Examining Science Teaching In Elementary School From The Perspective Of A Teacher And Learner

Osborne examines the way relationships between subject matter, teacher, and children are constructed in the context of teaching science in the lower elementary grades. This is a study of how relationships evolve, how they are initiated, and how they change over time as the components interact and effect one another.

This edited volume showcases current science education research in Canada, from pre-Kindergarten to Grade 7, conducted in Canada by a diverse group of researchers from across the country. We draw on the themes that emerged from our previous book, Science Education in Canada: Consistencies, Commonalities, and Distinctions, to guide the structure of this book on elementary science education research. In particular, chapters on science teacher preparation; Indigenous perspectives; environmental education; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM); and science, technology, society, and the environment (STSE) reflect a Canadian perspective. However, these themes are of global interest and authors include ideas for how science education research in Canada might be used by academics and researchers in other countries. This book builds a cohesive picture of current elementary science education research in Canada, highlighting themes that will resonate with international readers.

"This book comes at just the right time, as teachers are being encouraged to re-examine current approaches to science instruction." -Lynn Rankin, Director, Institute for Inquiry, Exploratorium "Easy to read and comprehend with very explicit examples, it will be foundational for classroom teachers as they journey from novice teacher of science to expert." -Jo Anne Vasquez, Ph.D., Past President of the National Science Teachers Association "Teaching Science for Understanding is a comprehensive, exquisitely written guide and well-illustrated resource for high quality teaching and learning of inquiry-based science." -Hubert M. Dyasi, Ph.D., Professor of Science, City College and City University of New York Even though there is an unending supply of science textbooks, kits, and other resources, the practice of teaching science is more challenging than simply setting up an experiment. In Teaching Science for Understanding in Elementary and Middle Schools, Wynne Harlen focuses on why developing understanding is essential in science education and how best to engage students in activities that deepen their curiosity about the world and promote enjoyment of science. Teaching Science for Understanding in Elementary and Middle Schools centers on how to build on the ideas your students already have to cultivate the thinking and skills necessary for developing an understanding of the scientific aspects of the world, including: helping students develop and use the skills of investigation drawing conclusions from data through analyzing, interpreting, and explaining creating classrooms that encourage students to explain and justify their thinking asking productive questions to support students' understanding. Through classroom vignettes, examples, and practical suggestions at the end of each chapter, Wynne provides a compelling vision of what can be achieved through science education...and strategies that you can implement in your classroom right now.

Currently, many states are adopting the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or are revising their own state standards in ways that reflect the NGSS. For students and schools, the implementation of any science standards rests with teachers. For those teachers, an evolving understanding about how best to teach science represents a significant transition in the way science is currently taught in most classrooms and it will require most science teachers to change how they teach. That change will require learning opportunities for teachers that reinforce and expand their knowledge of the major ideas and concepts in science, their familiarity with a range of instructional strategies, and the skills to implement those strategies in the classroom. Providing these kinds of learning opportunities in turn will require profound changes to current approaches to supporting teachers' learning across their careers, from their initial training to continuing professional development. A teacher's capability to improve students' scientific understanding is heavily influenced by the school and district in which they work, the community in which the school is located, and the larger professional communities to which they belong. Science Teachers' Learning provides guidance for schools and districts on how best to support teachers' learning and how to implement successful programs for professional development. This report makes actionable recommendations for science teachers' learning that take a broad view of what is known about science education, how and when teachers learn, and education policies that directly and indirectly shape what teachers are able to learn and teach. The challenge of developing the expertise teachers need to implement the NGSS presents an opportunity to rethink professional learning for science teachers. Science Teachers' Learning will be a valuable resource for classrooms, departments, schools, districts, and professional organizations as they move to new ways to teach science.

What is science for a child? How do children learn about science and how to do science? Drawing on a vast array of work from neuroscience to classroom observation, Taking Science to School provides a comprehensive picture of what we know about teaching and learning science from kindergarten through eighth grade. By looking at a broad range of questions, this book provides a basic foundation for guiding science teaching and supporting students in their learning. Taking Science to School answers such questions as: When do children begin to learn about science? Are there critical stages in a child's development of such scientific concepts as mass or animate objects? What role does nonschool learning play in children's knowledge of science? How can science education capitalize on children's natural curiosity? What are the best tasks for books, lectures, and hands-on learning? How can teachers be taught to teach science? The book also provides a detailed examination of how we know what we know about children's learning of scienceâ€"about the role of research and evidence. This book will be an essential resource for everyone involved in K-8 science educationâ€"teachers, principals, boards of education, teacher education providers and accreditors, education researchers, federal education agencies, and state and federal policy makers. It will also be a useful guide for parents and others interested in how children learn.

This book provides teachers with useful tools to help students understand science. The book translates current science education research from theory into classroom instruction. The experience of the authors with teachers was utilized to help translate research into what works for quality science teaching and learning. The book establishes the fundamentals for learning science in a simple, straightforward approach that teachers can successfully implement immediately with great success. The utility of the book comes from the way the big ideas for science are related to implementation in classroom instruction and the myriad of examples the book employs. The book is consistent with A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards; an obvious consequence of the authors being on the writing committees for A Framework for K-12 Science Education and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The authors fully realize that all states, school districts, and classroom teachers will not implement the NGSS. However, these documents will have a significant influence on school programs and classroom practices. The book is structured to support professional teachers and professional learning communities. Questions are provided with each chapter to support reflection on the ideas presented in the chapter. Structuring the chapters for this purpose also leads to some redundancies, this is intentional and hopefully will not distract from the experience for those wishing to read the book cover to cover.

As a distinctive voice in science education writing, Douglas Larkin provides a fresh perspective for science teachers who work to make real science accessible to all K-12 students. Through compelling anecdotes and vignettes, this book draws deeply on research to present a vision of successful and inspiring science teaching that builds upon the prior knowledge, experiences, and interests of students. With empathy for the challenges faced by contemporary science teachers, Teaching Science in Diverse Classrooms encourages teachers to embrace the intellectual task of engaging their students in learning science, and offers an abundance of examples of what high-quality science teaching for all students looks like. Divided into three sections, this book is a connected set of chapters around the central idea that the decisions made by good science teachers help light the way for their students along both familiar and unfamiliar pathways to understanding. The book addresses topics and issues that occur in the daily lives and career arcs of science teachers such as: • Aiming for culturally relevant science teaching • Eliciting and working with students’ ideas • Introducing discussion and debate • Reshaping school science with scientific practices • Viewing science teachers as science learners Grounded in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), this is a perfect supplementary resource for both preservice and inservice teachers and teacher educators that addresses the intellectual challenges of teaching science in contemporary classrooms and models how to enact effective, reform