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Science Education Portfolio - Sci 210
Henry Ford Community College

You must read this entire document.  Failure to follow these instructions will result in a loss of points.  Papers not turned in on time will lose points, no exceptions!  Remember that printers always run out of ink at the worst time, so purchase an extra ink cartridge today.

General Guidelines

1.    All files for the SEP must be saved as either a Microsoft Word document (.doc file) or as a Rich Text Document (.rtf file).  Microsoft Works IS NOT THE SAME PROGRAM as Microsoft Word. DO NOT save your file as a .wps file. It is your responsibility to save the file in the correct format.

2. There are two kinds of people- those who have lost data and those who will. Save all work done on a computer in three separate places.
3. If you are working on your own computer always save files to the hard drive.
4. Double check that you have saved the file with the correct file name.
5. Always make a backup floppy.
6. Always check floppy disks for bad sectors before saving to them.
7. Always scan floppy disks for viruses.
8. Always run spell check.
9. All documents must be in 12-point font.
10. Use double line spacing.
11. The Science Experiment component must be saved in a single file, not as a collection of file.
12. It is expected that you have taken English 131 or an equivalent college level English class.  You are to follow standard spelling and formatting as taught in English 131 at HFCC.

How to check a floppy disk for bad sectors.

1.       Click on the “start” button.
2.       Click on “programs”
3.       Click on “Accessories”
4.       Click on “system tools”
5.       Click on “scan disk”
6.       Select the drive you want to check for errors – choose the 3½ floppy (A:)
7.       Type of test- choose Thorough
8.       Check the box in front of “automatically fix errors”
9.       Click “start”

Each student is required to document his/her acquisition of the science content and methods necessary to effectively teach science to elementary and middle school students.  For students transferring to UM-D, this work will become part of your electronic portfolio.  Be sure to keep electronic copies of all portfolio components.

1.  Science Autobiography

A science autobiography is a personal description of your experience with science, in or out of school, through teachers, friends, parents, museums, magazines and other sources.

Our ideas and beliefs in science can be preconceived from our learning and teaching experiences. These are formed by our direct experiences with science and the people we meet who work in science.

Please think about your own personal experience with school science, scientists, science in the media, and science teachers. It doesn’t matter how limited or extensive your experiences are, only that you describe them.

Write about your experiences with school science up to the present, explaining what you think of the study of science involves.  Be as candid as possible. This writing and thinking exercise will be your first step toward teaching science in school!

Start your autobiography with the phrase     Science is……..

Make sure it covers the following questions:

1.       What do you remember generally about science (especially biology) in K-college?
a.       Focus on elementary school science experiences.
b.       Describe particular instances (activities or teachers) that were memorable. 

2.       What are your attitudes or feelings toward science?

3.       Where did those feelings come from?

4.       What might be the effect of your attitudes on your future students?

5.       What kind of elementary science teacher would you like to be?

6.       How would you teach?

7.       What concepts or ideas do you think are important to stress?

Your science autobiography is to be at least 500 words.

Rubric for Science Autobiography

B.  Science Experiment

To complete the home experiment you will need to choose a topic that you are interested in and conduct an experiment to help you learn about that topic. The goal of the project is to help you learn about a topic/phenomena of interest to you, and to help you learn about the process of science.

The report will also be graded on the quality of the writing.  It is expected that you have taken English 131 or an equivalent college level English class.  You are to follow standard spelling and formatting as taught in English 131 at HFCC.  You will need as least six references, two of which must be from printed material and the references must be in the correct format.  The report is to be in 12-point font and double-spaced.

You will receive a set of worksheets to help you with this component.

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