1. Science: Middle and Secondary School
Spring SCE 4360
Science: Middle and Secondary School
Florida Atlantic University College of Education
Instructor: Dr. Ronald C. Persin
University of Pittsburgh, B.S.
Duquesne University, M. Ed.
Florida Atlantic University, Ed.D.
Phone :
(Office Hours by Appointment)
Website:

2. Educational Work Experience: Dr. Persin
27 years – Palm Beach County
8 years – Nova Southeastern
6 years – Florida Atlantic
(Former student, classroom teacher,
department chair, athletic coach,
academic games, college professor,
e-book/website author, science consultant, wife is a teacher, 3 daughters)

3. Materials Needed For EACH Class
3-Ring Binder
Scientific Calculator
Science Instruction Text
(Class policy: No Borrowing or Sharing)

4. How to Set-up Your 3-Ring Binder. (Section Dividers) Syllabus
How to Set-up Your 3-Ring Binder (Section Dividers) Syllabus Classnotes Handouts Inquiry Activities Assignments Reading Questions

5. Syllabus Spring 2015 SCE 4360 – 001 CRN 19808
Florida Atlantic University
College of Education
Department of Teaching and Learning
Spring 2015
SCE 4360 – 001   CRN 19808
Science: Middle & Secondary School 
Professor:  Dr. Ronald C. Persin, Ed.D.
Phone ( )
(Office hours by appointment)  
Website:

6. Sciences of SCE 4360 (matching exercise)
Physics
Chemistry
Earth and Space
Environmental
Biology
Behavior and properties of the elements in nature.
Relationship between humans and their surroundings.
Study of living things (plants & animals).
Study of matter and energy.
Structure of the Earth and its place in the Universe.

7. The Scientific Method Define the problem Gather information
PROJECT IDEAS
Best Material for Magnetic Shielding?
Can Background Noise Levels Affect How Well We Concentrate?
Do Cellphone Batteries Charge at a Uniform Rate?
Does the Intensity of Light Used on Plants Affect How Well They Grow?
Do Flowers Absorb Different Colors Uniformly?
What Makes Phosphorescence Last Longer?
Which Substance Will Make a Bubble Last Longer?
Do Both Sides of the Face Display the Same Emotion?
Effect of Height on the Impact of an Ink Droplet.
Relationship Between the Rate of Diffusion and Temperature.
Which Type of Water is Best for Plant Growth?
Effects of Temperature on Chemical Reactions.
What Materials Can Be Used to Make Successful Pigments?
What Can Be Done to Increase the Amount of Oil That Can Be Moved Through a Pump?
Best Way to Keep an Ice Cube From Melting?
The Scientific Method
Define the problem
Gather information
State your hypothesis
Test your hypothesis
Form your conclusion
Publish your results

8. Project Board

9. The Metric System
Created in 1795 by the French Academy of Science to unify existing systems.
Original meter was one ten-millionth of the distance from North Pole to Equator along Prime Meridian.
In the early1900’s this was changed to a certain number of wavelengths of light from Kr-86. ( nm)
(poster)

11. Some Metric Prefixes Prefix Symbol Power Quantity
nano n billionth
micro µ millionth
milli m thousandth
centi c hundredth
(Examples of each? Think Metric!)
giga G billion
mega M million
kilo k thousand
Activity: What is the average thickness of a sheet of paper?

12. The 7 Basic MKS SI Units 1. Meter - length 2. Kilogram - mass
3. Second - time
4. Kelvin - temperature
Système International (French)
Other units are derived (area, speed, density, force, energy, …)
Also, MKS vs CGS
5. Ampere - electric current
6. Candela - luminous intensity
7. Mole - amount of substance

13. Recent Major Developments in Science
Landing of astronauts on the Moon, and numerous space missions.
Micro-circuitry, AI, high-speed computers.
Imaging techniques used in scientific research and medicine.
Mapping the Human Genome.

14. Science is the study of the natural world in order to understand it
Science is the study of the natural world in order to understand it. (NSES, 1996.)
Science vs. Technology
Technology is the application of science
to the natural world
based on human wants and needs. (ITEA, 2000)

15. Science vs. Technology (examples)
Synthroid
Organ cultures
Sustainability
Nuclear power
Apps
Voyager 2
Crowd sourcing
Data mining
Physics
Chemistry
Earth and Space
Environmental
Biology
Mathematics
Computer
Social

16. Technology involves:
Using processes to alter/change the natural world, such as
1. Invention
2. Innovation
3. Practical Problem Solving
4. Design
Ex. Cartesian diver – Rene Descartes ( )
(display)

17. Science involves: 1. Building theories and models
Ex. Where is the Center of Gravity of an object?
2. Constructing experiments
(Try to find it. What keeps the object in place?
How many forces? Now try to move it?
What about different shapes? How many forces?)
3. Interpreting results
Center of Gravity – Point where weight of an object is balanced.

18. Scalar vs. Vector Quantities
Given with magnitude (size or amount) only
Examples:
Distance (10 m)
Speed (25 km/hr)
Mass (20 kg)
Time (3.5 s)
Area (15 cm²)
(Name a few more. Can be arithmetically combined.)
Given with magnitude and direction
Examples:
Displacement (10 m, E)
Velocity (25 km/hr, North)
Acceleration (9.8 m/s², down)
Force (50 N at 60⁰)
Torque (15 Nm at 90⁰)
(All shown with an Arrow. Can be combined with Algebra, Geometry, Trig, and Calculus.)

19. Whether A Field is a Science is Based on 6 Criteria
Has an organized body of knowledge
Results are reproducible
Has well-developed experimental methods
Enables predictions, including surprises
Offers hypotheses open to falsification
Deals with natural objects
Can you think of any fields that are not sciences, and why?

20. Keeping Science Explanations Simple
Occam's Razor - “entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity”, ie., the simplest explanation is usually best.
William of Ockham, 14th-century British philosopher/theologian.
Einstein - "Everything should
be kept as simple as possible,
But no simpler.“
Ex. – Crop Circles ( UFO’s/aliens or people? )

21. Ex. What is the average speed
The Nature of Inquiry (NGSS, NRC, NSTA)
Asking questions
Planning investigations
Gathering data
Using scientific knowledge to make sense of data
Communicating results to others
Ex. What is the average speed
of a falling object?

22. Detailed NGSS Student Inquiry Practices
1. Asking Questions and Defining Problems. 2. Developing and Using Models.
3. Planning and Carrying out Investigations. 4. Analyzing and Interpreting Data.
Ex. Helicopter
5. Use Math, Information/Computer Tech., Computational Thinking. 6. Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions.
7. Engaging in Argument from Evidence. 8. Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information.

23. Common Core Student Engineering Design Examples
Foam-wing Glider Contest Egg-drop Contest.

24. Key Ideas From the Text Goals of 21st century science teachers:
Help students see science as a way of thinking and investigating as well as an accumulated body of knowledge.
Link science with student’s lives outside school.
Science lessons built from a small number of simple concepts.
Ex. Inertia before Newton’s
Laws of Motion, an Apple
for Gravitation

25. i before e, except after c Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, …
How to Represent Knowledge (from the text):
Mnemonics (pronounced "ne-mon'-ics") is the art of assisting the memory by using a system of artificial aids - rhymes, rules, phrases.
Help to recall names, dates, facts, and figures.
Examples:
1. To remember processes that define living things: MRS GREN.
Kids Prefer Cheese Over Fried Green Spinach.
SUV
ASAP
i before e, except after c
Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, …
The principal is our pal.
Every Good Boy Does Fine.
Movement; Respiration; Sensation; Growth; Reproduction; Excretion; Nutrition
These are the strands of scientific proficiency development by the committee. They represent a framework for thinking about proficiency. In addition, they provided a device for organizing the quite disparate bodies of research the committee considered.
2. For molecules with diatomic structures: I Bring Clay For Our New House.
Iodine; Bromine; Chlorine; Fluorine; Oxygen; Nitrogen; Hydrogen

26. Concepts vs. Facts
A concept is a general idea (usually 1 or 2 words). Ex: Friction, Gravity, the Water Cycle, …
A fact is a bit of information, something that is true and can be observed.
Ex: Friction opposes motion.
Gravity causes objects to fall.
Life on Earth depends on the
Water Cycle.
Facts are memorized, concepts are understood.

27. Proper SI form Ex. 325,000,000 m Used to write values in compact form
Scientific notation?
Using a metric prefix?
(more examples)
Ex. 325,000,000 m

28. Significant digits
1. Proper expression of measured and calculated values. (NGSS Standard)
2. Results of calculations must not have more significant digits than the least precise value.
Ex. Find the area cm
2.791 cm
A = _____
(Time for light to get from Sun to Earth?)
45.2 cm²

29. Converting Measurements
1. Metric to Metric
Powers of 10, move decimal point
Ex. 1 kg = ____ g
2. English to Metric
Use conversion factors, then
a. Proportion method Ex in. = 2.54 cm in. = ___ cm.
b. Unit cancellation method Ex mi/hr = ____ m/s.
(more examples, g/cm³ to kg/m³)

30. Problem Solving (5 steps)
What is given?
Identify the unknown
Write the formula relating unknown to known
Solve the formula for the unknown
Substitute-in the known data and simplify
Ex. – The density of gold is 19.6 g/cm³. Find the mass of 10.0 cm³ of gold. Equation: D = m/V .

31. Graphing Data
Ex. How Number of Swimmers Relate to Air Temperature
Temperature (⁰C)
Swimmers 20
280 24
360 36
450 32
420 28
400
Rules:
Independent Variable – x axis Construct Line of Best Fit.
Dependent Variable – y axis.

32. Content Review of SCE 4360 Sciences
Biology – study of living things, with Botany as the study of plants and Zoology as the study of animals.
5 axioms:
The cell is the basic unit of life.
Genes are the basic unit of heredity.
Evolution determines the synthesis and creation of new species.
All organisms consume and transform energy.
Organisms regulate their internal environment to maintain a stable condition (homeostasis).

33. Chemistry – study of the behavior and properties of the elements (118) in nature. Major Subdivisions:
Organic - study of compounds (nucleic acids, fats, fuels, sugars, proteins) containing Carbon with Hydrogen.
Inorganic - the study of those (salts, metals, minerals) with Carbon or Hydrogen.

34. Earth & Space – study of the structure of the Earth and its place in the Universe. Basic Facts:
Halley’s Comet appears once every 76 years.
The Great Red Spot on Jupiter is a hurricane-like storm detected in the early 1600′s.
A piece of a neutron star the size of a pin point would weigh 1 million tons.
There are over 100 billion galaxies in the Universe.
Scientists estimate that Earth is ≈ 4.5 billion years old. (ES Week)

35. Environmental Science – study of the relationships between humans and their surroundings.
Basic Facts:
Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute.
On average, it costs $30 per ton to recycle trash, $50 to send it to the landfill, and $70 to incinerate it.
A modern glass bottle would take over 4000 years to decompose. An aluminum can could be recycled indefinitely.
Plastic bags and other plastics thrown into the ocean kill about 1 million sea creatures every year.
The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year can heat 50 million homes for 20 years (SCIGO)

36. Physics – the study of the relationship between matter and energy.
Basic Facts:
Founded by Isaac Newton ( ) who explained 3 Laws of Motion and Universal Gravitation.
2. Energy is the ability to do work, and measured in Joules..
3. The 2 types of energy are Kinetic (due to motion, K = ½ mv²), and Potential (due to position, U = mgh).
4. Forms of energy are mechanical, electricity, magnetism, light, heat, sound, chemical, and nuclear. All can be inter-converted.
5. Matter can be converted to energy, E = mc². (Games.)

37. University of Aahaus, Denmark
Scientists of Today
University of Aahaus, Denmark
Her work involves slowing down light in an ultra-cold gas. (17 m/s)
Spent 7 months at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics near Geneva.
Now teaches at Harvard.
Dr. Lene V. Hau
“After I discovered quantum physics, I've been hooked ever since. I would rather do science than go to the movies.”

38. Born in Hong Kong
Graduated from Vassar, Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Then, Ph.D. from Harvard.
At MIT, she played a key role in the discovery of the gluon, the particle that holds quarks together to form protons and neutrons.
“Reading the biography of Marie Curie inspired me so much that I decided to devote my life to science.”
Dr. Sau Lan Wu

39. Dr. Edward Witten, Ph.D.
Brandeis University, B.S. in Physics and Mathematics.
Princeton, M.S., and Ph.D. in Physics.
Then to Harvard for teaching and research.
Appointed professor of Physics at Princeton.
Now, Professor in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.
Leading proponent of String Theory.
(He could be our modern day Einstein.)
“If you are a researcher, you are trying to figure out what the question is as well as what the answer is.”

40. Dr. Lisa Randall
First tenured woman in physics at Princeton, Harvard and now at MIT.
Most cited theoretical physicist in the world in the last five years.
Research in high energy physics is primarily related to finding the smallest particles of matter.
“I liked math because all the problems had answers. Everything else seemed very subjective. Early on, I realized I was thinking about the world a little differently than my friends.”

41. In a Bronx, N.Y., high school where the dropout rate was 60 percent, a guidance counselor declined to give Stephon Alexander an application to an Ivy League university.
"You won't get in," Alexander recalls the counselor saying. But Alexander proved the counselor wrong.
After a BS at Haverford and a Ph.D. in Physics from Brown University, the counselor appears to have gotten it wrong. After his Ph.D., Alexander was at London's Imperial College.
Currently he is a member of the SLAC high energy physics group and Stanford's ITP (Institute for Theoretical Physics).
Stephon Alexander

42. Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi, Astrophysicist
Member of SuperNova/Acceleration Prove (SNAP) mission at Lawrence Berkeley Lab.
Professor at the University of Alabama, continuing to collaborate with the SNAP project.
Self-described “regular guy” from Mississippi, doesn’t remember exactly how he first became interested in science, but says, “I’ve always thought scientists were supercool.”

43. Dr. Brian Greene, Ph.D. Harvard, 1984, B.S., Physics & Math
Oxford University, 1986, Ph.D., Rhodes Scholar.
Physics faculty of Cornell, 1990.
1996, joined Columbia University as professor of physics and of mathematics.
Founder and director of Columbia’s Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics, a research center seeking string theory’s implications for theories of cosmology.

44. Dr. Valerie Bennett
B.S. Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics - Vanderbilt University.
M.S. Mechanical Engineering - Georgia Tech.
Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering - Georgia Tech.
Professor of Physics at Morehouse College.
Research:
- Analyzing Fatigue Properties of Nanostructures. - Computational Microstructional Analysis of Fatigue.
Most Recent Publication:
Bennett, V.P. and McDowell, D.L., Micromechanics of Microstructurally Small Surface Cracks in Polycrystals, Proc. ICF 10, Honolulu, HI.

45. Dr. Ellen Ochoa
Selected by NASA and became the first Hispanic female astronaut, logging more than 480 hours in space.
Doctoral student at Stanford, and later as a researcher at Sandia National Laboratories and NASA Ames Research Center.
She is a co-inventor with a patent for an optical object recognition method.
Ellen's dream is to help build a new space station, which she says is "critical… to human exploration in space, a transportation mode to new frontiers."
"Only you put limitations on yourself - don't be afraid to reach for the stars."

46. Dr. Freddy Severino Came to U.S. in 1992 from the Dominican.
He earned a B.S and an M.S. from Hofstra. Then a doctorate from NYU. Member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
Responsible for the design and operation of the Collider-Accelerator Dept at Brookhaven.
These include the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collier (RHIC), and cutting-edge R&D accelerators, such as the Energy Recovery Linac.
Accelerator RF systems are used to control beam energy, stabilize particle motion, and control the distribution or spread in energies among particles.
Dr. Freddy Severino

47. Your students could become our next
“Scientists of Today”!