TPACK Questions for the Science Lesson

• What is the content you are focusing on in your science lesson?

The content being focused upon in my lesson is from the Utah Core Curriculum for 3rd grade science, Standard 2, Objective 2. The lesson revolves around the topic of organisms and their interactions with the living and nonliving things they are surrounded by.

• What is the pedagogy you are using and why is it a good fit with the content?

Students will focus on observations for their learning about our topic. It will be taught through hands-on learning (field trip), class discussion (what's in the jar), group work (researching what's in the jar), student-used technology (lap-tops), and coming full circle to readdress the original question of what do they have in their jar of pond water. I feel it is a good fit with the content because science is often best taught and understood through doing. When students can actually gather the materials themselves, spend time working individually and in groups, gather information instead of having it handed to them, and then readdress their original problem, they are so much more likely to take something meaningful from the lesson, both in the forms of the solution to a problem and how to find such a solution.

• What is the technology you’ll be using and why is it a good fit with the content and pedagogy?

The technology used for my lesson includes laptops for every two students and the Virtual Pond Dip website, where students can spend time learning about what is actually in their jar of pond water. I feel this technology is a good fit with the content because it allows students hands-on learning where they can be the ones to construct their knowledge of a subject area instead of being filled with knowledge. The technology also suites the pedagogy because students are able to work in groups or individually, they can spend time observing both what they gathered from the pond and what is being shown them through the website, and students are able to gather skills in actually finding answers they are looking for.