Teaching Science In Elementary And Middle School Classrooms

Teaching Science in Elementary and Middle School offers in-depth information about the fundamental features of project-based science and strategies for implementing the approach. In project-based science classrooms students investigate, use technology, develop artifacts, collaborate, and make products to show what they have learned. Paralleling what scientists do, project-based science represents the essence of inquiry and the nature of science. Because project-based science is a method aligned with what is known about how to help all children learn science, it not only helps students learn science more thoroughly and deeply, it also helps them experience the joy of doing science. Project-based science embodies the principles in A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards. Blending principles of learning and motivation with practical teaching ideas, this text shows how project-based learning is related to ideas in the Framework and provides concrete strategies for meeting its goals. Features include long-term, interdisciplinary, student-centered lessons; scenarios; learning activities, and "Connecting to Framework for K–12 Science Education" textboxes. More concise than previous editions, the Fourth Edition offers a wealth of supplementary material on a new Companion Website, including many videos showing a teacher and class in a project environment.

A practical methods text that prepares teachers to engage their students in rich science learning experiences Featuring an increased emphasis on the way today's changing science and technology is shaping our culture, this Second Edition of Teaching Science in Elementary and Middle School provides pre- and in-service teachers with an introduction to basic science concepts and methods of science instruction, as well as practical strategies for the classroom. Throughout the book, the authors help readers learn to think like scientists and better understand the role of science in our day-to-day lives and in the history of Western culture. Part II features 100 key experiments that demonstrate the connection between content knowledge and effective inquiry-based pedagogy. The Second Edition is updated throughout and includes new coverage of applying multiple intelligences to the teaching and learning of science, creating safe spaces for scientific experimentation, using today's rapidly changing online technologies, and more. New to This Edition: Links to national content standards for Mathematics, Language Arts, and Social Studies help readers plan for teaching across the content areas. Discussions of federal legislation, including No Child Left Behind and Race To The Top, demonstrate legislation's influence on classroom science teaching. New "Scientists Then and Now" biographies provide practical examples of how great scientists balance a focus on content knowledge with a focus on exploring new ways to ask and answer questions. Sixteen additional video demonstrations on the Instructor Teaching Site and Student Study Site illustrate how to arrange and implement selected experiments.

Teaching Science in Elementary and Middle School offers in-depth information about the fundamental features of project-based science and strategies for implementing the approach. In project-based science classrooms students investigate, use technology, develop artifacts, collaborate, and make products to show what they have learned. Paralleling what scientists do, project-based science represents the essence of inquiry and the nature of science. Because project-based science is a method aligned with what is known about how to help all children learn science, it not only helps students learn science more thoroughly and deeply, it also helps them experience the joy of doing science. Project-based science embodies the principles in A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards. Blending principles of learning and motivation with practical teaching ideas, this text shows how project-based learning is related to ideas in the Framework and provides concrete strategies for meeting its goals. Features include long-term, interdisciplinary, student-centered lessons; scenarios; learning activities, and "Connecting to Framework for K–12 Science Education" textboxes. More concise than previous editions, the Fourth Edition offers a wealth of supplementary material on a new Companion Website, including many videos showing a teacher and class in a project environment.

"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.

This text provides an overview of current science teaching practices for the elementary and middle grades. The authors, top scholars in the field of science education, believe that all children should develop an in-depth and meaningful understanding of scientific concepts and processes. To achieve this, the text utilizes the Project Based Approach. Project-based science stresses that science teaching should emphasize the active engagement of students in science, rather than teachers telling students information. Each chapter has several Portfolio Activity boxes that provide active learning experiences or reflections for the student. Like the first edition, the text includes numerous strategies in each chapter that help both new and experienced teachers understand how to teach science in an active and engaging manner. The text also shows teachers how to implement the National Science Education Standards (NSES) and constructivist strategies. A NSES marginal feature keys content to the standards. Moreover, this textbook helps teachers learn how to implement all of today's major reforms; not just read about them.

Your Science Classroom: Becoming an Elementary / Middle School Science Teacher, by authors M. Jenice "Dee" Goldston and Laura Downey, is a core teaching methods textbook for use in elementary and middle school science methods courses. Designed around a practical, "practice-what-you-teach" approach to methods instruction, the text is based on current constructivist philosophy, organized around 5E inquiry, and guided by the National Science Education Teaching Standards.

This brand-new elementary science methods text uses an innovative applied approach and is authored by three leaders in the field. The text takes a constructivist approach and practices this approach by engaging students in reflective thought and investigations.Project-based science engages young learners in exploring authentic, important, and meaningful questions of real concern to students. Through a dynamic process of investigation and collaboration and using the same processes and technologies that real scientists use, students work in teams to formulate questions, make predictions, design investigations, collect and analyze data, make products and share ideas. Students learn fundamental science concepts and principles that they apply to their daily lives. Project-based science helps all students regardless of culture, race, or gender engage in science learning.The book is packed with numerous examples so that the reader can easily understand points that are made throughout the book. Each chapter has activity boxes with experiments that exemplify the project-based approach. The book provides useful tips, charts, diagrams, and tables that illustrate how to get children doing investigations. The text's dynamic teaching methods match all of today's major science education reports including The National Science Education Standards, Project 2061: Science for All Americans, and Benchmarks for Science Literacy.

The need for a scientifically literate population that can apply scientific ideas to solve real world problems in the 21st century has never been greater. Yet a growing disconnect exists between this need and the educational capacity to prepare them. The mission of Teaching Science in Elementary and Middle School: A Project-Based Approach, 3e is to help answer this need. Like its predecessors, this new edition is organized around the guiding principles of problem-based learning: long-term, interdisciplinary, student-centered lessons that are relevant to real-world issues and activities. This teaching approach engages all young learners--regardless of culture, race, or gender--in exploring important and meaningful questions through a process of investigation and collaboration. Throughout this dynamic process, students ask questions, make predictions, design investigations, collect and analyze data, make products, and share ideas. Changes in this new edition include the following... Stronger, more explicit connections between PBS, inquiry teaching and the National Science Education Standards (NSES). The theme of establishing the relevance of science to students' lives has been expanded. It now includes attention to discrepant events, anchoring events, and experiencing phenomena in addition to its previous focus on driving questions. To help children understand that science is about explaining phenomena, a new chapter, Making Sense of Data, now follows the one on Designing and Carrying Out Investigations. It contains a section on helping children create evidence-based scientific explanations. A new section on the challenges of special needs and gifted students. The discussion of technology in science teaching have been expanded to include such new devices as wireless handhelds, cameras, cell phones, wikis and ipods. The introductory scenarios have been reworked to insure greater relevance to elementary science teaching. An accompanying Web site will offer test items and strategies to support students in problem-solving and in planning and carrying-out investigations. This text is appropriate for anyone interested in teaching elementary or middle school science using an inquiry-oriented, problem-based framework.