The Virtual School vs. the Physical School

Now that I have been a “student” in the virtual school studying sixth grade science, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to compare their curriculum with that of my own physical school. I spent the morning browsing through our school’s curriculum map for sixth grade, focusing on the first unit. The material covered includes lab skills, lab safety, science tools, the metric system, and the steps of the scientific method. The virtual school’s first module (as described in an earlier blog) covers an introduction, safety, scientific processes, the scientific method, what is science, and what is a scientist.

Here is one of the activities our students do in sixth grade that introduces the scientific method (please forgive the formatting-conversion to blog):

Name: _______________________
Subject: __________ Section: ____
Date: ________________________

The Steps of the Scientific Method

Matching: Laboratory activities and experiments involve the use of the scientific method. Listed in the left column are the names of the parts of the method. The right column contains definitions. Next to the word in the left column, write the letter of the definition that best matches.

_______Hypothesis A. Observations, measurements and
calculations made during an experiment

_______Experiment B. A question that leads to the
development of an experiment

_______Conclusion C. A prediction of the outcome of an
experiment based on the research

_______Problem D. A step-by-step procedure to test a
hypothesis

_______Analysis E. Gathering information about the topic

_______Recommendations
F. The part of the method in which the hypothesis is either
accepted or rejected

_______Research G. a discussion of the results and a
comparison to find out what was
discovered from the experiment

_______Data H. An evaluation of the process to see what changes could be made if the experiment were to be
repeated
A closer look at the method: Read the following sentences and then answer the questions.

1. A scientist is walking by the ocean and notices that fresh water from the roof of a building is hanging in icicles but the sea water that is in pools near the shoreline is not frozen. The scientist wonders why.
2. The scientist goes to the library and reads a number of articles about the physical properties of solutions and the composition of sea water.
3. After considering this information the scientist writes the following in the logbook: “If there is salt present in water, then the freezing point of the water will be lowered.”
4. The scientist goes back to the laboratory and does the following:
a. Fills each of two beakers with 1 Liter of fresh water
b. Dissolves 35 grams of table salt in one of the beakers
c. Places both beakers in a refrigerator whose temperature is -1oC
d. Leaves the beakers in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
5. After 24 hours the scientist examines both beakers and finds the fresh water to be frozen and the salt water is still liquid. The scientist records this in the logbook.
6. The scientist writes in the logbook: “It appears as if the salt water freezes at a lower temperature than the fresh water. Therefore, I suggest that the reason sea water freezes at a lower temperature is that sea water contains dissolved salts while fresh water does not.”
7. The scientist continues: “I accept the hypothesis that salt lowers the freezing point of water, because the fresh water froze at 0oC and the salt water did not.”
8. Finally the scientist suggests that the experiment could be repeated using actually sea water and comparing it to the salt water that has the same density to see if they freeze at the same temperatures.

Questions:

A. Which statement describes a recommendation? __________
B. Which statement refers to research? __________
C. Which sentence contains a hypothesis? __________
D. Which statement describes an experiment? __________
E. Which statement forms a conclusion? __________
F. Which statement discusses an analysis? __________
G. In which statement is the problem defined? __________
H. Which statement involves the recording of data? __________

I will not publish at this site the copywritten material from the virtual school, but I will say that the introductions to the scientific method by both schools are similar and comparable. The virtual school sends the student to websites to read about the scientific method, and then asks similar questions to those above in an assessment that is submitted to the virtual school teacher. The student is free to explore other pages of the website, as well as other various links.

After looking at the virtual school sixth grade science curriculum for the past two months and comparing it to my own school’s sixth grade science curriculum, I feel confident that the two are comparable. Both sets of curriculum are interesting, engaging, and age-appropriate. The content is current, up-to-date, and makes science fun and relevant for the students. The sixth graders at my school are able to interact with each other on a daily basis in groups for labs, activities, and discussions. Doing labs in science is very important to me; so is student interaction. Virtual students can do labs in their school and do have opportunities to interact with their peers, but just in a different way. I have written about the pros and cons of doing online labs and doing labs at home with school-supplied or home-supplied materials. Virtual students at the school I have been studying do get to do labs at home, so this requirement has been met in my mind. Students also have the chance to interact with each other during Elluminate! sessions, and in special activities, such as the Virtual Recess (see March 18). Obviously, there are tremendous social differences between a virtual school and a physical school. Students, parents, and teachers have found ways to accommodate these differences with other social activities. While virtual schooling will not work for every student, there certainly seems to be a place for these schools in our educational society.