Learning About Misconceptions and Objectives

In class today we made a powerpoint presentation about misconceptions on the assigned topics. My groups topics were human reproduction, mammals, and the solar system. The misconceptions we had to come up with were ones that we had as a little kid. After we created the misconceptions we had to create objectives based on our topics. This task was challenging because we were still unclear on how to write objectives but we learned a lot from it. I learned that you need to have a condition, criteria, and something you can measure that the students are doing. Another thing I learned is that you have to write "the student" not "the students" because you want to make sure that all students understand the topics and will succeed in the learning outcome. Also you should make sure you only have one measurable outcome as to not confuse the reader of your lesson or overwhelm the students. I noticed that as we went on throughout the presentations the objectives got a lot better! I think we realized our mistakes and were fixing them throughout the class.
My groups misconceptions were:


The Solar System

• The earth is round like a pancake.
• The moon can only be seen at night.
• The sun will never burn out.
• The sun disappears at night.
• The sun/moon follows me.

Mammals

• Humans are responsible for the extinction of the dinosaur
• Human beings did not evolve from earlier species of animals
• No mammals live in (or around) Antarctica
• Polar Bears live in the Arctic and Antarctica   
• Humans are not mammals 
  Human Reproduction
  • Babies come from a stork.
  • Acquired characteristics can be inherited.
  • Boys and girls have the same bodies.
  • Parents were born as they are.
  • There is only blood and bones in my body.

Our objectives were:

7. Communication

Objective: Given a jigsaw activity on 7 planets and a task to work in groups of three, the student will create a poster following the criteria on the rubric scoring 3 out of 4.

Objective: Given a task to create a poster on human reproduction, the student will work respectively, give back positive feedback, and follow the group processing form.

8. Inferring

Objective: Given an article about the solar system, the student will write a statement on the characteristics of the planets following the criteria of the rubric.

Objective: Given a venn diagram of a body of a man and a women, the student will insert 5 differences and common features.

Objective: Given a chart on mammals and the task for a second grader, the student will write a persuasive letter about why humans are mammals following the criteria of the rubric.

Hypothesis

Objective: Given a mammal heating experiment and a task to write a hypothesis, the student will write a conclusion following the criteria of the rubric.

Objective: Given a task to explore the human body and the task to follow 5 stations in a group, the student will write a conclusion following the criteria of the rubric.

Objective: Given an article about 7 planets and the task to follow the steps of inquiry, the student will write a report about the characteristic of the planets following the criteria of the rubric.

Here is my 3 pluses and a wish for each group:
Group 1
I liked how creative they made their misconceptions
I liked that they included a link to a website they would use to teach the lesson
I thought the objectives were very detailed and clear.
One wish
I wish that the misconceptions were a little simpler

Group 2
I thought the objectives were creative
I liked the misconceptions on the green plants!
Great objectives for the measuring skills.
One wish
I wish that they named the handouts they wanted to give the students

Group 4 
I liked that they included the link to the virtual museum tour.
I liked the misconceptions for the seasons.
I liked that as they went through their objectives they saw the mistakes and self corrected.
One wish
I wish they had more clear objectives.