Elementary Science Methods

As teachers and parents, we often hear that children are the best scientists. Great science teachers tune in to children’s interests and observations to create engaging and effective lessons. This focus on the innate curiosity of children, or humans overall is celebrated and used to justify and support efforts around STEM teaching and learning. Yet, when we discuss elementary school teachers, we often hear many inside and outside the classroom report that these teachers dislike, fear, and feel uncomfortable with science. This is exactly the opposite approach from what is universally recommended by science education scholars. This practical textbook meets the immediate, contextual needs of future and current elementary teachers by using an assets-based approach to science teaching, showing how to create inquiry-based lessons, differentiate instruction and lesson design based on children’s developmental ages and needs, and providing easy-to-use tools to advocate for scientific teaching and learning guided by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

In this pioneering text, a constructivist approach guides users in learning how to teach in a constructivist manner. The book is based on the belief that it’s more important for children to learn how to do science than it is for them to learn about science, and that teachers of elementary science do not need to know a great deal of science to teach it effectively, but rather need to be co-inquirers with their students. More than 170 process-oriented activities, organized by grade level, help practicing teachers encourage children to develop and perform their own investigations.

What do aspiring and practicing elementary science teacher education faculty need to know as they plan and carry out instruction for future elementary science teachers? This scholarly and practical guide for science teacher educators outlines the theory, principles, and strategies needed, and provides classroom examples anchored to those principles. The theoretical and empirical foundations are supported by scholarship in the field, and the practical examples are derived from activities, lessons, and units field-tested in the authors’ elementary science methods courses. Designing and Teaching the Elementary Science Methods Course is grounded in the theoretical framework of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), which describes how teachers transform subject matter knowledge into viable instruction in their discipline. Chapters on science methods students as learners, the science methods course curriculum, instructional strategies, methods course assessment, and the field experience help readers develop their PCK for teaching prospective elementary science teachers. "Activities that Work" and "Tools for Teaching the Methods Course" provide useful examples for putting this knowledge into action in the elementary science methods course.

This text's unique constructivist approach guides students in learning by doing. Geared to teachers of preschool through sixth grade students, it represents the cutting edge of elementary science teaching with up-to-date investigations into contemporary topics.

For Elementary and Middle School Science Methods courses.Substantially rewritten to focus on inquiry teaching and learning as espoused in the National Science Education Standards, the new edition of Science in Elementary Education: Methods, Concepts, and Inquiries will prepare pre-service teachers to plan, facilitate, adapt, and assess inquiry experiences consistent with today's science classroom. It accomplishes this by implementing the 6E model of inquiry teaching, addressing the planning and needs of inquiry teaching classrooms, and describing the materials teachers need to get up and running.This practical text includes over 350 Teaching Tips throughout and Twelve Inquiry Units that model constructivist applications, build conceptual knowledge, and provide a bank of classroom-tested lessons to use in science classrooms."

"Whether you are trying to answer the query of a child or just refresh your knowledge, this book provides a useful portal to science concepts and terminology. Written in concise language, with helpful diagrams, Jeffrey W. Bloom presents solid overviews of the most commonly encountered school science topics. Such a wealth of information gathered into one easily accessible place will make this an indispensible reference for the serious teacher of elementary science."--Bernard Ricca, Associate Professor and Director, Graduate Program in Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education, Saint John Fisher College

This text's unique approach guides students in learning by doing. Geared to teachers of preschool through sixth-grade students, it represents the cutting-edge of elementary science teaching with investigations into contemporary topics. Access to InfoTrac College Edition will enhance student understanding.