Making Connections in Science
By James Hughes ’78
ill this be on the test?” is a reasonable, practical question, but not an inquiry that teachers enjoy hearing. It appears to be easily answered with a yes or no, but it suggests that tests are the final measure of understanding. It is unlikely that any one test, quiz, or essay can evaluate all learning about a topic. In addition, if a student learns a fact or makes a connection between important concepts and this new understanding is not “on the test” the student’s effort is hardly wasted. All knowledge gained helps propel a student forward on his journey to deeper understanding, and how all of this accumulated information is interrelated helps lead to more thorough learning. Making these connections takes more time and effort to acquire, which makes it an ideal goal on which to focus this year since it fits in with our school-wide theme of “rigorous pursuit.” So, the answer to “Will this be on the test?” really is not so simple. The response, “It may or may not be on the test, but it will probably be helpful for you to know it if you want a thorough understanding” may be closer to the truth. “Can we have a swimming pool in our backpack?” by contrast, seems totally unreasonable and impractical, yet could in fact be just the sort of question that indicates a fourth grader has learned an important principle about how sound travels. Being able to remember, repeat, or recite the fact that sound can travel through liquids (as well as gasses and solids) is important for fourth graders to learn. There are a variety of test questions that can address whether a boy knows these facts. Whether he really understands the concepts behind them is more complicated. For the past several years, Saint David’s teachers have been using the Teaching for Understanding (TfU) Framework to help look at our courses and try to help the boys gain that deeper level of understanding that can be described as “being able to take knowledge and use it in new ways” (Blythe, 1998, p. 13). During the 2009–2010 school year, Bridget Gallagher Matheson, Shane Kinsella, and I developed a project for the Fourth Grade sound unit that would allow the boys to show their grasp of sound and yet go beyond what they already know in what the TfU Framework refers to as a “performance of understanding” (Blythe, 1998, p. 13). Based on a worksheet from [?? ??Y[??H ??????
??[??[? ?????? NN
?H??X?[?Y ?]H ??Y]?]???'???? ?]?Y ?]?[XY?[?\?H?\??[\?[??\? H??\?\?H ?\?[?Y ?] H ??[H??Z[??? H ?\??X?H? H[?? ?]H \??\? ?[? Z\? ?Y[????XZ?Z\? \??\? ??Y?\?H?]H ?^H ???[][?X?]H \?[?? ??[? ?] ?]?][?H?[?? ?Y[??Y?][??[][?X?][?]?X?K?
]?[???\??Y\??\?H ??Y]?] ????Y] HYXH????Z[??X?H ? [?]H?[ ?KT?K?X??\??K\ ?? X?]??\ ]\?[??\? ? ^ ?Y] [??[?Y\??Y?K ?Y[?Y\??Y?H?[XZ[ ??Y[?K?H?[Z[?\??[???[Y?[??&\?\?[? Z\??X??X???\?H ????Y ?][?H[?[ H\]Z\Y[? ^H?[?[XY?[?K^?\ ?] ??[??X?[??\?Y?][??[??[Y\? Y?\??&\??\?? ?]? \???\??&H[??]H?\?[??] K???BB???[?\? ? L?? ?8?(?? ? MB??