The Science of Science Education

So I did, to an extent, follow my plan from last week with respect to my Grade 8 Science lessons, except that we didn't do the compare and contrast of the eye and camera.  Instead, we continued focusing on how our eyes work by playing around with glasses and lenses.  So, in order to tie this all together, we will be making concept maps tomorrow in our class so that the students can demonstrate an understanding of the connections between these different pieces of the Optics 'puzzle'.

Furthermore, I am excited to share that to wrap up the whole unit, I will NOT be doing a test.  This is the default assessment that I have used in my science classroom for the last year and a half.  Although I have complimented it with other assessments such as research and design projects, tests have been the focus and I would like nothing more than to try something different.  So I am!

How?  
Students main instruction will be to 'show me what they know' about optics.  I will be providing a number of options for students to choose from in order to do this, and a check list of the big ideas of this unit (taken from the curricular outcomes) so that all students are aware of what information must be included.

Examples of Options
1.  Poster (main points + connections described/illustrated)
2. Movie Maker Instructional Video (using pictures and/or videos with student voiceover) + worksheet
3. Research and Questions (find research being done that relates to our topic of study, explain the links between + create questions using blooms taxonomy) *this one is my personal favorite
4. Make a Test/unit booklet (using bloom's taxonomy) + answer key