Science

= Subject: Science = Technology:


 * Students will research various inventions and contributions of Native Americans, specifically the many uses of corn (see supplemental resources below).
 * Their final display of this research will take the form of a concept map using Bubbl, a free website made available for brainstorming and concept mapping.

Curriculum Standard(s):

Science (g rade 8)

**Science and Technology: Understanding Technology ** **1.** Examine how science and technology have advanced through the contributions of many different people, cultures and times in history.

Description:

Within this lesson students will research inventions and contributions of Native Americans. Some inventions and contributions that will be discussed and researched are farming technology, freeze-dried foods, gum, and corn. Students will focus on corn to discover the uses of corn within our daily lives and show how these products affect other avenues of society, such as industrial uses, effects on transportation, and effects on job growth, etc. Students will work in groups to create a concept map showing all of the different ways that corn is used and how many products have originated from corn and are connected through technological advances. Students will use the online software, Bubbl to create this concept map, making connections along the way. This will be a good transition into sources of renewable energy, such as ethanol.

Supporting Research:

An article studying the use of concept mapping software within a science education classroom had these results from teachers and students.
 * Teachers (p. 440): The mapping allows us to see an entire unit of study; if I was preparing for an exam I would find it much easier to relate all the information and make sense of the overarching themes.
 * As teachers, we will be planning units constantly; a concept map is so much more powerful than a simple hierarchal list of topics; I think it will help us remember to ask good questions about inter-relatedness of topics throughout a unit.
 * From this experience I can see that the exercise of creating a concept map will force me to interact with the content in a way that will have me reflecting more often on relationships between concepts; my students will benefit from this.
 * Students (p. 441): Students said they appreciated using computer technology in a substantive exercise; a process where they could see the value of the technology in achieving educational objectives otherwise difficult to achieve. They noted that the technology tools allowed them to express their understandings in a coherent way.

Mackinnon, G. (2006). Contentious issues in science education: Building critical thinking patterns through two-dimensional concept mapping. //Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia//, 15(4), 433-445. Retrieved from ERIC.

In another study that researched the differences in students creating concept maps with a pen and pencil versus those who created them using technology showed the following results: >
 * Concept mapping promotes meaningful learning by engaging students in all 6 levels of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives (Royer 68).
 * This study revealed that students preferred using this computer tool to facilitate their concept mapping. This appears to be because the computer tools enabled students to communicate more clearly, to add and revise concept maps more easily, and to discover relationships between subconcepts more readily (79).
 * Even though this study was conducted in a science classroom, the findings can relate to other content areas to help students understand the underlying concepts of the discipline. This study highlights that when used properly, concept mapping and computer tools can work together to promote meaningful learning (79-80).

Royer, R., & Royer, J. (2004). Comparing hand drawn and computer generated concept mapping. //Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 23//(1), 67-81.

Tried & True or New & Innovative:


 * NI: The idea of using concept mapping to organize information has been an educational tool used for a long time; however, the incorporation of Bubbl allows students to create and make connections using technology resources that are new and innovative.

Supplemental Resources for Lesson:

Products That Use Corn []

History of Corn []

Indians, Agriculture, and History <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">[]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Native American Inventions <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">[]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Uses of Corn <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">[]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Bubbl <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">[]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Renewable Energy <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">[]