CBES

Didactic guide for teachers

This activity is directed to secondary school 16-18 years old students. As you can see, the site has a WebQuest format, so you can propose the web adress directly to your students to undertake the activity.

Comments and suggestions are welcome. If you add or modify steps from this didactic sequence, please, let me know, your work can be useful for other teachers and students. If you want, I could eventually add your activities as a contribution in this website, toghether with your name and contact details.

This activity is part of the educational C3 Project (Creation of Scientific knowledge) and the Syllabus ABP/IBSE Itinerary ProyectandoBioGeo.

Supporting material for students is available in Catalan (Dossier de l'alumne/a), including a detailed guide for teachers and description of links to catalan syllabus.

An article describing the application of the activity and its outcomes is available in Spanish:

• Diseñando un simulador de ecosistemas. Una experiencia STEM de enseñanza de dinámica de los ecosistemas, funciones matemáticas y programación. Revista Eureka sobre Enseñanza y Divulgación de las Ciencias 17(3), 3202 (2020) J.Domènech-Casal. DOWNLOAD

Educational Goals

The main educational goals of this activity are to make students understand that:

• Knowledge is in fact an ecosystem, where new ideas are feed by previous ideas
• Ecosystems are interconnected nets that can be modified, sometimes strongly, by a lot of different factors
• Programming allow us to make predictions of the behaviour of complex systems.

Of course, it implies the development of habilities (Calc programming, Web-publishing and licensing, Calculation of ecological parameters), the application of concepts (Ecological parameters, Plant and Animal Phisiology,...) and attitudes (peer to peer, Copyleft, learning from errors,...).

Indications to apply the activity

• Don't explain anything to your students. They will be able to learn it alone. Just let them work, and observe their discussions. You'll have the opportunity to collect the explanations after and from their work. In some cases, global decisions should be taken. Allow them to organize themselves.
• Let them talk between them, even between the different teams. Science is a social process. Scientists don't call it copying or cheating. They call it constructing knowledge, and it usually happens in congresses and seminars.
• Ask your students to think. Explain them you expect their best.

About IBSE (Inquiry-Based Science Education)

Some of the principles of IBSE used to build this site and didactic activity:

• Scientists generate scientific theories based on evidence, but they do not find definitive answers. Real science has not a book of "correct answers" were you can contrast if your conclusions are correct. "Correct processes" and "Best explanations" is the most you can get in real science.
• Scientific knowledge and ideas change over time and are open to further revision as our understanding of the world around us evolves. Education doesn't mean to transmit a false feeling of certainty. Education means to teach how to deal with uncertainty, to take decisions and assume risks. Don't confirm them if they have the correct answer or not. In case of misunderstandings, just ask them if their process is correct and their results coherent. Answer with questions to their questions, or help them to make better questions. "Correct solutions" or "Wise teachers" won't be present in their life for ever. Teach them how to arrange without it.
  • Science is a social and creative activity. Constructing and testing hypothesis, interpreting data from different formats and adjusting an abstract model as a consequence, identifying patterns and stablishing relationships, discussing results and justifying conclusions, are key competences that science learning must include as a priority, not only to make them best scientist, but to make them critical citizens.

Calendar and Sessions

The proposed activity has a length of 10-12 sessions, assuming 1h-length sessions. No homework.

Evaluation

You are strongly recommended to keep the "constructing knowledge" approach and follow the didactic activity proposed in Evaluation section to qualify your students' work.

Examples of the students' productions

Download a Screenshot of the Ecosystem simulator produced by the students.

Visit a sample of the Website constructed by the students.

Attention to diversity

• The parallel work in teams and collaborative expert groups allow students to get help from their mates.

• A spanish-version of the site is under construction and will be soon available.

CLIL/Aicle

This site has been built from a didactic activity performed with spanish students, and in some steps, liguistic clues are given. I'm yet working on this aspect.

More Activities

This activity is part of the C3 Science Education Project for Secondary Education students.

Related Projects

You will find other similar activities at:

• C3 Project Activities in English

C3 Science Education Project

This activity is part of the Science curricular itinerary for 4th ESO (secondary education in Spain).

Proyectando BioGeo

The CBES activity is part of the Proyectando BioGeo science learning activities itinerary.

Referència bibliogràfica

Aprenentatge Basat en Projectes, Treballs pràctics i Controvèrsies. 28 experiències i reflexions per a ensenyar Ciències.
Rosa Sensat: Barcelona (2019). Jordi Domènech Casal.

Introducció [Llegir la introducció en obert de l'edició en castellà]

1. De què parlem quan parlem de competència científica.
2. Ensenyar a investigar. Indagació i treballs pràctics.
3. Ensenyar a pensar. Habilitats de raonament científic.
4. Aprendre ciència usant la ciència. Aprenentatge Basat en Projectes.
5. El mètode d'estudi de cas dirigit. Aprenentatge Basat en Problemes.
6. Compendre, decidir i actuar. Scitizenship i controvèrsies sòcio-científiques.
7. Ciència en un món incert. Naturalesa de la Ciència i Pseudociències.

Es pot adquirir a: Rosa Sensat