Science Unit Interest Survey

To start off my Science Unit on Weathering and Erosion, I had my students complete a Science Interest Survey that I created. I used this survey as my pretest because this was the first time the students had heard about Weathering and Erosion. I did not want to give them a traditional pretest with multiple choice and true/false questions because they would probably all fail it. The Survey was more open-ended and allowed them to show what prior knowledge they did have about Weathering and Erosion and also allowed them to express their feelings and their expectations on the topic. I also added questions about their learning styles and their feelings towards science in general. Something new I tried was allowing the students to draw as well as write their responses. It was a really great way to learn about the students and their personalities just by reading their responses.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that almost all of the students picked science (and many included math as well) as their favorite school subject. Something else that surprised me concerned a male student my mentor teacher had been pointed out as being extremely artistic. I did indeed notice that he was especially talented at drawing and calligraphy. As I was looking through his survey, I notice that he chose to write out all of his responses and did not draw a single thing. I was sure he would attempt to sketch something, but he did not. I never did find out why. This experience has reminded once again that as a teacher, I should never limit or categorize any of my students. Instead, I should be open-minded and expect the unexpected. I am posting a few samples of the interest survey I gave my students. Click on the images for a closer look.