Teaching Elementary School Science

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Recommended: critically discuss the inquiry approach in the context of teaching and learning

Teaching Elementary School Science

The National Science Education Standards have set the standards for teaching science. Under Program standard B the standards discuss the best ways children learn science. Program standard B states ì the program of study in the science should be developmentally appropriate, interesting and relevant to students lives: emphasize student understanding through inquiry,, and be connected with other school subjects.î This sums up what teachers need to be doing un their classrooms to teach science. The traditional textbook only and work sheet teaching of science is clearly not recommended with inquiry and hands on experiences. Standard B shows representations of methods to use not only in the teaching of science but other subject areas.

The best way to teach elementary school science is to use a variety of methods. If the teacher uses a variety of methods, the children can discover the content and process of science. Some methods work better than others. This is what the teacher must find out in each class. By using a variety of methods, the teacher is sparking the interest of the children.

One of the widest used methods is learning through discovery. Discovery is finding out information using hands on experiments. The children can discover what happens in science and why. They answer the problems for themselves. They use their schema, prior knowledge of science, to search for information. The cycle of scientific discovery is first a question or series of questions are raised. Second, through a discussion a problem is identified and narrowed so that the kids can solve the problem. Third, with the assistance of the teacher, the children propose a way of looking at the problem and then collect the...

... middle of paper ...

... Using hands on activities and not using straight lecture help children learn better. Inquiry gives them experiences that can help them retain the knowledge that their teacher is trying to give them.

References

Bruce, Chip (1997). Helping Children Learn Science. Retrieved February 9,

2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ed.unic.edu

Martin, D. J. (2000). Elementary Science Methods: A Constructivist Approach( 2nd Ed.). Belmont, Ca: Wadsworth.

National Academy of Sciences. (1995). National Science Standards.

Available:http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/html/

Parker W., &Jarolimek, J. (1997) Social Studies in Elementary Education.

Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Scientistsí and engineersí guide(1997). Methods of teaching science.

Retrieved February 29, 2000 from the World Wide Web:

http://wings.ucdavis.edu/guide/methods.html

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