Communication Presentation

• Attention grabber
o Do you want to know how to engage your students in science?
o My name is Rui Dionisio and I will share several strategies that research
shows engages students in hands-on, minds-on science
o Let me begin by telling a story
o It begins with a boy in high school
 This boy was in sophomore biology and he hated it
 He didn’t know why - except for the fact that he studied quite a bit
and only pulled a C average
 A straight A student in all other courses, things just didn’t click in
science because his teacher failed to make connections in the
learning
 So he went on to college and majored in business
 Turns out he wasn’t excited about that either
 But he got turned onto science when taking a dynamic college
professor who required that his students think on their own rather
than the professor simply telling the class information
 Fast forward-the young man ultimately taught high school biology
because he wanted to do for kids what his teachers had not done
for him
 That boy was me
• And our new inquiry-based science program helps us do just that for your
children
• We must take student ideas into account
o 1st – the teacher elicits students’ prior knowledge related to the lesson
 the teacher may ask:
• What do you know about?
• Why do you think so? or
• What experiences have you had that deal with that?
nd
o 2 – the teacher asks students to make predictions or questions them about
their prior knowledge
 this questioning may be about concepts or skills
 and it may take place through a writing activity such as a
worksheet , questionnaire, or student journal question
o 3rd – students must engage with relative phenomenon
 they must use their collected observations and data
 after reflecting on this information, students are able to determine
if the data supports their hypothesis
 this process allows students to correct any misconceptions through
the scientific method
• Conclusion moves audience to action
o Our new inquiry base science program ensures that
 We elicit student prior knowledge
 Have students make predictions and
 Communication Presentation

 Engage students in relative phenomenon

• I leave you with the following quote from Albert Einstein:
o It is in fact nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of
instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry

Passion
Eye contact
A great presentation that makes a powerful and personal connection is …

one that people walk away from and reflect on after it’s over.

Engages the audience

Believe in what you’re saying
Relevant to your audience-be audience obsessed
Concise
Animated
Purposeful movement
Numbers are numbing-most powerful are the ones that use anecdotes, analogies, and
examples – repeating a number has volume
Logical –
One powerful compelling message
A call to action
Your topic is not your message and your message is not your topic
Great communicators are not born

@400SoAve#
10.189.100.162
255.255.0.0
149.150.51.1,5,6

Books:
Roger Ailes-You Are the Message

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has
learned in school.
Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple,
and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible
to everyone.
 Communication Presentation

o Not unlike the challenge our predecessors faced in the Space Race, we
will need to call on our children to lead the Green Race – finding creative
and productive ways to conserve and protect our environment while
harnessing Mother Earth’s power to sustain our lives

◊ In October 1957 Sputnik was launched and so was the beginning of the space race
between the United States and Russia- The Sputnik Crisis created pressure for the
US to regain technological supremacy, including revamping the school curriculum
- to identify research-based practices and curriculum development
◊ JFK-led the charge in September 12,1962 Address at Rice University on the
Nation's Space Effort
◊ In the 1960’s the US placed men in space and onto the moon
◊ Story about hs experience and Dr Kight (entomologist)
◊ We have excellent schools-but we also have an obligation to do the best by all of
our students,
◊ With the state of the economy, we are at a crossroad where their will be an
increased need for science and math jobs, in this flat world our children will be
competing for jobs with students from other nations, green revolution
◊ Many have questioned the rigor and viability of our schools over the past several
decades, lacking in math and science as shown by the results of international
assessments such as TIMSS and PISA
◊ The seminal work of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
the National Research Council – created the National Science Education
Standards – this presents a vision of science literacy and goals for all students
◊ Advantages to the program:
o provided an outline of what and when students should attain specific goals
o K-12 continuum
o Age-appropriate
o Build on previously learned science goals
o fewer topics, bigger ideas
o prior knowledge
o predict outcomes
o assess for deep understanding
 Communication Presentation

o recognize failures as learning experiences and

opportunities for ongoing assessment and address
misconceptions
o monitor student understanding
o hands-on and minds-on approach
o build lessons upon previous ones
o state and national standards
◊ A
◊ A
◊ We will be looking to you in the future to gather your feedback on your child’s
experience with the program
◊ NSF was created by Congress in 1950
o "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health,
prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…”
o NSF funded grant work that created supported the NSRC
◊ NSRC was established by The Smithsonian Institution and The
National Academies in Washington, D.C.
o GOAL: to improve learning and teaching of science

Books to Read:
My Iceberg is Melting
Generation ME
Rules for Radicals