Rationale for Process Circus Center

DPI Standards:

Standard 10

Context:

For this project, I created a science center that was aimed towards one of the science process skills.  My center actually touched on two of the skills.  I came up with a center that had students classify and order germinating seeds.  First, students are asked to look at a multiple number of seeds in a cup and guess the amount of seeds in that cup.  Then they will sort the seeds out into their specific groups.  Students will then count out the seeds and find out how close they are to their guess.  Once they’ve done this, they will move onto another process skill and that is observation.  They will use a magnifying glass and look at the different characteristics of each seed.  There is a chart for them to fill out to and record the likes and differences of each seed.  At the end of their time at the center, students will answer a couple of questions on what they have learned.

Impact:

By making this center, I was able to learn how to draw up and create my own science center.  This gave me the chance to see how many different ways I could teach the science process skills and objectives in my own classroom.  If I am given the chance to teach at the third grade level, I hope to use this center to help the students learn about germinating seeds.  I feel that these centers give students the opportunity to experience science through things other than direct teaching.  I hope to use process skill centers in my classroom as centers around the room, for the students to visit during center time.

Alignment: 

I was able to meet NCDPI Standard 10 by creating a science center that gave students the chance to learn science through an experience that required them to use the classifying and observation skill.  Standard 10 states that teachers need to provide active inquiry experiences in the teaching of science by using various questioning skills and developing science process skills.  The center that I created had students classify seeds into separate groups and then observe the likes and differences between the different kinds of seeds.