons to elementary students in Kindergarten and Second grade. Despite being horribly nervous (Why is it that middle schoolers don't faze me?) the lessons went well. The kids were engaged and it was actually great fun!

----Which leads me to my current topic of the day!

Have you taught using Phenomena?


What is Phenomena?
“Natural phenomena are observable events that occur in the universe and that we can use our
science knowledge to explain or predict.” (NGSS, 2016).

How do I use it in my classroom?
It’s common in the Science Classroom to deliver instruction and background information before
exploration and experimentation. When we teach using phenomena, we shift the exploration to
the beginning of a unit and use that phenomena to guide instruction into the curiosity and inquiry
of the student.

“By centering science education on phenomena that students are motivated to explain, the
focus of learning shifts from learning about a topic to figuring out why or how something
happens.” (NGSS, 2016).

As teachers we want to first introduce a new unit using a natural phenomena. Once the student
observes the occurrence they can begin to ask questions for why it happens. Teachers can
guide the instruction to help students solve real world problems. Appropriate phenomena should
spark curiosity, address the core standards, and can be investigated.
Phenomena does not need to be flashy. Careful engagement and questions from the teacher
can direct new inquiries into old phenomena and can engage all students. Use phenomena to
drive the interest of the student and it can become an anchoring idea that students will build on
for understanding.

More Specific Instruction:
2nd Grade-- Introduce the phases of the moon by having students observe the moon over a
series of days.(Do not just tell the students the phases of the moon, let them figure it out and how it's caused!) Have students come up with their own questions for why the lighted part of the
moon changes. (Standard 2, Objective 2). https://www.ngssphenomena.com/moon-phases

7th Grade-- Have students design their own experiment for testing Newton’s 3rd law of motion.
Allow students to observe the collision of small objects (i.e. marbles/softballs) of different mass
and determine their own reasons for why objects react the way they do. (Do not tell kids the definition of inertia, let them figure it out!)(Standard 7.1.2) A
small ping-pong ball balanced on a larger bouncy ball and dropped together works well for this
phenomena.

11th grade Physics-- Students can use data from high-speed cameras to observe elastic and
inelastic collisions and engineer new ways to decrease the overall impact.(Do not tell them how to slow down a collision, make them figure it out! Bonus if you have them calculate the final velocity/vectors of the collision.)  (Standard PHYS.1.3)

Several of my lesson plans already include phenomena, but I will be adding more phenomena soon, check back next week!

For more information on teaching using phenomena:
Phenomena for NGSS:
https://www.nextgenscience.org/sites/default/files/Using%20Phenomena%20in%20NGSS.pdf
Georgia science Teachers association: https://www.georgiascienceteacher.org/phenomena
#project phenomena: https://sites.google.com/site/sciencephenomena/
Mystery Science (Elementary):https://mysteryscience.com/
The Wonder of Science: https://thewonderofscience.com/
Next gen storylines: https://www.nextgenstorylines.org/


Go Out and Learn!

Mrs. R