February | 2016 | Rebecca Birrell's Uni ePortfolio

Within our society we are bombarded daily with various claims and stories about the impact of science on our world. These can range from global warming and medical advances all the way to the food we eat. When we have knowledge and understanding about scientific processes and larger concepts we can then hopefully approach this information in an informed manner. If we grasp the concept of scientific literacy we can question the world around us. The idea of scientific literacy is basically being educated as to how science moulds the world. This can hold great cultural, social and personal importance. The skills that are developed when we analyse and critique scientific information are transferable. Scientific knowledge then becomes a very observational, experiential, logical and somewhat sceptical way of knowing. This enables people to ask questions and find answers. If we are to be fed “facts” by the media it is with scientific literacy that we can decide whether to take them at face value or delve further for answers. This also grants us the tools to reach conclusions through fair debate and applicable evidence.

Scientific literacy is very important as not having it can lead to misunderstandings. This happens a great deal with media reporting when the journalist didn’t have a good level of scientific literacy and writes a report which spreads incorrect information to the public, this can often have a very negative impact. An example of this is the report which claimed there was a link between the MMR vaccine and ASD, which has now been proven wrong. However this report was picked up by the media and they spread hysteria across the country over whether or not it was safe to vaccinate children. In 1998 BBC news published an article titled ‘Child vaccine linked to autism’ the Telegraph also published an article in 2007 which restarted the concern over the vaccines claiming there was a ‘New fear over MMR link with rising autism.’ This panic meant that hundreds of children were not vaccinated which could have been avoided by ensuring people have a good level of scientific literacy. Scientific literacy is the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity. It also includes specific types of abilities.

A “fair test” refers to an experiment that is carefully controlled to ensure that the information gathered is reliable. In science, it is an experiment conducted in a manner so that it does not provide any advantages to any of the conditions or subjects being tested. To insure that your experiment is a fair test, you must change only one factor at a time while keeping all other conditions the same. Scientists call the changing factors in an experiment ‘variables’. For example, imagine we are wanting to test which toy car is the fastest while going down a sloping ramp. If we gently release the first car, but give the second car a push start, this is not a fair test! This is because we gave the second car an unfair advantage by pushing it to start. The only thing that should change between the two tests is the car. To ensure a fair test, we should start them both down the same ramp in exactly the same way.

Reference List

BBC (no date) Home. Available at: http://bbc.co.uk (Accessed: 7 February 2016).

The telegraph – telegraph online, daily telegraph, Sunday Telegraph (no date). Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk (Accessed: 10 February 2016).

The national academies press (no date). Available at: http://www.nap.edu (Accessed: 14 February 2016).

Oxford dictionaries (no date) in Oxford Dictionary. Available at: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com (Accessed: 13 February 2016).

Rebecca Muir, Polly Ford, Rebecca Birrell & Ailsa Mackie

My Ideal Classroom.

It’s difficult to design a classroom on a small single A4 piece of paper. I have always had this picture in my head of my perfect classroom since I was a little girl and slowly I am getting closer to that dream. I have designed my ideal classroom to suit 22 Boys and 6 Girls.

My ideal classroom would be in a modern new school with lots of space. I am super OCD so organisation is my thing. Colour co-ordinated, labels, desk tidies, you name it. My classroom will be so organised every child will know where everything is. For me it is important that my classroom is neat, tidy and organised so that every child will find it easy and accessible to find things.

I plan to have a large amount of resources all over the classroom. I am really keen to have a large class library full of books (which I have already started to collect) where the children can sit on some bean bags, or on the floor and chill out, while enjoying reading and learning.

I plan on having resource trays at the back off the classroom where the children can help themselves to things like, number lines, word banks, rulers etc. This way it keeps their tables free off clutter and mess when they are not using things.

Displaying their work on the walls is really important and I plan on changing these displays termly to freshen up the classroom but also so they can show off all their work and be proud of it. I also plan to have things hanging across the room, for example, the alphabet and numbers. Just to constantly familiarise the children with what they should be learning.

It is important that the children are aware of our classroom rules, so I am planning to have them up on the wall in large print to remind them of how we behave in our classroom environment. It might be an idea at the beginning of the year to write out our rules and put them up on the wall so we have decided them as a whole class.

It would be ideal to have a few computers in the classroom in case the laptops/netbooks are not working properly and we still have access to the internet.

At the front of my classroom will be where the SMART board and white board are. Leaving enough room for all the children to be able to sit on the carpet as well. This makes it easier for the children to engage and for myself to grasp all of their attention.

The teacher’s desk is also at the front of the classroom. I feel this is a good place as I can see all the children from this angle and it is close enough to the main recourses in the classroom.

The children’s trays are over near the door. I feel this is a good place as they can get to their tray easily when coming into the classroom after break, lunch, etc.

I feel the layout of my ideal classroom is quite similar to the classroom I will be going into for my first placement with a few changes. I hope to have my own classroom a little more organised and colourful with more recourses and displays around the classroom to improve the children’s learning. I am excited to begin my placement and eventually have my own ideal classroom.

Scientific Literacy

A colourful, organised and engaging atmosphere.

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