Generating+and+Testing+Hypotheses

= Generating and Testing Hypotheses =

= Technology 1: Turning Technologies Audience Response Products (@http://www.turningtechnologies.com/) =

(image from @http://www.turningtechnologies.com/studentresponsesystems/studentresponsesolutions/)

=Rationale:= ====Using Turning Technologies Polling software, along with small handheld devices, students can gather data and have it displayed graphically in seconds. The students can use laptops or their cell phones in lieu of the handheld response devices. Students will learn that polling is one form of gathering data and that predictions can be made based on the data collected. For example, students may make predictions about the percentage of the class that is vegetarian based on a poll of students’ favorite foods. The class will also find that data can lead to erroneous conclusions or that they have not collected enough data to make a conclusion.====

====With such devices, students are not relegated to being passive responders, but are encouraged to develop their own questions for classroom investigation. The data gathered leads to hypotheses and the development of methods to test these hypotheses. Classroom polling also allows the teacher to identify misunderstandings in student learning and address these misunderstandings immediately.====

=Resources:=

Response Receivers (must contact sales for price)
= Technology 2: You Be the Historian (@http://americanhistory.si.edu/kids/springer/) =

(image from @http://americanhistory.si.edu/kids/springer/00clues.htm) =Rationale:= ====Inquiry is not relegated solely to the domain of Science, but is necessary for all of the academic disciplines. A historian rarely has all of the facts and must draw conclusions based on available evidence. The website “You Be the Historian” invites students to ask questions and create inferences based on historical objects and documents discovered for one family in New Castle, Delaware 200 years ago. What is the purpose of the objects? What do the documents tell us about how the family lived? How much can the data be generalized to other families from this time period? Students will find that hypotheses do not always have cut-and-dry conclusions.====

=Resources:=

Computers with internet access
= Technology 3: Physical Science Investigation ([] ) =

(image from @http://www.wviz.org/education/multimedia)

=Rationale:= ====Physical Science Investigation is a website for students in grades 6 and up or for high achieving students. This free website has nearly 30 science experiments with multi-step videos. Students watch one video segment and then make predictions. After seeing the results of the experiment, students, use available information to explain what they are seeing. Experimentation using this online resource cuts down on preparation time and allows schools with lack of funds to still participate in experimentation.====

=Resources:=

Computers with internet access
=Education Challenge: Literacy Development= ====Literacy is not simply the ability to read, but also the ability to use higher-order thinking skills to analyze and comprehend the information that is being processed. In the Physical Science Investigation experiments, students are drawing upon background knowledge to make predictions that are reasonable and make sense. Each experiment requires students to watch and listen to videos, read and write outlines, forms, and charts, and also to make choices, such as what kind of graph would be best to communicate data. Students are encouraged to share their conclusions via an online forum in which they can also read the thoughts of other classes and respond to them. This online forum connects learners from all over world, increasing motivation and social learning.====