The assignment for yesterdays class period was to read chapters 1 and 2 out of Ready, Set, Science! Chapter one of the text was basically a review of our discussion from last Thursday which covered topics pertaining to the importance of teaching science well, what scientists really do, and so forth. I covered this information in my previous blog. Chapter two covered the four strands of science learning. Strand one pertains to understanding scientific explanations. Strand two covers generating scientific evidence. Strand three is reflecting on scientific knowledge. Finally, strand four consists of participating productively in science. The book informs us that, "Proficiency involves using all four strands to engage successfully in scientific practices." The book takes an in depth look into each strand to help the reader gain an understanding of each process. The book then provided a case study, in which you could see the four strands of scientific proficiency at work in the classroom. I found that to be insightful.

Yesterdays class period began with a basic overview of chapter two and the four strands of learning. Our notes began by understanding the new views and ways of thinking about science. Our teacher informed us that proficiency in science is a view of science as both a body of knowledge and an evidence based, model building enterprise that continually extends, refines, and revises knowledge. After this introduction, we then moved onto an in depth look into the four strands, similar to what the book covered. Closing out the class period, we put together a science safety game that we could use in our future classrooms. This board game pertained to science safety. It is a fun and engaging way to interest students in not only having fun playing a game, but it also provides them with a meaningful learning opportunity. The importance behind today's lesson was the understand the four strands of science learning, and how the interconnect with each other.