Computer Science in Science PD: Computational Thinking And The Framework For K-12 Science Education - Discussion

As a science teacher I aspire to challenge my students to be curious, ask questions, work together, and leave with the tools and knowledge they need to understand the world around them. Computer modeling and simulation will aid in giving students new ways of thinking, processing and understanding the world.

i aspire to the beauty of nature aesthetically and how it works as a closed system. i might integrate computer science in science through capturing the nature in various ways including in a sandbox environment like minecraft as well as drawings and photographs, modeling elements of a sub-system, and putting everything together to recreate the big picture. i am part of a bigger system.

I agree. I often have to sit down and think of ways to draw my students, especially with subjects in which they struggle. Hopefully computer science will generate some excitement.

Since I am a new science teacher, I aspire to foster a love for science in my students. Using computer science in science relates to my personal goals because I want to be able to effectively teach a variety of subjects and open the eyes of my students, who come from underprivileged areas, to new opportunities.
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Thanks for reminding me that “science is in everything” and that should continue to be taught. I think that knowledge will help bridge the gap for students who are really “into science” right now.

As a science teacher, I have always wanted my students to love learning, ask questions about the world, and see the world in a different way because of what they have learned in my class. Using computer science in my class would help them not only learn science but to think and act as a scientist . . .it would really help differentiate learning, too. Students who are ready to ask more complex questions.

Continuing to learn and expand my knowledge is something that I want to model for my students. Coding is essential to our students, society and all of our lives. I agree that this would help differentiate learning and allow students to find new ways of exploring science.

As a science teacher, I aspire to be authentic in my teaching, to engage my students with real world learning, and to be competent in my science knowledge. I aspire to be a facilitator so my students can explore science concepts, apply their science practices, while integrating technology in their science exploration. Computer Science in Science through modeling and simulation will relate to my goal of using technology and having my students apply the NGSS science practices of asking questions, planning investigations, analyzing data, etc.

I am not a science teacher in my school. I am the computer technology teacher. I have to integrate science, LA, reading and other subjects suing technology. But I am hoping to work more closely with the two science teachers to integrate what they are learning into my classroom next year.

I appreciate the point you made and it really makes me think about how open minded I need to be for my students.

I see my purpose as a science teacher as one to reinforce to my students that science is all around us, in everything we do and in everything we are. As life-long learners it is important for my students to utilize the skills of a scientist in order to become problem solvers. Utilizing the computer science modeling and simulation processes could only enhance the skills of learning to problem solve at more advanced levels.

I envision the middle school science students to become critical thinkers. In the process, students should be able to apply to their real world. A topic I would explore is within the infectious disease but use the flu, as it spreads throughout the school, should the school be closed. It would be interesting to see their model and simulation in this topic. It is interesting to see the computer simulation, now I am curious about the interaction of the students.

I agree with Carrie and further think that using technology to create models and run them is exciting and takes science to the next step. Students seem to have a resistance to science but I think that is linked to a lack of curiosity. Students need to be challenged to ask and answer questions and then create scenarios with the computer to simulate real life situations.

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Teaching students that science is applicable to the real world is essential to the student’s education. Standards such as Disciplinary Core Ideas and Science/Engineering practices help me achieve my objective by encouraging students to act and think like scientist in order to prepare them for the real world.

As a science teacher, I want to help my students become 21st century learners. I would like for them to be literate of the problem solving tools they may use in science and in other fields. I am doing other work on the NGSS and I am excited to see the alignment of the standards. I have been looking for ways to implement models and computational thinking into my class.

As a middle school science teacher, I aspire to be the best teacher I can possibly be. I aspire to use new practices to better teach all of my students. Learning to integrate computer science through models and simulation related to my goals of using new practices to better teach my students. It will help in my identity as a teacher by allowing my students to explore new ways of thinking.

Naturally, I think science is the coolest and most important subject, and I’ve aspired to inspire my students to consider science to be one of their favorite subjects. My greatest successes were always tied to the things we did, not the things I said; kids get passionate about experiments, not lectures. Unfortunately, every year the budget seems to get smaller and I actually have less time with my students now than I did 20 years ago - no griping, it just is what it is - so experiments have become fewer/farther between and much simpler. With computer science modeling, I think I can regain some of what’s been lost and even, perhaps, explore new territory (7th graders have never been able/allowed to experiment on the student body to determine how diseases spread through different vectors - this could be exciting new territory!)

My eighth grade science teacher inspired me in a way to know that I could do anything I wanted. I want to do the same for my students, especially my girls. I want to inspire ALL students to question the world and wonder how and why things work the way they work. If I can engage their learning, especially through computer science, I would hope to inspire a students, who wouldn’t normally have this type of access to computers and computer science. It’s important to me to show students they can achieve whatever they want through hard work and perseverance. Computer Science can be that avenue for them.

I love this idea. Infectious disease is a great topic for students to explore, especially for them to create and model what this might look like on the computer.

As a science teacher my goal is to instill in students that science is all around them, and that it is important to have an understanding of that world. I hope each year that my excitement about science encourages students to become good questioners and problem solvers. My hope for computer science integration into the science classroom is that students that struggle with handwriting, organization, ADD, ADHD, and other challenges will be more successful in science, as computers allow students to make more mistakes, receive instant feedback and then correct those mistakes before turning in their work and getting their “grade” . This increased success in work will hopefully encourage more of our out of the box thinkers to get into scientific fields.

As a Science Teacher, I aspire to helping students and others see that the World has an ordered and amazing structure . By valuing the pursuit of understanding the World and by learning about the structure and the processes embedded in the World, we can make life better for all.

Scientific modeling is a dynamic way to learn about the world and to practice very high level thinking skills through using computer science programming.