ngss crosscutting concepts: cause and effect:...

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March 5, 20136:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Eastern time

NGSS Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect: Mechanism and Explanation

Presented by: Tina Grotzer

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Introducing today’s presenters…

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Tina GrotzerHarvard University

Ted WillardNational Science Teachers Association

Developing the Standards

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Instruction

Curricula

Assessments

Teacher Development


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2011-2013

July 2011


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July 2011

A Framework for K-12 Science Education

Three-Dimensions:

Scientific and Engineering Practices

Crosscutting Concepts

Disciplinary Core Ideas

View free PDF form The National Academies Press at www.nap.edu

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1. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)

2. Developing and using models

3. Planning and carrying out investigations

4. Analyzing and interpreting data

5. Using mathematics and computational thinking

6. Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)

7. Engaging in argument from evidence

8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Scientific and Engineering Practices

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Crosscutting Concepts1. Patterns

2. Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation

3. Scale, proportion, and quantity

4. Systems and system models

5. Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation

6. Structure and function

7. Stability and change

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Life Science Physical ScienceLS1: From Molecules to Organisms:

Structures and Processes

LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

LS3: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

LS4: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

PS1: Matter and Its Interactions

PS2: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

PS3: Energy

PS4: Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer

Earth & Space Science Engineering & TechnologyESS1: Earth’s Place in the Universe

ESS2: Earth’s Systems

ESS3: Earth and Human Activity

ETS1: Engineering Design

ETS2: Links Among Engineering, Technology, Science, and Society

Disciplinary Core Ideas

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Life Science Earth & Space Science Physical ScienceEngineering &

TechnologyLS1: From Molecules to Organisms:

Structures and ProcessesLS1.A: Structure and FunctionLS1.B: Growth and Development of

OrganismsLS1.C: Organization for Matter and

Energy Flow in OrganismsLS1.D: Information Processing

LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems

LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience

LS2.D: Social Interactions and Group Behavior

LS3: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

LS3.A: Inheritance of TraitsLS3.B: Variation of Traits

LS4: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity

LS4.B: Natural SelectionLS4.C: AdaptationLS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans

ESS1: Earth’s Place in the UniverseESS1.A: The Universe and Its StarsESS1.B: Earth and the Solar SystemESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth

ESS2: Earth’s SystemsESS2.A: Earth Materials and SystemsESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large‐Scale

System InteractionsESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s

Surface ProcessesESS2.D: Weather and ClimateESS2.E: Biogeology

ESS3: Earth and Human ActivityESS3.A: Natural ResourcesESS3.B: Natural HazardsESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth

SystemsESS3.D: Global Climate Change

PS1: Matter and Its InteractionsPS1.A:Structure and Properties of

MatterPS1.B: Chemical ReactionsPS1.C: Nuclear Processes

PS2: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

PS2.A:Forces and MotionPS2.B: Types of InteractionsPS2.C: Stability and Instability in

Physical Systems

PS3: EnergyPS3.A:Definitions of EnergyPS3.B: Conservation of Energy and

Energy TransferPS3.C: Relationship Between Energy

and ForcesPS3.D:Energy in Chemical Processes

and Everyday Life

PS4: Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer

PS4.A:Wave PropertiesPS4.B: Electromagnetic RadiationPS4.C: Information Technologies

and Instrumentation

ETS1: Engineering DesignETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting an

Engineering ProblemETS1.B: Developing Possible SolutionsETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution

ETS2: Links Among Engineering, Technology, Science, and Society

ETS2.A: Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology

ETS2.B: Influence of Engineering, Technology, and Science on Society and the Natural World

Note: In NGSS, the core ideas for Engineering, Technology, and the Application of Science are integrated with the Life Science, Earth & Space Science, and Physical Science core ideas

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Instruction

Curricula

Assessments

Teacher Development


2011-2013

July 2011

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2011-2013

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Closer Look at a Performance ExpectationMS-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions Students who demonstrate understanding can: MS-PS1-d. Develop molecular models of reactants and products to support the explanation that atoms,

and therefore mass, are conserved in a chemical reaction. [Clarification Statement: Models can include physical models and drawings that represent atoms rather than symbols. The focus is on law of conservation of matter.] [Assessment Boundary: The use of atomic masses is not required. Balancing symbolic equations (e.g. N2 + H2 -> NH3) is not required.]

The performance expectations above were developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:Science and Engineering Practices Disciplinary Core Ideas Crosscutting Concepts

Developing and Using Models Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 and progresses to developing, using and revising models to support explanations, describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems. • Use and/or develop models to predict, describe,

support explanation, and/or collect data to test ideas about phenomena in natural or designed systems, including those representing inputs and outputs, and those at unobservable scales. (MS-PS1-a), (MS-PS1-c), (MS-PS1-d)

---------------------------------------------Connections to Nature of Science

Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena • Laws are regularities or mathematical descriptions

of natural phenomena. (MS-PS1-d)

PS1.B: Chemical Reactions • Substances react chemically in

characteristic ways. In a chemical process, the atoms that make up the original substances are regrouped into different molecules, and these new substances have different properties from those of the reactants. (MS-PS1-d), ( MS-PS1-e), (MS-PS1-f)

• The total number of each type of atom is conserved, and thus the mass does not change. (MS-PS1-d)

Energy and Matter • Matter is conserved because

atoms are conserved in physical and chemical processes. (MS-PS1-d)

Note: Performance expectations combine practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts into a single statement of what is to be assessed. They are not instructional strategies or objectives for a lesson.

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Crosscutting Concepts:The Role of Cause and Effect in the Next

Generation Science Standards

Tina GrotzerHarvard Graduate School of Education

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Who Am I?

• Associate Professor in Science Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education

• Researcher and Curriculum Developer at Harvard Project Zero

• Former Elementary and Middle School Teacher for 14 years

• My work focuses on how understanding the nature of causality interacts with student learning

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Overview of Session

• Cause and effect in the NGSS• Explanation involves reasoning about Cause and Effect: Pattern and Mechanism

• Some examples from different grades• The language of causality• What to watch out for…• Questions???

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Caveats to this Presentation

• While I have had the opportunity to interact with the developers of the standards, I am not one of the authors and do not have special knowledge about what led to the decisions that they made.

• My goal is to offer background on students’ causal reasoning in the science classroom and how it may interact with the Cause and Effect Crosscutting Concept.

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Moving from a description of pattern to an explanation involves

articulating causality…

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When you hear the words “cause and effect” in connection to science learning, what comes to mind?

Jot down two or three ideas.

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The NGSS Progression of Causal Concepts (Jan 2013 Draft)

Grade Concepts

K‐2 ‐Events have causes that generate observablepatterns; ‐Simple tests can be designed to gather evidence that supports or refutes ideas about causes

3‐5 ‐Can routinely identify and test cause and effect relationships and use them to explain change; ‐Can consider that events that regularly occur together may or may not be a part of a cause and effect relationship

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Grade Concepts6‐8 ‐Classify relationships as correlational or causal;

‐Understand that correlation may not imply causation; ‐Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural and designed systems; ‐Phenomena may have more than one cause; ‐Some cause and effect relationships may be described using probability

9‐12 ‐Use empirical evidence to differentiate between instances of causation and correlation; ‐Make claims about specific causes and effects; ‐Cause and effect relationships can be suggested/predicted for complex natural and human designed systems, by examining what is known about smaller scale mechanisms within the system;‐One can design systems to cause a desired effect; ‐Changes in systems may have various causes and may not have equal effects

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What seems hardest to you about teaching cause and effect?

a. Figuring out how it fits into the curriculum.b. Knowing how to teach cause and effect to

different grades/ages.c. Making sense of the causal concepts in the

NGSS.d. Figuring out how to talk about it.e. Other.

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Causal Concepts within “Cause and Effect” in the NGSS

• Causes (focus on events) generate (observable) patterns

• Distinctions between correlation and causation

• Probabilistic causation

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Researchers who study causal learning refer to two aspects of

causal reasoning:

Pattern Mechanism

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Patterns: How the Impacts Unfold…1. Simple linear

2. Domino‐Like (Extended Linear)

3. Mutual

4. Cyclic

5. Spiraling

6. Relational

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When you hear the words “causal mechanism” what comes to mind?

Jot down two or three ideas.

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Mechanism: What Makes Processes or Events Happen…

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Mechanisms can be described at different levels:

What makes current in a simple circuit flow?• Flipping the light switch• Opening a circuit and allowing current to flow• Voltage creates a push from the battery that pushes electrons along a circuit

• A differential between electrons and protons at the poles of the battery repels and attracts electrons so they move

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Take a moment to think about a mechanism in a topic that you teach.

What are a few different levels at which it can be talked about?

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What are some things that your students would say?

What is going on when an object sinks or floats?

List two or three likely responses.

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Pattern and Mechanism Interact

What is going on when an object sinks or floats?

“The weight makes things sink, so my diagram shows that the heavier one sinks and the lighter one floats.”

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Relational Causality

A relationship (typically one of balance or imbalance) between two things causes the outcome.

Outcome

VariableVariable

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“Sinkers and Floaters”

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Two scientifically accepted models for sinking and floating with different

mechanisms

• Buoyancy Explanations

• Density Explanations

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Pattern and Mechanism Interact

Student Models at Different Levels40

Questions?

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Correlation vs. Causation

Correlation and Causation both involve noticing patterns. Causation involves also defining mechanisms.

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The standards at the secondary level call for understanding that

one must have evidence to say that something is causal. This means a

focus on mechanism.

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Evidence for Causality Depends Upon the Discipline

Intervention/Experimentation

Opportunity/“Natural” Experiments

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Observation vs. Intervention

• K‐ESS3‐b. Construct an explanation for how plants and animals (including humans) can change their environment while meeting their basic needs. [Clarification Statement: An example is a squirrel that digs burrows in the ground to hide its food.]

• K‐PS1‐b. Design and conduct investigations to test the idea that some materials can be a solid or liquid depending on temperature.

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Three Examples: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems:

• K‐ESS3‐b. Construct an explanation for how plants and animals (including humans) can change their environment while meeting their basic needs.

• MS‐LS2‐a. Use a model to support explanations of the effect of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

• HS‐LS2‐k. Evaluate evidence for its merits in supporting the role of group behavior on individual and species’ chances to survive and reproduce.

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Kindergarten ExampleK‐ESS3‐b. Construct an explanation for how plants and animals (including humans) can change their environment while meeting their basic needs.

Lars Falkdalen Lindahl

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Middle School ExampleMS‐LS2‐a. Use a model to support explanations of the effect of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

From EcoMUVE (Dede, Grotzer, Metcalf, Kamarainen, & Tutwiler)48

High School ExampleHS‐LS2‐k. Evaluate evidence for its merits in supporting the role of group behavior on individual and species’ chances to survive and reproduce.

Bruno de Giusti

MIT Teacher Education Program (Klopfer et al.)

Modeling: Varying inputs/ Probabilistic Outcomes

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The Importance of Explicit Discussion and a Language of Causality

Teacher: What does it mean to have a relational causality?Ian: It’s not enough just to have two things in a relational

causality. There has to be a relationship between them. Stephanie: You have to be able to compare them, like one

has to be higher and one lower or they have to be equal.

Kenley: Wait yeah, actually, in a way, it is because the density of the liquid compared to the density of the object is why it sinks or floats. So it is a relational causality.

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How often do you use the language of causality in your classroom?

a. I don’t think that I do.b. I use the words “cause” and/or “effect” occasionally.c. I use vocabulary pertaining to cause and effect in my classroom regularly.d. I use vocabulary pertaining to cause and effect in my classroom regularly and encourage my students to do so, too.e. Other

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Terms/concepts to be careful with…

Cause and Effect

Event

Reliability

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Causality

Events and Processes

Probabilistic Causality and the Statistical Summing Across Patterns

vs.

vs.

vs.

Assumptions About the Patterns and Features of Causality:

1. linear (vs. non‐linear)2. direct (vs. indirect)3. uni‐directional (vs. bi‐directional)4. sequential (vs. simultaneous) 5. obvious (vs. non‐obvious)6. active or intentional agents (vs. non‐agentive)7. event‐based (vs. processes or steady states) 8. deterministic (vs. probabilistic)9. local (vs. spatially distant)10. immediate (vs. delayed)11. centralized (vs. decentralized)

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What is a RECAST Activity?

RECAST activities are designed to REveal CAusal STructure or help students RECAST their understandings so that they fit with the causal patterns that scientists use. The RECAST activity is designed to push the students' attention to the underlying causal structure.

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Presently at: http://www.old‐pz.gse.harvard.edu/ucp/ causalpatternsinscience/

Moving soon to: www.causalpatterns.org

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Questions?

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This work is supported by the National Science Foundation, Grant No. REC‐9725502, REC‐0106988 to Tina Grotzer and David Perkins and ESI‐0455664 to Tina Grotzer. All opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

The Understandings of Consequence Project

EcoMUVE ProjectThis work is supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Grant No. R305A080514 to Chris Dede and Tina Grotzer. All opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute for Education Sciences.

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NSTA Resources on NGSSwww.nsta.org

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NSTA Resources on NGSSwww.nsta.org/ngss

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Community Forums

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NSTA Print Resources

NSTA Reader’s Guide to the Framework

NSTA Journal Articles about the Framework and the Standards

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NSTA National Conference

San Antonio, TexasApril 11-14

The place to be to learn about

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Web Seminars on Crosscutting Concepts

Feb. 19: PatternsMarch 5: Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanationMarch 19: Scale, proportion, and quantityApril 16: Systems and system modelsApril 30: Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservationMay 14: Structure and functionMay 28: Stability and change

All sessions will take place from 6:30-8:00 on Tuesdays

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Web Seminars on NGSS

Archives of past programs

Fall 2012Scientific and Engineering Practices (series of 8)

January 2013Second Draft of NGSSEngineering in NGSSNGSS in the Elementary Grades

February 2013Connecting NGSS with Common Core Math and ELACrosscutting Concepts: Patterns

http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NGSS/webseminar.aspx

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on NGSS

Moving Toward NGSS: Using Formative Assessment to Link Instruction and LearningMembers: $179; Non-members $199Live web seminars on April 18, 25, May 2Presenter: Page Keeley

Moving Toward NGSS: Visualizing K-8 Engineering Education Members: $179; Non-members $199Live web seminars on May 16, 23, 30Presenters: Christine Cunningham and Martha Davis

Register at: learningcenter.nsta.org/products/online_courses/shortcourses.aspx68

Thanks to today’s presenters!

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Ted WillardNational Science Teachers Association

Tina GrotzerHarvard University

Thank you to the sponsor of tonight’s web seminar:

This web seminar contains information about programs, products, and services offered by third parties, as well as links to third-party websites. The presence of a listing or such information does not constitute an endorsement by NSTA of a

particular company or organization, or its programs, products, or services.70

National Science Teachers AssociationDr. David Evans, Executive Director

Zipporah Miller, Associate Executive Director, Conferences and Programs

Dr. Al Byers, Assistant Executive Director, e-Learning and Government Partnerships

Flavio Mendez, Senior Director, NSTA Learning Center

NSTA Web SeminarsBrynn Slate, Manager

Jeff Layman, Technical Coordinator71

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