Heat: A Kindergarten Science Study

Interview with Julie Tallberg

Julie Tallberg teaches Kindergarten at Anne Wien Elementary School in Fairbanks. She’s been teaching for 31 years. She signed up for the Science Curriculum Topic Study course facilitated by Page Keeley and Joyce Tugel, authors of Science Curriculum Topic Study: Bridging the Gap Between Three-Dimensional Standards, Research and Practice. This online course was a follow-up to a book talk opportunity for Alaskan teachers. Both were sponsored by the Region 16 Comprehensive Center. Veteran Alaskan Teachers and Administrators Amy Jo Meiners and Lori Hoover collaborated to facilitate the course.

After the course, and after teaching the lesson on Heat for kindergarten students, Julie shared a concern for many elementary teachers in Alaska. “ School districts don't provide as much science training as they do for math and language arts. Teachers need to actively keep their science knowledge current (at least for me that was true). Curriculum Topic Study (CTS) is a great way to become familiar with all of the relevant materials out there.” Even though Alaska is a rich and compelling environment for science learning, due to accountability measures from the state and the federal government, the emphasis for professional development and curriculum development has been on reading and math. Several teachers participating in the course mentioned this need as a reason for participating in the CTS course. With a focus on science content, arising from the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which form the foundation of the Alaska Science Standards, this intensive 8 week course supported teachers in the development of instructional plans for their classrooms. Julie also mentioned the direct benefit of the course towards her planning. “The thing I like BEST about CTS is that it is currently strengthening my content knowledge and I am enjoying learning new things. As I experience the joy of learning, it reminds me to shift the focus from teaching to learning in my classroom.”

The Curriculum Topic Study approach enacts three dimensions for teaching and learning science. This presents a shift from a focus on the science content first, concepts and terminology, with inquiry as a secondary consideration. The CTS approach focuses on students learning science actually “being scientists” as they construct meaning in science. The three dimensions considered in this approach integrate the three pillars of the NGSS standards: 1) Science and Engineering Practices, 2) Crosscutting Concepts and 3) Disciplinary Core Ideas. The lesson that Julie developed incorporated two performance expectations: 1) K-P53-1 Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on the Earth’s surface and 2) K-E55-2 Use and share observations of local weather conditions. The disciplinary core idea is that “sunlight warms the earth’s surface”. The crosscutting concept is cause and effect. “Events have causes that generate observable patterns”. These three dimensions are integrated throughout the lesson. A complete description of the three dimensional approach to the lesson can be found here.

Julie was fortunate to collaborate with Clay Good from the Renewable Energy for Alaska Project (REAP). By developing critical concepts in science, like heat transfer, Alaskans will make informed decisions about the use of energy in the future. You can read more about REAP here.

This lesson is also a great example of place-based, culturally responsive teaching. Teaching hands on science to youngsters is challenging at any time, but particularly during a pandemic. This unit allowed students to investigate these concepts by using simple, accessible materials including: bubble wrap, Styrofoam and aluminum foil. And, by incorporating a flexible constructivist approach to learning, Julie was able to “help kids to learn, wherever they are in the process.” Though her many years of teaching, she’s learned that “students are thinking at their own developmental levels. So, after reading about insulators and different materials that spread, or keep heat from spreading….taking temperature readings, students could notice patterns.” This happens in different ways for different children. “The important thing is to ask the relevant questions do deepen their thinking. Why would the temperature go up?” She points out that as you work with children, you understand the questions that move them along in the learning process, and those questions vary from child to child.

Through this unit, she found that students were excited and engaged. The engineering challenge, to keep snow from melting involved cardboard boxes and other insulating materials. By tracking the temperatures daily (on the playground) for five days, they could see the effect of sun and shade and the various materials. Through CTS, Julie found that she understood the topic with more depth and breadth than other science units, because she was considering heat through the lens of three dimensions: 1) Science and Engineering Practices, 2) Crosscutting Concepts and 3) Disciplinary Core Ideas. “One of the key aspects of the planning for the unit was to anticipate the misconceptions that kindergarten students typically hold regarding the topic. This is a concept or strategy that she will take away from the CTW experience to apply in other content areas.

Who would think that closely observing snow melting would be so interesting? It’s wonderful and heartwarming to hear from a teacher who is so in tune with the thinking and interests of the young children she sees every day.

Scott Christian

Heat: A Kindergarten Science Study Presentation: includes teacher materials and student work examples