Teaching Science Virtually:
a starting point

How will students interact with science content and with each other through remote science instruction?

Students should be doing more than merely listening in a science classroom, passively receiving information, but instead should be experiencing science by actively working to solve problems or collect and analyze data.

• Working Collaboratively: Strategies to encourage student collaboration during remote learning:

1. Conference Calls: Periodic, focused private chats with another student. Checkout options conference-call technology has in regards to private chats. Turned on and off during a meeting.

2. Encourage partner work creating assignments that required paired work with another student. Assign a Don't Rush Challenge where students compile before and after videos of physical and chemical changes. One student group begins their Don't Rush Challenge video by showing a student who was presenting a raw egg before and then a cooked scrambled egg to indicate a chemical change. The student then took the whisk and threw it to the right, out of the camera shot. The next student caught a flying whisk from the left side of the video and then presented soap in a soap dispenser as the before video and the soap mixed in water as the after video, indicating a physical change. This continued until every student in the group had passed the whisk twice. (E.g. Social Studies Example: Article)

• Science Engagement: Experiencing Science! (Online Labs)

Students tend to be more engaged as they participate in cooperative learning activities that challenge them to solve problems and complete interactive tasks, planning online science lessons should focus on finding resources to meet this learning objective.

Online lab experiments can generally lead students to the correct answer, preventing them from learning from their errors (a positive side effect of performing labs). However, online labs can provide students with the opportunity to collect and analyze data. The following is a list of online lab resources for students of all grades and abilities. Unless indicated, they cover all three branches of science (physical, earth, and life sciences).

1. PhET - students participate in simulations that also include math

2. Explorelearning - students are assigned Gizmos, which are simulations; also covers technology and engineering

3. GeoScience Online Teaching Resource - a list of websites broken down by topic for earth-science classes

4. HHMI BioInteractive - topical resources for earth and life sciences that includes videos, activities, and authentic data that can be analyzed; specializes in high school and AP classes

5. The Science Bank: Online Dissections - a comprehensive list of online resources where students can perform dissections on many species, such as fetal pigs, cats, crayfish, sharks, and frogs; also offers human anatomy online lessons

6. Molecular Expressions - interactive tutorials of virtual microscopes, focusing on many topics, such as microscopic creatures, lunar samples, computer chips, and superconductors.

7. Gizmos - over 400 math and science Gizmos gives everyone something to graph, measure, and compare. Even predict and prove. That's hundreds of opportunities where students don't just act like scientists and mathematicians. They are.

8. Dartmouth - links to a plethora of resources and ideas that can be used in a virtual lab experience.

9. Secondary Science Virtual Labs - list of websites of virtual labs. Many require Flash or Java software.

10. Virtual Lab Activities - virtual lab activities for the classroom

• Iowa Science Standards Alignment: Design activities to promote engaging learning, avoiding trivial work completion. Align assignments with the respective Iowa Science Standards (NGSS) focusing on Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs), Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI), and Cross-Cutting Concepts (CCCs), and intentionally create tasks that allow students to develop their conceptual skills through engaging phenomena.

• Set the Pace: Remote learning takes endurance and patience. Keep the science instruction simple, from the directions provided to students to the amount of work assigned to students. Avoid long assessments or complex reading assignments, and create interactive slideshows allowing students to learn content and apply scientific knowledge skills at home. As students view the slideshow, they can complete engaging checkpoint slides that demonstrate their understanding of what they have learned. Embed character building exercises into the slides so students can encourage each other to stay strong while building a sense of belonging despite being in physical isolation. The more fun and interactions students have with each other, the more they will engage in remote learning.

• Project-based learning: In a remote learning environment, it is imperative that students, teachers, and even parents are engaged in instruction and learning that allows everyone involved to fall into a predictable routine. Instructors should bring consistency to the learning process through the use of solid and flexible frameworks. In science instruction, instructors can take a lesson-by-lesson approach to instruction by implementing the 5Es of science instruction. The 5Es of science instruction is an inquiry-based model that promotes learning through investigation and exploration. The 5Es include: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate, phases of the learning process. In implementing more of a holistic approach with project-based learning or performance tasks, GRASPS (Goal, Role, Audience, Situation, Performance, Standards) serves as a good starting point. Originally appearing in Understanding by Design (2005) by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe.

Whatever instructional strategy is implemented in teaching in a virtual environment, it is once again important to remain focused on being empathetic to the needs of students by offering learning experiences which incorporate a routine to engage students in science learning.

Virtual Science Resources from Other Sources

Incorporating student engagement into science instruction in a virtual manner should promote belonging and connectedness with students and families to enhance online learning. The following is a list of science resources which may enhance the building of virtual lessons in science.

1. 5 Virtual Learning Resources to Build Connectedness with Students & Families (Panorama Education)

2. 11 of the Best Science Websites for Interactive Learning (Interesting Engineering)

3. Online Learning: Resources for Science Classes (University of Kansas)

4. Updated: Free Science Resources for Schools During the Covid-19 Outbreak (The Journal)

5. Best Science Websites for Middle & High School Science (We Are Teachers)

6. Ten Websites for Science Teachers (Edutopia)

7. Adapting Science Lessons for Distance Learning (Edutopia)

8. Virtual Science Education Resources (NGSS)

9. Online Learning Resources (PBIS Rewards)

10. Online Resources During Covid-19 Shutdown (BSCS Science Learning)

From Iowa Department of Education Science

1. Science Resources

2. Instructional Planning & Teaching in Science