Am I teaching science? The question should be: Am I teaching science well? At present, I am teaching science, but within a rotating inquiry structure. I’m now keen to extend this to everyday teaching and learning situations. I know my students are naturally curious and will enjoy learning more. Finding the science in everyday situations will be a focus.
Linking to literacy, particularly to book selection will be the key. I know there are books on bubbles, making volcanoes, floating and sinking and I’m sure many more made up as Guided Reading sets.
Source: Monash University/Faculty of Education – Primary Science Matters Handout
The handout states that ‘the Science Continuum identifies a range of pedagogical purposes, ones that may involve practical investigations include:’
‘Bring out students’ existing ideas
Open discussion via a shared experience
Provide an open problem to be explored via play or through problem solving
Challenge some existing ideas
Share intellectual control
Focus students’ attention on overlooked detail
Practise using and building the perceived usefulness of scientific models
Helping students work out some of the ‘scientific’ explanations for themselves
Collecting evidence/data for analysis
Promote reflection on and clarification of existing ideas
Promote reflection on how students’ ideas have changed
Clarifying and consolidating ideas for communication to others’
When reading the above, the links between the teaching of literacy and science stand out. I am now confident that I can teach more science within my existing program. When learning about a science concept, saying it’s science is important, so that my students understand what science is and that they are actually learning science. Often, as teachers we come up with exciting names for our units or lessons to draw our students’ attention, but the flip side is that they may not realise what they are actually doing!
TWITTER UPDATE: 66 followers & following 73! I’m impressed by how many educators share their knowledge.
Cheers Nina
Nina Davis: Teaching & Learning in Australia 