Unit Assessment and Unit Reflection

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Unit Assessment and Unit Reflection

• By, Sabrina Giselle Perrotta
• Spring Teaching 2006
• Blacksburg High School

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Background

• College Earth Science- 3rd (1 aide Mrs.
  Cobb),4th, 7th, 8th period
• General Earth Science- 6th period (8 students)
  not bound for college
• Have to transition classes between 3rd and 4th
  then back on 6th

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Astronomy Thematic

• Unit 1 Stars and Galaxies (11 days)
• ES.14. The student will investigate and
  understand scientific concepts related to the
  origin and evolution of the universe. Key
  concepts include
• a) nebulae b)the origin of stars and star
  systems c)stellar evolution d)galaxies and
  e)cosmology including the big bang theory
• Unit 2 Solar System (13 days)
• ES.4. The student will investigate and understand
  the characteristics of the Earth and the solar
  system. Key concepts include a) position of the
  Earth in the solar system c)characteristics of
  the sun, planets and their moons, comets,
  meteors, and asteroids
• Unit 3 Earth/Moon/Sun Relationships (7 days)
• ES.4. The student will investigate and understand
  the characteristics of the Earth and the solar
  system. Key concepts include a) position of the
  Earth in the solar system b)sun-earth-moon
  relationships (seasons, tides, and eclipses)
  d)the history and contributions of the space
  program

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Day 1

• After students finish test, students are to make
  a foldable of the following terms geocentric,
  heliocentric, satellites, gravitation, fusion,
  asteroid, meteoroid, meteor, aurora, and
  meteorite
• Great way to have NO down time after test
• Great way of introducing new topic without
  slowing down
• Great studying tool

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Day 2

• Went over foldable terms
• V.I.P.s of Astronomy- story telling
  interactive lecturing (students and teacher try
  to piece together the important astronomers and
  contributions to what we know)
• -slot notes
• -draw and label diagrams

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Day 3 and 4

• Review foldable terms and V.I.Ps of astronomy
• Overview of Solar System
• Planet Chart-first real experience with research

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Graphic organizers help
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P L A N E T C H A R T
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Day 5

• Review
• Orbits Make Me Dizzy- outdoor activity
• concept of scale
• Keplers Law of Planetary Motion
• 1) Orbits are elliptical 3)period of revolution
  get larger as you go away from the sun
  (relationship between distance traveled and
  period of revolution)

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Role

• Star steppers- help step out A.U.s of planet
  distances
• Planet and Planet Recorder
• Super Stars- help with communication from teacher
  and planets

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What are some suggestions you have have for Ms.
Perrotta if she was to do this lab again?

• None. It was fun being able to go outside and
  act out the planets.
• None. This really helped me understand the
  orbits of planets a lot better then before
• Allow more time for Pluto to complete a full
  revolution
• Assign a super star for the further planets
• Take us outside more often

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Day 6

• Review
• Go over Planet Chart- use overhead print out and
  describe how information they have is not WRONG
• Introduce Solar System Project

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Project Rubric
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Day 7

• Review
• Solar System Debris Bookquest- not all word for
  word

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Bookquest
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Day 8 (gone)

• Sunquest Lab students complete online quest of
  learning about the sun
• -students LOVE animations
• -students LOVE pictures
• -students want to EXPLORE

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Day 9(gone)

• Review
• NASA sun video and questions
• students LOVE videos
• Sometimes get lost in trying to find the answer
• Go over Sunquest

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Day 10 (gone)

• Review
• Go over Solar System Debris Bookquest
• Planet Chart Quiz students able to use their
  planet charts
• Solar System Scale Activity
• Planet Magic Number Activity students enjoy
  these A LOT better then doing questions out of
  the book

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Planet Quiz
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Magic Number
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Day 11 (gone)

• Review
• Planet Video- video took all class period and
  when this length of video is seen best to have a
  question set ready to help organize student
  thought
• Review Sheet

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Day 12

• Review for test
• Review Jeopardy

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Day 13

• Exam Day
• -two forms
• College Form- 31 M.C., pick 3 out of 6 short
  answer, and 5 extra credit
• General Form-26 M.C., pick 2 out of 7 short
  answer, and 5 extra credit

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Survey of Ms. Perrotta

• Which lesson was your favorite and why?
• Which lesson was your least favorite and why?
• What is your opinion of my teaching? Any things I
  should do differently?
• Do you think I am a hard,fair, easy grader?
• How was my discipline of the class? Too harsh,
  too kind, fair, etc. Any suggestions?
• Do you feel that I was able to create a
  comfortable learning environment? Did you feel
  like you could come up and talk to me with ease?
• Etc.

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Sample of student comments

• learning about the different planets was fun. I
  think it sparked an interest that I never knew I
  had. It also made me recognize how small we were
  compared to the universe
• I enjoyed the crossword puzzles and magic number
  activities. I hate doing bookwork. Every teacher
  does the questions at the end of the chapter.
  BORING.
• Your twist on Jeopardy actually made it fun for
  the first time. Keep this up
• I thought the projects were fun. Not too
  hard,good amount of time to do it, got to be
  creative, plus we were helping little kids.
• Sometime you were too nice and give too many
  warnings. Sometimes you need to walk in and say
  shut up and sit down. We need it at times.

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More comments..

• Not always lecturing and doing different things
  each day kept me interested.
• Being able to go outside and act out planet
  orbits really helped me understand the concept
  better and I wish more teacher would take us
  outside
• You should have a reward system for those who
  constantly turn in homework. It was nice to have
  done the planet chart and been able to use it.
  Those who didnt correct theirs got what they
  deserve.
• The teaching style was wonderful. There was
  something new about every lesson and instead of
  doing something from last year, your lessons were
  creative, no specific format
• Your energy woke me up every morning

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Assessment

• Formal
• -planet chart quiz
• -graded labs (orbits make me dizzy,sunquest,
  solar system scale lab)
• -completion grades for homework
• -project rubric
• -chapter pencil-paper test

• Informal
• -informal interviews
• -suggestion questions on labs
• -walking around assessing student engagement
• -class participation
• -review jeopardy

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Special Thanks

• Mrs. Sheppard
• BHS Science Department
• VT advising staff
• Photography and Support by Dayna Wilhelm
• Ben Shumate