The lessons presented on this website are universally designed using real-life stories, movement and music for teaching academic subjects as well as a wealth of memorization techniques to practice academic material that must be learned by rote.
Research has found that rather than students being taught the factors as abstract rational numbers only, when they are first given a visual presentation of factor patterns, they can more easily grasp the factor patterns in multiple contexts. This kind of “number sense” is essential to growing a child who can think with mathematics and do it well.
This video presentation can form the basis for numerous lessons to teach factoring.
But the video can also be used as a quiet calming opportunity for students to watch and listen and explore factor patterns with paper and pen, on their own.
This leads us to the 5E model of Scientific Education. Science is the study of life and mathematics, its patterns. We do not know the context in which your child will speak the language of mathematics in the future. So a firm understanding of the fundamentals of this “language without words” is essential for every student.
I apply the 5E Model of Scientific Education to my mathematics lessons, as well as to the science lessons. It is essentially a Socratic method using the language of numbers. The Socratic Method is the Teacher presenting problems or questions to the student who discovers the answers through a series of additional questions the student asks by discovery, or the teacher prompts, with questions.
The 5E Model of Scientific Education
The 5E model of scientific education provides a proven method of inquiry usually used but not confined to science (it can also be used for mathematics, history etc.
The Five Es of the method are:
Engage
Explore
Explain
Elaborate
Evaluate
Students given the opportunity to engage and explore factor patterns will have a better grasp of how factors fit into a pattern that can be used in life.
Let’s look at the 5E Method in Science Education.
Science and life
Science is an ideal opportunity to teach reasoning skills. From cooking to chemistry to computers, science enhances our lives.
Engaging lessons where students have the opportunity to explore are provided with a primary resource being the National Science Teachers Association – NSTA.org. These lessons include the next generation science standards.
Here’s an example of how we would use the 5E steps in a lesson. In this lesson we are examining the density of objects. Our key vocabulary word is density and the students will measure the weight of objects, note the “floatability” of objects and hypothesize about the cause
Engage: Ask questions. Ask questions about the objects in front of the students. Ask if they sink or if they float use the vocabulary in the lesson to discuss.
Explore: after preparing materials ahead of time for the students to investigate and look into such as water bowls and various types of objects to determine if they sink or swim put the students into partners and groups carefully.
Engage them by introducing vocabulary, put it up on the board. Then use real-life examples like an aquarium and various types of objects that sink or swim, making use of technologies such as YouTube videos, and asking questions, dropping the items into the water and allowing the students to see and answer the question, “how come ship can float?” Why would a marble sink question
Explore: have them record each weight and have them test the various objects to see if they sink go around and ask questions. Why would a boat filled with marbles float but a single marble won’t float?
Explain: We expect them to be curious and unable to express what they see. Maybe they don’t understand the size, shape, or composition of the materials. We can see before telling them what to think – if they are going in the right direction and just let them experience it. Let them experiment with it and make sure they record everything they see because, of course, recording is so essential to scientific work.
The lesson can be Elaborated and extended by asking more questions end the objects and their sheep and why they float or not.
An exit ticket can be simple from the classroom for example, “What did you like and what did you learn in this lesson?” This can help the students to set the experience into long-term memory.
