Understanding Science Affects a Person's Life

Introduction

Student achievement in science at the research location is in need of improvement. In order to address the needs of the students and ensure they are retaining the information they are taught, research has been conducted on proven methods of science instruction.

Review of the Literature

How well a person understands science affects their lives, both personal and civic. A basic understanding of science gives people information to inform their decisions about their health, reproduction, their understanding of the news and world events, how they vote and how they interact with their environment. Elementary and middle schools in the United States are so focused on students learning to read and do math that they are not preparing students for the social and environmental challenges to come (Boggs, 2013).

The National Science Teacher Association has compiled a position statement concerning science education at the middle school level. In this statement, they make several recommendations to ensure students in the United States receive a good quality science education. Relevant portions of this statement include; science instruction should nurture students’ curiosity of the natural world while using hands-on inquiry based instruction, integrate science instruction with other curriculum subjects, provide real-world experiences, include a variety of assessment methods, capture the interests of students, allow time for modification, enrichment and remediation (2003).

According to the National Research Counsel, there are four things that students in the science classroom should know or be able to do (2007). These four goals include

1. Knowing, using and interpreting scientific explanations in the natural world
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...s and will include space for teacher driven information and personal reflection over their prior knowledge and what they have learned. The teacher given information will include strategies from the above listed literacy-based activities in order to promote literacy gains as well as scientific knowledge.

Summary

Each student has strengths and weaknesses when it comes to learning. The use of interactive science notebooks will aid students in learning the content information by giving them a simple tool that they can make their own. The notebooks will be constructed using a variety of instructional tools such as reading, writing, graphic organizers and vocabulary instruction. These tried and true methods, in combination with inquiry-based science will aid the students in learning the information and retaining it so that it can be applied to new situations.