Using funds of knowledge to design inquiry based Science lessons

Abstract

The following is a Master's of Science in Education curriculum project. The problem this Master's project addresses concerns the lack of culturally relevant, linguistically supportive, curriculum for English language learners (ELLs) in science instruction. The project implemented Funds of Knowledge theory (Gonzalez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005). The candidate collected information on the everyday lives of ELLs and their families; this information to create lesson content in Science. The project was implemented in two phases. First, the candidate interviewed a family from Mexico that consisted of five children and two parental figures. The interview was divided among the different family members, in order to obtain perspective from multiple individuals. The recording of the interview was then synthesized into a table of themes. In the second phase, the candidate created a mini-unit of 5 science lessons for ELLs, based on the results of the interviews. [from abstract]