Science 101

Teaching Through Trade Books

The Early Years

The Poetry of Science

Tech Talk

Explore-Before-Explain

Guest Editorial

Editor's Note November-December 2024

With environmental issues and awareness rising globally, our connection to the natural world is clearly critical, but education that teaches children how to relate to local plants and animals is seemingly lacking in elementary curriculum. For an undergraduate honor’s thesis, an environmental education program was created utilizing the 5E instructional model. This program, focusing on species identification and nature journaling, was developed for third and fifth graders and implemented at a local elementary school. During the program, students distinguished between groups of plants and animals, learned to look closely at local flora and fauna, explored the importance of recording the world around them, and spent time outside on the school’s nature trail. Overall, the students were eager to learn about local plants and animals and enjoyed utilizing scientific resources such as field guides and nature journals. Additionally, the children were highly motivated by the interactive indoor and outdoor activities, implementing problem solving and creativity throughout. Using the outdoor space at the school’s facility was a very effective and fun way for students to connect with the flora and fauna around them. This kind of education can be implemented widely across school facilities, leading future generations towards environmental stewardship.

This article summarizes our research findings, investigating instructional adaptations elementary science teachers make to accommodate a growing population of Karen immigrant students. Hailing from the war-torn country of Myanmar, Karen students, who have cultural backgrounds generally unknown to U.S. trained teachers, face unique challenges, including PTSD and cultural differences that impact their expectations for classroom participation. Clinical interviews conducted with teachers about how they differentiate and adapt their elementary science instruction reveal that there are great learning benefits when teachers emphasize the significance of building relationships and creating a safe learning environment. Particularly when teaching science, interview data showed teachers find that they need to highlight the use of visual aids, hands-on learning, and technology integration as they emerge as effective strategies. We also found that teachers needed to reduce the amount of out of class homework, carefully considering language barriers and family responsibilities, while still maintaining academic rigor. Teachers further stress that relationships with students, using parallel language, and the need for ESL/cultural training for teachers are keys to success. The results of this study reveal the resilience and eagerness of Karen students to succeed when provided with supportive, culturally sensitive learning environments.