Tech Savvy Teacher and TPACK Questions

Since my last post about the science activity involving technology I can now reflect about my experience exploring science through Kidspiration.  It was good practice to do a science lesson with the new technology programs we have today.  There are many great technology tools I can use as a teacher to make science more exciting and fun.  These are the questions I am going to address concerning my last post and previous science technology activity.  

what is the content you are focusing on in the science lesson?

The content I focused on in the science lesson was from the second grade core curriculum.  It was standard three which states, "Students will develop an understanding of their environment."  The objective is number one and it states, "Investigate relationships between plants and animals and how living things change during their lives."  The objective is 1b which states, "Describe the life cycle of local plants and animals using diagrams and pictures." 

what is the pedagogy you are using and why is it a good fit with the content?

The pedagogy I used were strategies that are important for teaching science.  I believed the students would learn these inquiry processing skills through this science activity.  The main pedagogy I used was processing data, describing relationships, using diagrams and pictures.  This skill was enhanced by breaking up each step of the life cycle and showing its' components and connecting the steps.  The concept maps were perfect for this because the students can not only understand the cycle mentally, but they can visually see how they relate.  Another pedagogy skill I used in the science project was constructing hypotheses.  The students had to provide examples, in pictures and words, of the parts of each step of the life cycle.  Students made educated guesses as to which steps were included in certain stages of a plant.      

what is the technology you used and why is it a good fit with the content and pedagogy?

The technology I used for this science project was Kidspiration.  It was a fun and easy tool to use for this activity.  Kidspiration fit perfectly with my content area because it dealt with the life cycle of plants and animals.  Kidspiration has a science section and inside is a life cycle component.  I made a concept map to display the life cycle of a plant, and break it down into steps.  Kidspiration had pictures that related to the concept map items to make it more fun and pleasing to the eye.  Students can relate to pictures more than just words on a page.  Kidspiration fit well with my pedagogy because it again broke down the concept, allowing the students to process data and describe relationships.  The concept map is meant to create correlations between big concepts.