Science

For many students and adults, science is a subject that is either feared, hated, or causes

bewilderment. The enthusiasm of the teacher, coupled with the methods by which science is

taught has a great deal to do with the reception, engagement, and inborn curiosity of students in a

science classroom, (Bass, et. al., 2009). A teacher that encourages curiosity, inquisitiveness, and

experimentation to find answers has a classroom where students will thrive in the learning

environment. This is my goal in teaching science, and what I was able to do for with my students

when I taught the ​unit​ that accompanies this paper. I also want students to feel safe exploring,

asking questions, guiding them to find answers, and helping them be successful in their journey.

During the course of the unit, I made sure my students felt this at every step of the learning

process.

There are various methods to teaching science. One that is paramount to students’ life-

long success, is teaching them to use the science processes, such as observing, classifying,

inferring, measuring, and more, while also helping students to make connections to everyday

life. As they go through their educational pursuits, it is my job to guide them, teaching them to

use these processes to find the answers to their questions. In doing so, I can help my students to

not only find the answers they are looking for today, but give them the ability to find them

tomorrow, and the rest of their lives. Put in other words, teaching science processes parallels a

well-known proverb: Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he

eat for a lifetime (Bass, 2009). As I taught the unit on water, I was able to walk through the

science processes in multiple ways as they observed, classified, inferred, and much more. I was
not so much focused on them memorizing ‘right’ answers as I was on them learning these

processes as a valuable tool. The activities I prepared also gave students authentic situations

where they had to think like scientist to solve a real world problem. ​Allen, R. (2006) says,

“Another proven strategy for engaging students in science is making connections to everyday life

through personal interests, community issues, and family ties” p.64​. Once each group presented

their findings for the real world problem, they had a lively discourse over how they came to their

conclusions. More than just science concepts were used that day.

Another equally important method of instruction is using a hands-on approach to science

inquiry and exploration. Beilock, ​an internationally ​known expert on the mind–body connection

and author of the book ​How the Body Knows Its Mind​ encourages the use of our bodies in the

learning process to increase understanding, ​(Ingmire, 2015). Students who are able to physically

experience what they are learning about will understand better than just reading about the

concept in a textbook or even watching a demonstration. This ‘learn by doing’ approach, more

commonly called hands-on minds-on, was used continuously during the unit on water. The

results were amazing. Besides my students looking forward to science everyday, which they

hadn’t done before, they also succeeded in learning the objectives set forth in the unit.

In planning the unit, I relied heavily on the state standards to guide my instruction. I

know that it is not possible to cover every standard, so I will chose the most important standards

based off the needs of my students, and planned my instruction accordingly. In the planning

process, I was sensitive to the different learning styles of my students as they learn very

differently from each other. For this reason, I used visual, oral, tactile/kinesthetic, written,

gestural representation, and spatial representation. As Manner (2001) said, “Students’ exhibit
different learning styles and multiple intelligences, and only by accommodating these various

abilities can instructors properly plan and conduct assignments and assess what students have

learned” p.1.

Incorporating technology into instruction and assignments is also important for a few

reasons. First, it uses both visual and oral learning modalities. Second, effectively and efficiently

using technology has become an essential life-long skill in today’s technologically advanced

world. “To better prepare students for the science and technology of the 21st century, the current

science education reforms ask science teachers to integrate technology and inquiry-based

teaching into their instruction” (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993;

National Research Council [NRC], 1996, 2000, n.p.). Students can begin using these tools in

school to do research, as well as using simulations to aid in scientific discovery. In the unit on

water, I wove technology throughout the lessons using short video clips and simulations to teach

scientific concepts.
 References

Allen, R. (2006). Priorities in Practice : The Essentials of Science, Grades K-6: Effective

Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and

Curriculum Development.

American Association for the Advancement of Science. (1993). Benchmarks for scientific

literacy. New York:Oxford University Press.

Bass, J. E., Contant, T. L., & Carin, A. A. (2009). Teaching science as inquiry. Columbus, OH:

Allyn & Bacon.

Ingmire, J. (2016, May 17). Learning by doing helps students perform better in science.

Retrieved April 10, 2017, from https://news.uchicago.edu/article/2015/04/29/learning-

doing-helps-students-perform-better-science

​Manner, B. M. (2001, March 1). Books & Resources. Retrieved April 10, 2017, from http://

www.nsta.org/publications/news/story.aspx?id=40969