We spotlight Miranda Romo, CRS Science Super Star honoree, who teaches at Chabot Elementary in Oakland. Miranda encouraged a collaborative style learning that benefited all students in a way that allowed them to explore how to reason their thinking.
April 23, 2020
We are proud to recognize Miranda Romo, 4th Grade Teacher at Chabot Elementary in Oakland, as a 2020 Science Super Star!
Miranda's class spent a portion of this past school year studying parallel and series circuits. After thorough discussion on how to apply the topic to real-life circumstances, they unanimously crafted the focus questions of: Which works better – a parallel or series circuit? If you were to wire your house, which would you choose and why?
To elicit prior knowledge, Miranda had her students read the science textbook, to have a sense of the concepts before conducting an experiment to turn on a light bulb with a battery. Miranda stresses the importance of having this background information, and her advice for teachers who want to teach more science is to "Read the book, and use online sources to help."
During the experiment, the students drew diagrams of their successful circuits (and noted how they were able to get them to work.) They carted data for comparisons between the circuits.
Miranda encouraged open discussions. Students compared their designs, why did some work and others didn't? If they did it again, what would they do differently?
The majority of her students thought parallel would be better, as they recognized it would cost less over time. They supported their claims in their science notebooks referencing their experiments and readings. She would also have her students share their claims in small groups, to help them develop the skills of assessing various sources of evidence to maintain, or reconsider, their stances.
To incorporate their classroom learnings to the "real world," Miranda assigned her students to discuss circuits with their families, and come to a conclusion on if they had series or parallel circuits. She took special note that her students engagement in the experiment carried out into their approach to learning. One student was so fascinated by the lesson, she decided to continue the investigation for the school science fair!