Brittanie Priest
Spring 2017
EELB 532 Interview Summary/Reflection
Claim about students
thinking/understanding/skills (2pts
each)
The students in the group are of
different levels, but all show basic
understandings that though animals of
the same species look similar, they do
not look exactly the same.
The students in this group (same
group as before) should be able to
have a simple explanation as to why
an animal of one species cannot have
offspring of another species.
Evidence from interview Implications for your lesson planning/teaching
(2pts each) (2pts each)
Question: Do all baby animals look exactly like their I will spend more time pointing out the
parents? differences between animals that look very
Supporting questions: Why or why not? similar to show students that though there are
similarities, there are also differences.
Response:
Student 1: No, not exactly, but they look alike. The pigs
look alike kind of, but the frog babies look really different.
They look different because the daddy might look different
from the mommy, and the baby might get more things
from the daddy.
Student 2: I think the pigs look exactly the same, except
the baby pig is small and the mommy pig is really big and
fat.
Student 3: I think they all look different. Like the dogs look
different because the mom has spots on her face, but the
baby doesnt.
Question: Could the mother pig have the elephant baby?
Supporting questions: Why cant they be mother and I will plan on teaching which types of animals
baby? cannot have offspring, but also teaching which
types of animals that can, such as a horse and a
Response: donkey can have a baby called a mule.
Student 1: No, she cant have an elephant! The mommy
pig is a different animal than an elephant.
Student 2: The elephant is too big for the pig! The pig is a
lot smaller than an elephant.
Student 3: No, because elephants have trunks, and pigs
have snouts. Pigs also have feet that are hoovesI think.
Elephant feet are also really fat.
The students in this group (same
group as before) may have a hard time
with understanding why frogs start
their lives as tadpoles, even the
students who are ordinarily able to
answer science questions.
Question: Why did you put the frog and tadpole pictures
together? I plan on going into more detail about frogs and
Supporting questions: Why does the tadpole have a tail tadpoles since many of the students did not
and no legs when the frog has four legs and no tail? understand why frogs have tadpole offspring. I
hope to clarify Student 3s preconception that
Response: frogs have both lungs and gills, especially since
Student 1: I put them together because the tadpole is a there may be other students with the same
baby frog. The tadpole has a tail so it can swim, since it preconception. I also plan on explaining gills
doesnt have legs, and the frog has legs so it can swim too. since some students may not know what they
Student 2: I dont know. They told me they belong are.
together. Maybe the water is a safer place for the baby. I
think the baby tadpole doesnt know how to use arms and
legs, so he gets a tail. When he gets older he can know
how to use his arms and legs, so he doesnt need a tail
anymore.
Student 3: I know that frogs have tadpole babies because
my mom read a frog magazine to me when I was little.
Frogs have webbed feet, so they swim a lot, but they have
lungs. Tadpoles have gills though. I think tadpoles get
lungs, or maybe frogs have lungs and gills, Im not sure.

Reflect on this interviewing experience. How will this experience impact your interactions with students and your science teaching? (2pts)

This interviewing experience was interesting. I learned that Student 3 likes to read magazines about animals. I also learned that its best to talk to
students while they are working so I can learn what they know, and their possible preconceptions about the topic. While asking questions I did have to
clarify that offspring means baby, son, or daughter. After this activity, I plan on expanding on the ideas of genetics, but not so detailed that I lose them,
such as talking about dominant and recessive traits. I want my students to have a basic understanding of traits that are passed on from parent to
offspring. If I could do this activity again, I would put the students in pairs, rather than groups of 3-4. In the groups with 4 students, I noticed some
students were doing most of the thinking, while others sat back and watched. I want all of the students engaged in the activity and thinking about the
topic. In addition, I would pair students based on science experience, ability, understanding, and skill, that way the students would work together while
being at about the same level of understanding. When students of different levels and abilities are paired, I noticed that the students with more
science experience/knowledge/skill do most of the thinking and work, which is why pairing the students based on skill and understanding would be
best for all learning.

Total: 20 points.