We spotlight Darlene Perdisatt, CRS Science Super Star honoree, who teaches at Chabot Elementary in Oakland. Darlene encourages letting her students interests lead the way to an all-encompassing and engaging science lesson.
May 4, 2020
We are honored to recognize Darlene Perdisatt, 2nd Grade Teacher at Chabot Elementary in Oakland, as a 2020 Science Super Star!
Darlene's classroom started a science unit by tackling the phenomena of the differences in apple coloration and seeds.
To elicit prior knowledge, she initiated a class-wide discussion about the types of apples they already knew, by color or name. After watching "Plant Adventures" from Mystery Science, she asked them to make predictions on the number of seeds they would find in apples.
Darlene encourages science discussion often, as she understands that it allows students who struggle with writing thoughts to shine.
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"After hands-on activities, I often have some students' notebooks lacking, but can verbally communicate questions/hypothesis/outcome. Those science discussions empower them and validate their learning and understanding." |
After the background lesson and predictions, her class set off to discover how many seeds are in apples. They experimented on 3 different types of apples. Immediately, she heard her students remaking on their findings! "Wow, the number of seeds are pretty similar."
They collected pips (apple seed groups) into containers and Darlene would follow their data to help them make a chart on the board.
They continued with their scientific talks and considered other factors (they pulled out a fruit scale after someone noted that weight could affect the number of seeds in an apple.)
After the experiment, they all wrote reports on their findings of apples, and presented their claims to the rest of the class.
To create connections between other living beings, they also recorded observations of another plant (the brassica seed) in science notebooks. They labeled parts of the plants over time as they developed, and kept a calendar to measure time of plant growth, while considering variables, such as food and water.
Darlene had her science unit integrate with other subjects, and she ensured that her students read nonfiction books about plant parts and apple trees.
Many of her students were excited about taking their learning to the "real world." One student recognized that the school apple tree grew crab apples, a different type of apples than the ones they experimented on, so Darlene let her class recreate the experiment with their new findings. She is amazed and always supports these kinds of supplemental learning experiments, and encourages other teachers to do the same:
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"Foster wonder and extension experiments after the initial [experiment.] For example, after using pinto beans in a Solids investigation, a student wondered if the bean would grow, so I put in a wet paper towel and placed beans in a bag by the window. They [students] are watching them grow now." |