Kristin Pokorny

December 2, 2015
Teac 315
Final Science Letter
Hello Tina!
Throughout my entire life, I have had a fascination with math, science, and engineering.
As a student in the primary grades, I do not remember too much about the science learned. I
cannot recall even having a designated time in our daily schedule to set aside for science
instruction. However, I do remember learning about science through field trips. The activities
that I recall doing at a young age were very hands-on and basic. As a kindergartener, I remember
learning about science when I went on a class field trip to an orchard. This is where I can recall
learning about fruit, foods, and nutrition. When I was in the first grade, our class did something
similar. We went to the Omaha Zoo and learned about the animals that we saw and their habitat.
Although we probably learned about foods and animals prior to the field trips, I can only
explicitly remember learning about science from the field trips we went on. Additionally, I
learned about science through an enrichment book that I purchased every year through our
schools book fair. I was so intrigued by science, that from first grade until junior high, I would
do science experiments on my own time outside of school! By the ripe old age of six, I was
already considered a nerd.
My memories and experiences with science and engineering in the elementary grades are
slightly more prevalent than they were during my primary years. Third grade is the first year that
I can remember having a class time designated to science every day. In fact, all of the students in
my grade level switched teachers/classrooms when it came time for science class. I recall that

my experiences with science in the upper elementary grades were much more time consuming
that the previous grades. More specifically, there was more time spent on science instruction in
the classroom and outside of the classroom as homework. Even though I have always had a
passion for science, I recall being frustrated in the third grade when I had to memorize all of the
bones in the body. To make this memorization easier and more interactive, my teacher brought
in multiple life-size skeletons for us to take apart and put back together as we labeled the
different bones of the body. Even though memorizing the different bones of the body was
monotonous at times, I still greatly enjoyed learning about the human body. While still
fascinating, a lot of my school-based science experiences from grade three and beyond were
more textbook oriented than I would have liked.
My memories and experiences with respect to science during my middle school years
were very similar to the depicted experiences in the later elementary grades. There was a lot of
textbook information to be learned and the occasional, hands-on activities or projects were
sprinkled throughout the year. I learned about the life cycle of a plant during a class project
where I planted seeds in a Dixie Cup, placed it on the window sill, observed the plant, and made
predictions as it grew. Another project that sticks out to me was the class rat project that we did
in junior high. For this project we had two, albino class rats. We observed them, learned about
their different genes, became oriented to dominant and recessive traits, and used the Scientific
Method to answer a variety of questions about the two rats.
My science and engineering experiences grew exponentially autonomous as I headed into
high school and college. Aside from a few core classes, I was allowed to pick and choose which
science classes that I wanted to take. Due to that fact that I have a passion for math, in high
school I tended to enroll myself in the more math oriented science classes (i.e. Chemistry,

Meteorology, and Physics). Additionally, these classes all included a lab portion where I got to
do a lot of hands-on learning.
Outside of my school-based K-16 science and engineering experiences, I was exposed to
science by my parents on multiple occasions. On national holidays, where both of my parents
did not have work, we frequented museums. I remember being especially giddy about going to
the air and space museum and a natural disasters exhibit with my family. Living in the state of
Nebraska, I was exposed to the science around me on a daily basis as I would run outside any
time severe weather arrived. If the tornado sirens were going off and my parents wouldnt let me
go outside, my eyes were glued to the radar. Even when there was not severe weather going on, I
was (and still am) addicted towards the outdoors, maps, and forecasts. My parents always joked
that I would become a weather girl when I grew up.
This semester I had been given the opportunity to expand my science teaching and
learning experience through my participation in TEAC 315. The science experiences presented
to me this semester included a variety of hands-on minds-on activities and readings that are
applicable to K-16 science and engineering as a whole. These activities included numerous
investigations, observations, readings, discussions, field trips, workshops, lesson planning, and
overall professional development as a science educator. I experienced the benefits of using a
science notebook for both teacher and learner. For example, one week we did an activity called
The Great Fossil Find. For this activity, students were paired up into table groups and were given
fossils to inquire about as if we were archaeologists uncovering new fossils each day. In our
notebooks, we wrote down our observations and our interpretations as to what animal we were
uncovering. Groups discussed what they believed the fossil to be, and used evidence as
rationale. The true answer to The Great Fossil Find was awarded to the team with the most

articulate and evidence-based rationale. The science notebook provided a way for me to
organize my thoughts and write down evidence (observations). It also allowed me to have
something to look back on as I reflected on this activity as a teacher and a learner. As my
understanding of the definition of NOS grew, I was able to use this documented activity as a
connection for later NOS activities and understandings. I found the notebook to be an effective
way to record data, inferences, learning, thoughts, and observations and use them as a tool for
reflections and future connections to new understandings. I also found that the notebooks are a
great way for students to make their thinking visible, and for teachers to assess student
understanding. My experiences allowed me to grow my understanding of NOS, and why it is
important for teachers and students to explicate. I experienced how to teach and learn as an
elementary grade student through a water lesson plan project, CLC color mixing unit, milk
magic, and foam activities. Through moon journaling, science notebooks, field trips to Morrill
Hall, aluminum foil boat, and poetry activities I was able to experience teaching and learning as
a Jr./Sr. high schooler. By reading, reflecting, and discussing with peers I was able to learn how
to apply all activities and content to any grade level. This class gave me the experiences
necessary to be a lifelong learner and teacher of science.
Reflecting on my past and current experiences with science and engineering, my most
meaningful experiences have revolved around my passions for math, weather, and the human
body. Furthermore, each meaningful experience that I can recall is associated with some sort of
hands-on activity. I hate(d) having to learn about science through a textbook, but I love(d)
learning about it through labs and projects. I feel that I have been successful in science because I
am both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated. I have spent an insurmountable number of
hours, fueled by natural curiosity alone, learning about the human body and the weather. I could

spend an entire day researching these things if it werent for the fact that I am also bound by the
pressures of receiving good grades. It is my desire to have straight As that has kept my desire to
spend countless hours researching in check. Being intrinsically and extrinsically motivated has
created a balance between what I want to learn and what I need to learn about science.
Reflecting on my science and engineering experiences as TEAC 315 student, I feel that
my new experiences partially align with my previous experiences. Similar to my previous
experiences, my most meaningful experiences with this class were the hands-on activities. Those
are the ones that I remember the most. Like before, the activities that contained a hint of
competition within them, were the activities that I was most motivated to learn and participate.
For example, I was most motivated in the challenge station of the Foam Activity that called for us
to create a twelve inch tower of foam. However, I was not as motivated to participate in the
guided inquiry station that gave step by step instructions on what to inquire about the foam. My
experiences this semester have allowed me to see that my most meaningful understandings were
facilitated through inquiry-based activities that considered science content, science processes,
and NOS. Reflecting on this revelation, I think back to the success experienced with The Great
Fossil Find. Inquiry was a big component of this activity, and was evident as I investigated fossil
findings. The science content taught in the fossil activity related to archeology, components of
fossils, and skeletal structure of animals. The experience allowed for me to use science process
skills, such as making observations, recording data, and making claims, as I constructed my
knowledge of the fossil being uncovered. Finally, NOS elements were identified as the teacher
clarified that science knowledge is tentative and evidence-based. We discussed that table ones
fossil identification might be considered true today, but future evidence and propositions might
consider table twos identification to be true instead. Reflecting on my science and engineering

experiences in this and previous K-16 classes, I can see that my most successful and meaningful
experiences came from inquiry-based learning that was supported by the balance of related
content, processes, and NOS.
Reflecting on my K-16 science and engineering experiences prior to this class lead me to
a definition of science that could be summed up in the following sentences about what science is.
Science is something that you understand or create through active hands-on and intellectual
activities. Science is not an object, but rather it is a process. Science is the way things work and
why these things work. When we understand science, we can begin to create and explain
unimaginable phenomena. This semesters new experiences and understandings have allowed
me to refine and give precision to my everchanging definition of science. My experiences with
science this semester have led me to understand that there is more to science than its process and
content, two key things that were identified in my earlier definition of science. Part of defining
science is being able to define the nature of science and its unique elements and principles
involved in conducting science; this is where my definition of science grew most this semester.
Adding in the nature of science, today I define science as an evidence-fueled, unique and nonlinear cycle of investigating, inferring, and disillusion that allows people to inquire about
phenomena and make the world a better place. Similar to science, this definition is not final and
will undoubtedly change as I inquire more knowledge.

Sincerely,
Kristin Pokorny