Mr. Davis asks his third graders to conduct experiments to examine the effects of water, sunlight, and type of soil on growing sunflowers. He tells them, "I want you to find out which of these three things—water, sunlight, and soil—affect how well sunflowers grow. Here are lots of sunflower seeds, lots of paper cups to grow them in, and two different types of soil. You can give your growing
plants plenty of sunlight by putting them on the shelf by the window, or you can grow them in a shadier place on the bookshelf behind my desk. And here's a measuring cup you can use to measure the amount of water you give them each day."
Mr. Davis is assuming his third graders can do at least two things that, from Piaget's perspective, they probably cannot do. What two crucial abilities necessary for conducting appropriate experiments do his students probably not yet have? Justify your answer in a short paragraph.
What will be an ideal response?
Mr. Davis is assuming that his students can formulate and test multiple hypotheses and can separate and control variables. According to Piaget, these are abilities that emerge in formal operations. However, Mr. Davis' students, being about eight or nine years old, are probably still in concrete operations.
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"Career self-reliance" is a concept that means or implies:
a) being guided by a mentor or supervisor within an organization. b) an attitude of being self-employed whether inside or outside an organization. c) always asking yourself, "What does my boss want me to do now?" d) depending upon the organization to look out for your welfare.
Working on the edge of a child’s knowledge base and providing the link between what a child can do independently and what she can accomplish with adult help is called
A. Supporting. B. Scaffolding. C. Coconstructing. D. Directing.
Which of the following lessons would be most effective to help elementary students understand how scientists construct theories?
a. Asking each student to write an essay explaining why they think the sun rises at a different time each day. b. Having groups of students develop models of the solar system. c. Giving students hands-on activities to help them make abstract ideas more concrete. d. Having students take photos of the moon each night for a month, then create a display to summarize what they have discovered.
When Mrs. Consuelas uses an interview as an informal assessment with a student who is struggling to master subtraction, she is assessing both error patterns and
a. total number of correct vs. incorrect problems. b. neatness. c. ability to answer all questions. d. thought processes and use of strategies.