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Science 20, Unit D:

The Changing Earth

At a Glance: 

In this unit, we embraced the highly popular cinematic topic of earth sciences in order to critically analyze several movie clips, as they relate to geology, as a means of review.

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We examined movies such as: The Core (2003), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), Fantasia (1940), Jurassic Park (1993), Ocean's Thirteen (2007), Timeline (2003), Deepwater Horizon (2016), Dinosaur (2000), San Andreas (2015), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Ice Age (2002) and Kingsmen: Secret Service (2014).

Unit Resources: 

For this unit, we utilized movie clips as a form of review through critical analysis. 

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As this was a smaller unit, there were only two summative assessments that required coursework review: Chapter 1 quiz and the Unit C unit exam. These review packages were done during a single class and covered almost every SLO outcome required for that summative assessment.

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Provided below are the full study resources, as well as their answer keys. 

Student Self Reflections

At the end of this unit, I provided my students with a self-reflection to gauge how they felt about using science fiction as a form of content review.

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Prior to this, I had not explicitly told my students that I was using science fiction as a means to develop and foster critical thinking skills.

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Below are some excerpts from some of my student's self-reflections:

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Student Self Reflections- Responses

1. What do you think is the value of analyzing movie clips?

  • "visual learning"

  • "most of the class will be more engaged"

  • "relating real life events to understand them better"

  • "not as much value as true events because movies can be fictional and overly exaggerated"

  • "to understand what is real and what is made up to assist the plot"

  • "they are able to put us in the position of what would happen without it happening"

  • "100% learn better this way"

  • "shows the good/bad science represented in movies"

  • "useful review tool before a quiz"

  • "its a fun way to learn"​

2. Do you think it is valuable to have movie clips shown in class? Why or why not?

  • "Yeah, it can help learn and keep [morale] up"

  • "Yes because it's a way to explain a concept again for the class."

  • "I think people would be more engaged"

  • "Ya cuz some people learn better from watching stuff"

  • "somewhat, some people don't like videos"

  • "I don't think it's valuable because we can learn the same without them"

  • "yes so we don't have as much notes"

  • "I think it will allow us to apply what we've learned and give a visual to our lesson"

  • "I guess a bit because we debunk what can be true or not"

  • "very, so we can see what we learn from a different perspective"

  • "yes because it can be more interesting"

  • "Meh. I'd rather do more practice tests"

  • "yes to see how wrong some movies are"

  • "yes for some students who like visual learning"

3. Would you like more movie clips to be shown?

Yes- 20 votes           No- 2 votes           Undeclared- 2 votes 

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https://kassandrapointer.wixsite.com/portfolio 

kassyiveen@gmail.com

© 2019 by Kassy Pointer. Proudly created with Wix.com

I am an after-degree General Science Education student at the University of Lethbridge. 
 

My first degree is in Forensic Anthropology (B.A.,University of Alberta 2015), and I am projected to graduate from the University of Lethbridge in February 2020.

Please feel free to contact me to further discuss this project, as well as any other educational topic!

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