Modeling and Mapping in Science Class

The middle schoolers have been using a new kind of "interactive" interactive whiteboard in their science classes. These whiteboards don't play videos and they aren't sensitive to touch, but they do allow students to interact with each other and ideas. The whiteboards are about 2.5" by 2" and are big enough for groups of 2-3 students to write on them at the same time. In 6th and 7th grade, students used them to review for their tests. Groups of students took key words and terms from their units and built concept maps. They connected each word to others related to it and, in dry erase marker, made connecting arrows or wrote connecting sentences that allowed them to express relationships and nuances among the many connected ideas. In 8th grade, students worked in pairs to develop mathematical and visual models of diffusion. Using what they had experienced in the lab and read about, pairs of students modeled their ideas on the whiteboards, refining and revising as they went. Later, they drew 2-D drawings of plant and animal cells, which emphasized the structure and function of organelles. The whiteboards are more effective than chart paper because of the ease with which students and teachers can edit their understanding. It's easy to move a card or word from one side of the board to the other, to erase an arrow and change its direction, or to add more detail to a model. Rather than focusing on making it look nice, students focus on getting the ideas they right. The emphasis is on simply and effectively communicating relationships and diagrams. Because the boards are big, students can work collaboratively on their models and maps. They also can easily see how other groups' models or maps are similar to or different from their own, which sparks deep conversation about the ideas on the table. Whiteboarding allows students to express their understanding in visual, linguistic, and mathematical ways. Mistakes and revisions are an integral part of learning and the erasable whiteboards allow students to feel at ease with that. We have only scratched the surface of modeling and mapping in science class and we are looking forward to many more uses throughout the year.

Science Concept Mapping - slideshow

Follow up in 8th Grade this week : This week we used the white boards to create concepts maps to review and study for this weeks science test. The students really felt they benefited from creating these in class but were sad when they had to clean up and erase the boards. So the second part of the activity was to use the website https://bubbl.us and the students were able recreate their maps and share them with me and each other!.