We had a belated 200th birthday party for Darwin today.  The timing was great since we have been learning about the “nature of science” and “science inquiry.”  A birthday party wouldn’t be compete without a birthday card, so I decided to use this as an opportunity to conduct some formative assessment.

“Two Words, Two Sentences” is a simple strategy that can be used to enhance reading comprehension or summarize content.  Basically, you ask students to summarize what they have learned (or a “chunk” of text) by giving it a two word title and a two sentence summary.

I asked my students to work in small groups to summarize their understanding of “what science is.” They used this as they signed Darwin’s birthday card.  This formative assessment shows that they have a pretty good grasp of the core of scientific thinking!

Darwin Card

Science Is…

…A way of analyzing evidence.

… A way of understanding the natural world.

-Happy Birthday Darwin! Lindsay, Kelly & Adam

Evident Truth

Science is the exploration of the natural world using observations, experiments and activities. It is evidence based and does not include the Supernatural

- Layla, Heather, Carrie

Discovery World

Science is the ability to know by assuming that the natural world can be explained using natural evidence.  Science is awesome!

-Happy Birthday Chuck! Staci, Katie, Lisa

Exploring Nature

Science is a way that humans understand the world through natural explanations. It involves testing of theories to find evidence that connects to scientific knowledge.

-Jenna, Kelsey, & Colleen

Prove It!

Science is a method of trying to explain the natural world using natural evidence. Science focuses on measurable & testable phenomena using facts, not faith, to explain it.

- Erica, Erik, & Adam

Natural Knowledge

Science used natural evidence to explain our world. The common questions that should be askied in science are what is true, how does it work, and how did it get there?

- Ambria, Melissa, Megan