Engaging in sustained and collaborative action research is one way science teachers can build the bridge between improving student learning and their own professional learning as teachers and teacher-researchers. This article presents a series of practical strategies for science teachers who want to gain a new sense of confidence from conducting research on their professional development experiences, see the connection between their professional development activities and their student’s needs, and develop productive professional relationships with their colleagues and students.
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In the past several years, Science and Children has invited preservice and inservice teachers to participate in national studies of students’ ideas about scientists (Barman 1997), animals (Barman et al. 2000), and plants (Barman et al. 2003). You are invited to participate in an additional study that will examine children’s career aspirations. Your participation in this survey will provide you with an understanding of how your students perceive potential careers.
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This hands-on, minds-on zoo project provides a fun and safe opportunity for students to experience the world of animals and nature right in their own classroom. Students have the chance to work individually or in small groups to explore, observe, and discover answers to their questions about the natural world. In addition, it provides numerous occasions to integrate science, math, reading, and art. The nearly month-long experience described here was conducted with a group of top-notch first-grade zookeepers!
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When working with elementary students, one never knows when that moment of “magic” will happen. For the author, an environmentalist who also conducts outreach activities with elementary students, one of the best of these experiences happened during a water-exploration trip in Ohio. This article describes how he used tools such as a hand pole seine and an underwater microphone to capture the sights and sounds of aquatic life—and students’ interest!
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In this month’s column, the editor reflects on how teacher programs in the early 1980s gave little attention to assessment. The assumption was that end-of-chapter tests in textbooks and standardized state tests provided a good idea of student understanding and knowledge. But things have changed. Today, state and national standards promote a more challenging and rigorous curriculum. Assessment is now seen as an ongoing process that provides a window into student understanding.
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This monthly feature contains facts and challenges for the science explorer.
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This monthly feature contains facts and challenges for the science explorer.
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This monthly feature contains facts and challenges for the science explorer.
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Performance-based assessments are tasks conducted by students that enable them to demonstrate what they know about a given topic. The difference between this type of “test” versus the traditional method is that students are given the opportunity to better communicate what they learned. Therefore, the beauty of performance-based assessments is that they focus on affording students the opportunity to apply their knowledge by engaging in tasks requiring critical-thinking strategies. This article describes two performance-based assessments that were developed by the author for use with second graders and the results of these tests.
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In today’s climate of standardized testing, the author shares his concern that colleagues who are currently implementing inquiry-based science that awakens students’ curiosity may soon be thwarted by mandated, time-consuming, packaged programs. He encourages science educators to “fight” for inquiry-based science and includes some suggestions that can bolster their position when contending with administrators about this heated issue.
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Despite the challenges posed by increased time, specialized vocabularies, and balance, integrating writing and drawing with science investigations is beneficial for teachers and students. This month’s column explains why this integrated approach is beneficial, and illustrates how teachers can use it to meet the needs of students learning English and guide teaching. It concludes by noting some of the difficulties posed by integration and offers some recommendations.
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Teacher preparation programs help teachers build a foundation for entering the teaching profession. However, learning to teach science cannot be achieved in a mere four years—it is a lifelong endeavor. Teachers continue to learn new science content and new teaching strategies throughout their careers. As professionals, they consistently update their knowledge and skills, reflecting upon and improving their practice. Professional development (PD), in all of its forms, is the key to science teacher learning. This month’s column discusses how science teachers can benefit from professional development experiences.
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Well, they often use hand signals, such as the “OK” sign, and sometimes they write on message boards. So much for how SCUBA divers (classified as animals) communicate! Other than the authors’ knowledge of sound waves and how they move air and water, along with the fact that whales and dolphins make cool sounds, SCUBA diver communication was about the extent of his understanding of how animals’ communicate underwater. So, he did a bit of research and discovered lots of interesting things, which he shares in this month’s column.
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Many children enjoy evaluating products and designing improvements. Activities that promote investigation and product design lend themselves to assessments that demonstrate communication skills, focus on reasoning ability, and illustrate levels of conceptual understanding. In the following lesson, Wind at Work, students explore concepts of energy transfer, conduct simple investigations, plan design modifications, and communicate results.
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The idea of “going green” or being aware of and reducing our impact on natural resources is receiving a lot of attention these days. Schools are starting to employ “green” practices and are soliciting help from the students to be aware of and help reduce their environmental impact. The trade books chosen for this month’s issue examine the use of natural resources from two different perspectives—what we do with them and how they are depleted over time.
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Help children explore the idea that there are many different flower shapes, all with the function of forming seeds, by allowing children to dissect flowers after drawing them, using their fingers or plastic picnic knives. As children take apart the flowers, they are involved in many parts of science investigations referred to in state and national standards, including counting, measuring, describing things and comparing with others’ observations, and using tools such as magnifiers.
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To help teachers guide their instruction, a university science educator who researches students’ science beliefs and a fifth-grade classroom teacher investigated how elementary students interpreted some of the ideas found within the National Science Education Standards. As a result, they developed an online test—The Elementary Students’ Science Beliefs Test—covering several essential K—4 understandings for elementary students in life, physical, and Earth sciences. What follows is a description of their experience and reflections after administering the test to a group of third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students in a suburban Michigan school.
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