Teaching Science in Elementary Grades PDF

Republic of the Philippines COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION SAMAR COLLEGE Catbalogan City, Samar TEACHING SCIENCE IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES (Physics, Earth and Space Science) BEEDMC 402 Learning Module...

Republic of the Philippines COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION SAMAR COLLEGE Catbalogan City, Samar TEACHING SCIENCE IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES (Physics, Earth and Space Science) BEEDMC 402 Learning Module Prelim Name:_______________________________________ Course & Year:________________________________ Subject Code:_________________________________ Date Submitted:_______________________________ Prepared By: Jazmin A. Rompal, LPT College Instructor 1|Page  College of Education Republic of the Philippines Commission on Higher Education Samar Colleges, Inc. Catbalogan City, Samar Tel Nos. (055) 251-3021, 543-8321, Fax (055) 251-3021 College of Education _____________________________________________________________________________________ Preliminary Module 1- BEEdMC 402 Lesson 1. Strategies and Techniques- Inquiry: The Path; Discovery: The Destination I. Science: What is it, really? II. How Children Learn Science III. Connecting Technology in Your Teaching OBJECTIVES:  Develop a working definition of science.  Describe how research about learning science informs science teaching.  Describe the purpose and three dimensions of the next generation science standards ____________________________________________________________________ ACTIVITY 1: Using the word web, expand your understanding about science. Science 2|Page Strategies and Techniques- Inquiry: The Path; Discovery: The Destination I. SCIENCE: WHAT IS IT, REALLY? “Science is more than a body of knowledge. It is a way of thinking; a way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility.” – Carl Sagan Some key terms can be identified in these definitions:  Science is a process - it is a pursuit, practical activity, application  Science is a way of knowing - understanding/explaining the natural world  Science is a systematic – use of methods to the process of seeking explanations and making sense of the world.  Science is a knowledge – the principles, laws, and theories that explain the natural world. Always remember!  Science is active.  It is an endeavor that seeks knowledge  Science involves the process of generating explanations based on evidence and logic.  Science is a systematic search with a variety of strategies that results in a dynamic body of scientific knowledge.  Science is a way of knowing that uses evidence supported by logical reasoning to help us make sense of the world. As an elementary teacher, you will teach practices, values, and attitudes associated with seeking scientific explanations as well as core ideas and principles that support current scientific explanations of natural phenomena (see Table 1.1). 3|Page Table 1.1 Examples of Science as a body of knowledge, as a process, and a values. Body of Knowledge  Energy can change form.  Matter can change form.  The total amount of matter and energy in the universe never changes.  For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.  Like poles of magnets repel each other.  Unlike poles of magnets attract each other. Inquiry Process Skills  Descriptive  Explanatory  Experimental Modeling Modeling Modeling Questioning Questioning Questioning Observing Hypothesizing Predicting Enumerating Inferring Identifying Classifying Interpreting data variables Measuring Communicating Controlling Comparing variables Communicating Controlling Experiments Communicating Values and Attitudes Associated with Scientific Inquiry  Skepticism  Criticism Ability to criticize Acceptance of criticism  Cooperation  Persistence  Freedom to think originally  What is Scientific Thinking? A look at some masters  Great thinkers such as Einstein, Galileo, and da Vinci had the ability to create detailed materials method. We all create mental models to some extent. Great thinkers have the extraordinary ability to create and keep complex mental models of a system in their mind and imagine what would happen when variables in the models interact in novel ways. For example Einstein could imagine what would happen when someone rode a beam of light, and da Vinci could imagine the miracle of flight.  As educators, we need to teach our students cognitive skills necessary to create mental models and to create a culture of thinking in which these cognitive skills become habits of mind.  Habits of mind take years to develop; they cannot be covered in a lesson or two. The habits of good, scientific thinking must become a conscious part of the culture of learning; children need to be aware of their thinking strategies when they are thinking scientifically. 4|Page   Doing Science and the Next Generation Science Standards  Scientist use variety of practices when they do science. Practices include the use of both skills and knowledge. Eight science practices have been identified in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The eight practices are as follows. 1. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering) 2. Developing and using models 3. Planning and carrying out investigations 4. Analyzing and interpreting data 5. Using mathematics and computational thinking 6. Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering) 7. Engaging in argument from evidence 8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information  The integration of these science practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts in science is known as three – dimensional instruction when they are used together by students to make sense of phenomena.  The Next Generation Standards were developed by teams of scientist and educators to identify what students in each grade should know and be able to do with respect to science and engineering. They consist a three dimensions: science practices, disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts. Three dimensional instructions means using each dimension together, not in isolation, to help students make sense of phenomena or figure out solutions. Science Practices Disciplinary Core Ideas Crosscutting Concepts  Learning core  Are scientific  Big ideas common scientific concepts principles and across the domains go hand in hand in concepts that support of science and hand. explanations in engineering: science and problem Patterns; Cause and  Scientist and solving in effect; Scale, science learners engineering. proportion, and both seeks to quantity; System make sense of the  Grouped in four and system models; world as they domains: the physical Energy and matter; encounter new sciences; life Structure and information and sciences; the Earth function; Stability discover and Space Sciences; and change. relationships. and engineering, technology and  The crosscutting applications of concepts help science. students organize ideas and make connections across disciplines. 5|Page ASSESSMET: 1. Reflect and analyze. How you understand science and what scientists do? 2. Think about your experience in science classes. What did you enjoy? What didn’t you enjoy? More importantly, how were you engaged and inspired to learn science? If you are not engaged, what disengaged you? How would you want students to describe the science learning experiences that you lead? 6|Page II. HOW CHILDREN LEARN SCIENCE ACTIVITY 2: 1. As a future educator, how do you promote scientific thinking in the classroom? Create a MIND MAP to conceptualize your idea. 2. “Be very, very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out.” -Cardinal Wolsey State your understanding about the quote. 3. If possible, interview an elementary school teacher that near in your locality, find out how she or he answers such questions as these: a. What does science mean to you? b. What do you think students think science is? c. What advice can you provide about how children learn science? 7|Page DISCUSSION: How Children Learn Science Research in the past decade has forced us to rethink traditional views of how children learn science.  Piagets cognitive theories described stages of development with increasingly complex schemas.  Bruner recognized the important and power of the individual’s own discovery and progressive construction of knowledge through a spiraling curriculum that reinforced and advanced prior learning in a deliberate manner. While Piaget was concerned with cognitive development, Bruner was concerned with teaching and learning. He suggested that children should not be limited by predetermined developmental stages, but that any subject can be thought appropriately for the developmental level. Carl Wieman, Nobel Prize winner in Physics and director of the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative at the University of British Columbia, sums up how people learn in the following statement: “Much of educational and cognitive research can be reduced to this basic principle: People learn by creating their own understanding. Effective teaching facilities that creation by engaging students in thinking deeply about the subject at an appropriate level and then monitoring that thinking and guiding it to be more experts. In 2005 the National Academies of Science published. How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom. The publication was the result of work by committees created to study developments in the science of learning. The following three principles that emerged from the study inform how we should think about learning science.  Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information, or they may learn them for purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside the classroom.  To develop a competence in an area of inquiry, students must (a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (b) understanding facts and ideas in the context framework, and (c) organize knowledge in ways to facilitate retrieval and application. 8|Page   A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help students to learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them. The Nature of Science  In order to understand and teach science, we need to consider values and beliefs associated with science. These are collectively referred to as the nature of Science. Underlying the nature of science is the notion that science is a human endeavor. Unfortunately, without an understanding of the nature of science and scientific inquiry, it is possible to be deceived or manipulated by a slim margin of uncertainty.  The Next Generation Science Standards identifies the following basic understandings that all high school graduates should have about the nature of science for which the foundations need to be established in elementary school.  Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods  Scientific Knowledge Is Based on Empirical Evidence  Scientific Knowledge Is open to Revision in Light of New Evidence  Scientific Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena  Science Is a Way of Knowing  Science Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural Systems  Science Is a Human Endeavor  Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and Material World Science as a Set of Values  Truth – science seeks to make sense out of our natural world, it has its most basic value the search for the truest, most accurate explanations based on evidence.  Freedom – to follow pathways also means the freedom to risk thinking independently and creatively.  Skepticism - the unwillingness to accept many things at face value – moves scientist to ask difficult questions about the natural world, society, and even each other. Teach students to be informed skeptics and teach them to argue scientifically so that their skepticism fosters constructive discussion that leads to deeper understanding.  Order – Science is a systematic process. There are many ways to study phenomena. The marine biologist observe dolphin behavior, while the botanist test the effects of soil sample on plant growth. All are collecting data in different ways. But all have a deliberate and organized plan for collecting and organizing data. Children need to develop this ability to organize information, which is why you will helping them learn how to organize and keep track of their observations and discoveries.  Originality – science also values originality. Children have wonderful imaginations that can be assets for their science learning. As teachers, we can nurture and foster their imagination and creativity while learning science.  Communication- Children love to talk with each other; so do scientist. The talks of scientists includes reports, articles, speeches, and lectures as well as casual conservations. The ability to communicate results and ideas is vital if knowledge is to grow. 9|Page