The purpose of this research was to study my effectiveness as a high school physics teacher using a traditional approach to instruction compared to a Modeling approach. The study was conducted at a high school near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Both groups consisted of 1 section of honors physics and 1 section of regular physics each. Conceptual understanding and problems solving gains were measured using pre/post Force Concept Inventory (FCI) and the Mechanics Baseline Test (MBT) results, respectively. Students level of science reasoning was also measured at the beginning of the school year only, using the Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (CTSR). The Modeling instruction group had significantly higher conceptual learning normalized gains as compared to the traditional instruction group. The data show no significant difference in the normalized gains in problem solving ability measured by the MBT. A gender bias was seen, with males having higher gains than females. The data showed that honors students had higher normalized learning gains compared to regular students. Students having higher scientific reasoning scores outperformed their peers in conceptual understanding and problem solving.

Different interactive engagements strategies have given students more hands-on involvement in the classroom and helped increase conceptual learning in physics. The purpose of this study was to test the effect of predicting motion graphs by utilizing motion analysis software. Two groups of high school students followed a modified version of Sokoloff and Thorntons seven step ILD process. One group was taught by making predictions. A second group was taught by watching demonstrations. To test for differences in the two groups understanding of kinematic graphs, pre and posttest where taken using the FMCE and Tug-K. The results of both the FMCE and Tug-K showed little to no gains from either the control group or treatment group. Modifying the ILD process and not allowing students the time to discuss their reasoning with other students seemed to be a major factor in the low scores. Although the results of my study are inconclusive compared to other research, there are many immeasurable findings that can help in developing future classroom activities.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this thesis is to provide the needed instructional materials to those who are teaching a Precalculus course following Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. The recent adoption of the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM) has left many teachers scrambling to find instructional materials that meet the graduation requirement as well as insuring that our students are college and career ready when they leave high school. Furthermore, the College Boards Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus curriculum is generally accepted as the model for a twenty-first century calculus course serving as prerequisite for STEM related fields of study at the college level. The path now needs to be set for a new precalculus course to align the AP goals and objectives with the CCSSM. For the 2014-2015 school year, high schools must offer AP courses in all four core content areas, math, ELA, science, and social studies (www.louisianabelieves.com). However, for students to be adequately prepared for AP Calculus there must be an effective precalculus course available to be taken first. This thesis, High School 4th Mathematics: Precalculus for AP Calculus, is written specifically with the goal of meeting this requirement. In Appendix C of this thesis, high school mathematics teachers are provided with comprehensive lecture notes that contain lesson plans and student activities that are aligned with AP Calculus ready, the CCSSM, and the Common Core State (+) Standards in Mathematics (CCS(+)SM). Each section of the lecture notes consists of a lesson plan that begins with a comprehensive overview of the major concepts, a list of the related CCSSM, a set of section learning objectives, lecture notes, and a variety of lesson activities that support the Common Core State Content Standards as well as Mathematical Practice Standards (MPS). Even though Appendix C can be used by any Precalculus teacher as a resource, it is designed specifically to go along with the textbook, Precalculus 8th Edition, written by Demana, Waits, Foley, and Kennedy, the textbook which will be used in 2014-2015 by Southeastern Louisiana University for its Dual Enrollment Precalculus course, Math 165.

As states across the nation began to transition to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), new curriculums and supplemental resources were and are still being developed to guide and support the teachers and students. Pearson Education, the publisher of many mathematics textbooks, as well as the online program MyMathLab (MML), has been successfully providing meaningful, lasting mathematics learning materials for many years. Online learning programs, including MML, are used in thousands of middle school, high school, and college-level mathematics courses. However, these products were developed long before the adoption of the CCSS by 43 states, so they are not aligned with the rigorous vertical structure, level of fluency, and conceptual understanding required by the CCSS and by the new national testing consortia Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balance. The purpose of this master thesis is to show that it is entirely within reach to fully utilize/align the MML platform with CCSS-based curricula like the EngageNY (Eureka Math) curriculum. As a proof of concept, the materials in Appendix A demonstrate how one can utilize MML to deliver lesson components, homework, mid-module assessments, and end-of-module assessments from the EngageNY mathematics curriculum. Using Modules 1 and 2 from the 7th grade EngageNY pre-algebra course, the created materials shown in Appendix A include examples, exercises, and problem sets from two lessons, as well as three different versions of all Module 1 and 2 exit tickets and assessments, and a Module 3 sprint. The MML platform documented in Appendix A is by no means a final product. Its sole purpose is to show that an MML platform to accompany the EngageNY mathematics curriculum can be developed effectively in a reasonable amount of time and with limited resources. Clearly, aside from legal issues that would have to be addressed, some editing and polishing would need to be done before piloting the MML platform in a real classroom, but the foundation is set with the work done in this thesis.

Previous studies have shown that students at all levelselementary, secondary and post-secondarytend to apply linear reasoning in mathematical problems where non-linear models are needed. They rely on proportionality and linear equations without paying attention to the problem features needed for an accurate model. In the present study, students were taught using an activity-inspired by modeling curricula. In a hands-on activity, they explored the rate of change of linear and nonlinear functions that arise in describing elastic materials, recording average rates of change and noting key graphical features. This led them to articulate the relationship between nonlinear models, local linearity and the derivative. Pre/post-tests revealed a significant difference in performance between the control and experimental groups with respect to conceptual understanding of linearity and its applications.

Antarctica is the worlds coldest, driest and windiest continent. It is a harsh environment that few people will ever see but it is a very important part of our Earth system. Over the past 34 million years the climate in Antarctica has deteriorated from one that supported lush vegetation to the conditions observed today. By studying this trend and the associated changes to ice and vegetation we can gain critical insight into climate changes taking place today. This thesis presents three pieces of curricula that will help students and the general public understand some of the research currently underway in Antarctica while introducing them to geospatial tools that can be used to study climate and other large spatial and temporal events. The first paper guides students through an investigation of changing palynological distributions over time. In the activities described, students will use these data to infer climatic change on different geologic time scales and in different locales. Students will use published data-sets to trace changes in plant assembly over the past 34 million years on the Antarctic Peninsula as well as to understand the demise of the North American Ice Sheet during the last 20,000 years. The activity also introduces the use of GeoMapApp mapping software for the preparation of geo-spatial imagery and data processing. In the second paper, I outline a forensics activity that is based on actual cases where pollen has been used to solve crimes. This paper outlines a method to geo-locate a crime scene by combining Google Earth and data from NOAAs paleo-climate website. Here the focus is on spatial, rather than temporal, changes in climate and flora. Finally, I present an activity that uses GeoMapApp and multi-beam sonar data from the Ross Sea to find and map megascale glacial lineations which can then be used to infer paleo-ice stream locations and grounding zone wedges that were laid down during the last glacial maximum.

Syftet med denna studie var att identifiera hur förskollärarna arbetar med ämnet kemi i förskolan. För att kunna granska detta har kvalitativa intervjuer använts som undersökningsmetod. Undersökningen grundar sig i fem förskollärares berättelser av hur de arbetar med detta ämne. Resultatet visar, efter genomförd analys av intervjuerna, att förskolläraren strävar efter att kemiaktiviteterna bör ske i samspel med andra aktörer i förskolan. Det konkreta arbetet utförs med konkreta verktyg och samtal kring fenomen som förekommer i vardagen. Resultatet visar även att förskollärarna använder sig av naturliga material i form av vatten. Slutsatser som kan dras utifrån studien är att ämnet oftast integreras omedvetet av förskollärarna. Men att ett mer medvetet bruk av att använda det skulle leda till att barnen får de bästa förutsättningarna till att erövra kunskap om kemiska processer. Denna studie visar även att det är viktigt att förskollärarna får tillgång till vidareutbildningar inom naturvetenskap för att integreringen av ämnet kemi i förskolan ska bli mer tilltalande och mer användbart på denna nivå. / The purpose of this study is to identify how teachers work with chemistry in preschool. In order to examine this, qualitative interviews was used as a method of investigation. The study is based on five preschool teachers' stories about this subject. An analysis of the interviews shows that teachers seek to coordinate the activites related to chemistry with other actors in preschool. The activities are done with concrete tools and conversations about phenomenas that occurs. The results also shows that preschool teachers use organic materials like water. A more conscious use, however, could lead to even better conditions for children to capture the knowledge of chemical processes. This study also shows the importance of further education in natural science for preschool teachers, in order to make the integration of the topic chemistry more appealing and more useful at this level.

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The aim of this essay is to create an understanding, of how teachers comprehend knowledge, grades and tests in a school context. It is important to get a grip of the different parts of the teacher’s reality. The test, the grades and knowledge are deeply connected as a part of a whole. The teachers view on knowledge can not be understood without asking about the practical parts of their work and understand how the different parts are dependent on each other. The main material consists of interviews with four teachers that work in a public mandatory school in the south suburbs of Stockholm. Two of the teachers work with social science and the other two works with natural science. The result shows that the teachers have a complex and contradictory view of the different parts of their praxis. They all have different perspectives of what the grade system is, what knowledge is and what a test is. All these parts even if they appear as contradictory but can be understood as a whole, when comparing the teachers goals and the practical reality they work in. What the result shows is that the social science teachers are deeply critical to a "grade school" while the natural science teachers are not. The first group is critical because their goal with social science cannot be fully expressed in a school with large numbers of individuals in each classroom and with a priority on tests and grades. The second group is not critical to the school in the same way as the first one. This is because their subject works better with a school with big classes and tests. The natural science teacher’s goals can coexist in a grade system much better than the social science teachers. The essays result also shows that even if the individual teachers are critical and cannot express their goals in a practical way in the grade system, they can have small "rebellions" against it. The teacher’s way of interpreting the grade system can also be seen as an adjustment to their subject’s nature, and a conflict between how they want to teach and how they have to teach.

This diploma thesis compiles the general theoretical outline of the subject honeybee, analysisof RVP and school books for science and nature studies. Further this work presents themes and proposals for the subject of general science and nature studies with the use of interrelationships between schools subjects. It also evaluates realizations of some of these proposals in practice.