Framing Our Reading III

This week Jess and I chose the article, Earth's Inner Core Has Its Own Inner Core (found here: http://news.discovery.com/earth/earths-inner-core-turns-out-to-have-its-own-inner-core-inside-it-150211.htm). This article includes information on a new discovery about the Earth's inner-inner core. This discovery has given the science community new information about our planet. In terms of math, this article can be applied to graphing and learning about planes and axes. In terms of biology, this article explains how new information can be found in science everyday, as well as explain a new discovery about our planet.

The text frame is concept/definition. The author explains the new discovery of an inner-inner core of Earth. Scientists found this new part of the inner core through seismic waves. Whereas the inner core has iron crystals that are in a North-South direction, the inner-inner core has iron crystals that are in a East-West direction. The inner-inner core also differs from the inner core through the behavior of the iron crystals. This new discovery is thought to open up new doors to understanding more about the Earth's history and processes.

For this reading, I chose to use the Concept/Definition Mapping strategy. This strategy is used for teaching both concepts and vocabulary. There are three categories to explain a concept or definition: category, characteristics, and illustrations. The students would use this strategy for vocabulary that they find confusing and important for understanding the article, as well as using the strategy to understand the concept of the inner-inner core.

Using this type of strategy promotes the Schema Theory. The Schema Theory states that "all knowledge is organized into units" (California State University, n.d.). In order to understand a more advanced unit, one must know the basic unit first. The Concept/Definition Mapping strategy teaches students concepts and definitions that they will need to know in order to advance to higher learning. By using this strategy students not only understand the definition of vocabulary, but they understand how it relates to other vocabulary and concepts that they have seen before.

Work Cited

California State University, (n.d.). Schema Theory. California State University. Retrieved from http://www.csus.edu/indiv/g/gipej/teaparty.pdf