Transcript Introductory Presentation

GK12 STAMP Program
2004-2005
Jessica Penchos & Lance Pearson
Timilty Middle School (Grade 8)
Timilty MS Stats
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Over 95% minority students, over 90% free or
reduced lunch students.
Approx. 650 students, grades 6-8
“Project Promise” means an extended school
day (7:30-3:45), uniforms, and extras like
Science Family Activity Night and Promising
Pals (pen pals in the community).
Students must apply to the Timilty; Random
selection process but students have higher
commitment to education than typical BPS MS
8th Grade Science in BPS
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Topics covered in 8th grade integrated
science:
Chemistry
 Populations & Ecosystems
 Planetary Science
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8th grade Science MCAS in May!
 Timilty has a partnership with MGH =
mentoring programs and assistance with
science fair (100% involvement goal!)
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Goals for the Year
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Address all state Sci/Tech standards prior to
MCAS testing (May).
Increase student interest in science through
interesting and relevant activities and
discussions.
Use inquiry-based methods to develop students’
understanding of science concepts.
Students should be able to apply the scientific
method when tackling a problem or starting an
investigation.
Specific Areas of Fellow
Involvement
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Develop context-related design & technology
lessons throughout the year.
Develop extensions to the
Populations/Ecosystems curriculum:
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The technology of forensics
Field trip to Harbor Islands for ecosystem study
(water and soil sampling)
Develop and be the lead teacher of a unit
covering the brain and perception:
“Things aren’t always what they seem.”
Grant application collaboration.
Things aren’t always what they seem
Overview of Major Objectives
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Students will be able to explain that there is a
difference between reality & perception and give
several examples.
Students will understand the basic role of
neurons and some systems in the brain that are
responsible for visual perception.
Students will define “perception” as an inner
view of the world as obtained by neural
processing of sensory input.
Students will develop a sense of excitement
about the developing field of brain research, as
well as its relevance and accessibility.
Things aren’t always what they seem
Overview of Lesson Plans
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Day 1 – Experiment and demonstrations
concerning the difference between reality and
perception
Day 2 –Individual differences in perception;
Perception Thought experiments;
Day 3 – Formally introduce “Perception” and
“Sensation” based upon Day1 and Day2
inquiries; Introduce Neurons & Brain Activity
Day 4 – Zoetropes; Thought experiment &
forced-choice activity; Discussion of “What
scientists still don’t know…”
Day 5 – Assessment
Lesson One
Light Refraction Experiment (25 minutes)
(1) Students make experimental observations (e.g.
drawings) of light refraction of pencil in water from
different angles;
(2) Propose additional methods of testing whether pencil
is really bent (e.g. use sense of touch, remove water,
replace pencil with another object)
Still Visual Illusion Slideshow (30 minutes) includes forcedchoice based discussion
McGurk Effect Demonstration
Handouts
Students will be presented with a handout to
guide them through the refraction
experiment and provide a place to record
data
Students will be given a handout with all of
the questions accompanying the
slideshow which they will fill out as we
move through the demonstration
Hermann Grid
Do you see any black circles?
Hering Illusion
Are the Two Vertical Lines Straight
or Curved?
Café Wall Illusion
(a) Are the Gray Lines Below All
Parallel? Are the blocks all the
same size? Are the blocks moving?
(b) Are the Gray Lines Below All
Parallel? Are the Blocks
Rectangles?
Checker-Shadow
Which Square is Darker,
A or B?
Do you agree this
bar is the same
Luminance
(shade of gray)
from top to bottom?
Neon Color Spreading
Do you see a Red Ball when there
are no Black lines?
Do you see a red ball when the
Black lines appear?
Retinex Theory of Color
What colors do you see below?
How about here?
Retinex Color
How many colors do you see?
List them.
McGurk Effect
Watch the video a couple of times.
What is the man saying?
Watch with your eyes closed.
Now what is the man saying?
Students are then led
through the slideshow again
Student discuss their answers about their
perception of these phenomena and
propose ways to verify their answers (e.g.
use a meter stick to check for linearity)
Students are prompted to explore the
implications these demonstrations have for
the confidence they should have in their
senses
Lesson Two
Color Blindness Testing (15 minutes)
Blindsight and Neglect Illustrations (10 minutes)
Rose-colored Glasses Thought Experiment (with
hypotheses) followed by Experiments
(30 minutes)
What is it Like to be a Bat or a Fly Thought
Experiments (20 minutes)
Handouts and Materials
Red, Blue tinted glasses
Handouts with space provided to answer the
inquiries during the color blindness and
neglect sections
Take home handout to explore the Blindsight
example
What Numbers Do You See?
Are any of these objects
in the big picture? Which one(s)?
Drawings by
Spatial Neglect Patients
What is different between the drawings on the left and the copy
on the right?
Patient asked to cross out all lines
Do you see a pattern in which lines are crossed out? What is it?
Mysterious Case of Blindsight
Person has an injury to the parts of the brain that
processes most visual information from the eyes
(but eyes are fine).
When asked whether they can see anything, the
person reports they are totally blind.
Amazingly, when the person is told to guess what
they were shown he/she does much better than
chance.
Essay HW question:
How can this be? What does it tell us about the
role the brain plays in perception?
Lesson Three
Key points to be illustrated from previous demos:
(1) Brain cells (neurons) process information the
get from the senses
(2) Neurons take time to process this information
(3) Sensory system only equipped to view certain
types of information in the world
(4) The sensory system processes information in
ways that do not necessarily give an accurate
picture of the world
(5) Previous experience (our expectations)
influences current perception
Materials
Physical model of brain
Physical model of neuron
Lesson Four
Zoetrope-building Activity (30 minutes)
Other Apparent Motion Demonstrations
(15 minutes)
Discussion of Persistence of Vision and
Everyday Examples (15 minutes)
Materials
Zoetrope
Construction paper
Thumb tacks
Pencils (colored and something with
erasers)
Assessment
See Sample Quiz