Revisiting Science Concepts ( Moonwatch )

Projects that span the elementary school years can lead to a broader understanding of specific science concepts.

By G. Robert Moore -- UNLV

science and children -- N / D -- 1994 -- pp58-60

IN RECENT YEARS, ELEMENTARY science instruction has emphasized unit approaches, hands-on activities at learning centers, and thematic approaches. Unit approaches tend to investigate a particular topic for a specified period of time, but when the unit is complete, the topic is set aside for another year. With a learning-center approach, students cycle through the activities but seldom have a chance to explain or clarify their constructed knowledge with follow-up exercises. In a thematic approach, unless the main focus is science, students receive a great deal of information, but they may have only one or two experiences with science ideas. As well, many themes do not lend themselves easily to science activities that allow students to build conceptual understanding-neither reading poems, writing reports, nor watching films will necessarily lead to a deeper understanding of science concepts.

Current research indicates that children use their prior knowledge and personal experiences to help them make sense of new material and that children are actively involved in this construction of new or refined knowledge ( Lorsbach and Tobin, 1992; Watson and Konicek, 1990; Wheatley, 1991 ). Given what we know about how children learn, none of the above mentioned approaches in and of themselves will allow us to accomplish the goals for scientific literacy envisioned in reports from The National Center for Improving Science Education and Project 2061: Science for All Americans.

What these approaches lack is the idea of revisiting conceptual ideas throughout a child's elementary school career.

By revisiting science topics, we are recognizing that students grow physically and mentally both within the year and from one year to the next. We are also acknowledging that one activity or unit is not enough to ensure full conceptual understanding; students need a chance to modify and clarify their understandings over time.

In his book The Unschooled Mind, Howard Gardner ( 1991 ) states that, as adults, we carry around with us explanations of the world that we de- veloped in our first five years of life. One of the reasons he believes these naive notions linger is that our early education does not give us the oppor tunity to reconsider misconceptions formed during early childhood. We need to have experience in collecting evidence ( data ) if we are to develop alternative explanations. If, as educators, our goal is to develop science understanding in children and to use broad conceptual themes as a base, then we should consider revisiting science topics from year to year.

This article describes an example of one such long-term project Moonwatch --- that spans the elementary school years and introduces the relationships between the Earth, sun, and moon, highlighting the broad conceptual themes of patterns and change.

Moonwatch

First Grade

To begin, the class should collect daily observations of the moon during the school year. Give the children index cards with round circles drawn on them. Ask students to observe and record the moon's appearance each day by filling in the "lighted" part of the circle. Display these moon illustrations around the classroom like a wall border. Through these moon observations, students should develop an awareness of two ideas: the moon may be seen sometimes during the day and sometimes during the night, and the moon has different "faces."

It's not unusual for students initially to have difficulty with this project.

"Where is the moon ? I didn't see it," is a typical response from a young student. To address such comments, I discuss that we will continue to collect our data, and 1 also take the class outside when the moon appears in the daytime sky, so that students can observe the moon during the day. We also do classroom activities about sun and shadows to help students begin to understand that when they observe the "lighted" part of the moon, they are really observing light being reflected from the sun. By the end of first grade, children understand that you can observe the moon at night and during the day. They also can describe the phases of the moon in fa- miliar terms ( for example, "Today, it looks like a banana." ).

Second Grade

To continue the project the following year, set up a Moonwatch bulletin board featuring 31 columns ( representing the days of the month ) in 9 rows ( representing the months of the school year ). Each day, give four or five students moon notecards on which to illustrate what the moon actually looks like in the sky that night. ( If it is cloudy, ask students to represent that day with a cloud. Eventually, students will be able to infer the moon's appearance. ) The next day, have the students display their illustrations ( data ) on the bulletin board. Continue collecting moon data in this manner for at least two months before you begin any formalized teaching. Of course, students will begin asking questions as soon as they begin making moon observations.

"How can a moon have that many shapes ?

Is there more

than one moon ?"

"Where is the moon in the daytime ?"
- "How big is the moon ?" and
- "How far away is the moon ?"
Write these "Thinking Questions" on the wall next to the bulletin board, but do not answer them during the initial data-collection period. In about two months, begin discussing the data, concentrating upon observed patterns and changes, and answering carefully selected student questions. For example, you might start by asking students such questions as,
- "Do you see patterns on the Moonwatch bulletin board ?" and
- "Can you think of any reasons why a pattern might appear ?"
Depending on the time you start the activity, students will observe either a left-to-right "lightening" or "darkening" of the moon's surface over time. Discuss possible reasons for these patterns. Typically, students suggest that the Earth's shadow causes the patterns. Continue asking questions, such as,
- "What do you think the moon will look like tomorrow ?"
- "What did it look like a week ago ?" and
- "What do you think it will look like next week ?"
As they did in first grade, students should do sun and shadow activities throughout the school year. The emphasis of these activities is on identifying patterns and recognizing that the patterns are consistent.
By the end of second grade, students should be able to recognize the moon's sequence of patterns, know the appropriate vocabulary for each phase of the moon, and recognize that these patterns occur earlier each month. At this point, I often give students an illustration of a particular shape of the moon and ask them to draw the preceding shapes over time. Most students complete this assignment successfully.
Third Grade
By the third year of Moonwatch, you can begin to develop the idea of the location of the moon in the sky at specific times. To do this, set up a Moonwatch bulletin board as done for students in the second grade. For the initial data-collection period ( about two months ), have students observe and illustrate on notecards the moon's shape during the day and at night, displaying their data on the bulletin board. ( To observe the moon during the day, 1 usually provide time at the start of each school day and at the end of the day for selected students to go outside to observe the moon. ) As you discuss observations with students, ask,
- "During the daytime, what pattern of shapes appears ?
- Is the pattern different during the nighttime ?"
Students soon will recognize that part of the pattern typically occurs during the daytime and another part typically occurs during the nighttime.
In the second half of the year, ask students to collect data about the moon's height in the sky as well. To do this, I suggest that students iden tify the moon's height in the sky using clock and fist descriptors. For ex ample, a student might write, "The moon is at the 10 o'clock position in the sky and is three fists high." ( I do not have students collect this kind of data at the beginning of the year because I want them to become com- fortable with recognizing the daytime and nighttime moon patterns. By the second half of the year, students easily recognize the patterns, so they are able to focus on other aspects of moon data. ) Collecting related data in new and different ways allows children to think about and to refine their understandings.
Fourth and Fifth Grades
For these students, you can use the Moonwatch observations as a spring- board to introduce the movements and orientations of the Earth, sun, and moon. For example, you might use a flashlight and a orange to demonstrate the phases of the moon. Typically, students who have spent years collecting Moonwatch data are able to grasp easily the significance of this rather abstract demonstration.
leyden note:
do you see the ex-ten-ed Learning Cycle -- years and years of Exploration Lessons -- before the Concept Introduction phase
As each school year ends, teachers should pass along the Moonwatch data, questions, and possible explanations to the teachers at the next grade level. Those teachers can use the information in conjunction with hands- on activities to help students see the evolution of their own thinking and reasoning skills.
The Moonwatch project is just one example of how revisiting a science concept throughout the elementary school years can lead students to a deeper understanding of that concept. At the start of their school careers, many children have difficulty even locating the moon in the sky; however, as students continue to collect moon data year after year, they can build a body of data and develop an accurate understanding of the relationships between the Earth, sun, and moon.
Revisiting science concepts in elementary school provides valuable opportunities for students to refine and modify over time the understand- ings they constructed as toddlers and young children.
As students continue to collect moon data gear after years they will build a body of data and develop an accurate understanding of the relationships among the Earth, sun, and moon.

11 / 3f / 95
a six year moon watch: a summary of objectives

dr. robert moore at UNLV proposes a sequence of objectives for studying the moon. This is obviously a lo-o-o-o-o-o-ng unit.
You can access dr. moore's science methods course from the resources on my home page (see: science methods in the desert).

grade 1:
- moon can be seen at nite or in the day
- moon had different "faces" - "banana-like" to circle-like
grade 2:
- bulletin board: "a nine moonth watch"
- infer / predict the moon's appearance
- two months of gathering data -- then, formal teaching
- notice the left to right "lighting" or "darkening" of the moon
- use appropriate vocabulary for each phase
- notice / predict phase
- make a list of "kid questions" - but don't answer them
- go forward and backward from a given shape
grades 3
- location of the moon in the sky at specific times
- specific patterns occur in the daytime moon and others for the nighttime moon
grades 4-5
- hold a ping pong ball at arm's length to simulate the moon
- your eyes are observers on earth
- and light source for the sun.
- Darken room and move the ball around you. Notice how phases of the moon are imitated or modeled.
9 / 14r / 95