ERIC Number: EJ1221757
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Jul
Pages: 8
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0036-8555
EISSN: N/A
Data Representation and Discussion Using a Long-Tailed Widowbird Study
Lausch, Rabecca; Ross, Danielle K.
Science Teacher, v86 n9 p47-54 Jul 2019
Understanding natural selection and adaptation are important precursors to learning evolution (NGSS Lead States 2013), the central unifying principle of biology. This lesson sequence, guided by the Five Practices Model (Cartier et al. 2013), incorporates data described by Andersson (1982) that details female choice in a population that eventually leads to adaptation. "The Five Practices for Orchestrating Productive Task-Based Science Discussions" (Cartier et al. 2013) helps teachers use student responses effectively and facilitates whole-class discussion. By supporting teachers in learning how to "anticipate" student responses, "monitor" student responses to tasks, "select" students to present their responses, purposefully "sequence" student responses, and "connect" ideas through discussion, the model guides teachers through the processes of preparing for and supporting a productive whole-class discussion (Smith and Stein 2011). The long-tailed widowbird is a medium-size bird native to Africa, just south of the Sahara. An early career teacher (less than five years of experience) in a ninth-grade honors biology classroom used data provided in the published research to create a data table suitable for his students. Students received a written description of the experimental procedure and a pre-filled data table. Extraneous data is included, so that students must consider and discuss which data are important for answering the task's driving question: "Do female long-tailed widowbirds prefer males with longer tails?" The teacher prompts the students to analyze the data and create a representation depicting the data to answer the question. This task is high cognitive demand because the students are looking for patterns in the complex data and they have the freedom to select which data to represent and how to represent them. Additionally, the teacher also provides opportunities for students to share and discuss a variety of data representations and rationale for the choices they make.
Descriptors: Scientific Concepts, Science Instruction, Discussion (Teaching Technique), Evolution, Biology, Student Reaction, Teaching Models, Animals, Secondary School Science, Grade 9
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive; Guides - Classroom - Teacher
Education Level: Secondary Education; Grade 9; High Schools; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A