Science when I was in school vs now

Science When I Was In School VS Now!

When I think of science when I was in elementary school 13 or so years ago, I can't really tell you what I learned about. I specifically remember this one experiment with a teabag and fire, which made something fly into the air. I also remember using different tools to create circuits to get a lightbulb to light up. But, I could honestly not tell you a fact or a topic that I learned. I remember science not even being in the curriculum until at-least late elementary school. It was starting in middle school that we had separate required science classes, but again, I honestly could not tell you about things I learned. I think part of this is because we never really did experiments or interesting, hands on activities. We just listening to the teacher speak, read the textbook, and took notes. 

Going back to my elementary school days, I really wished we focused more on science because it is fun and interesting, if taught right. That is why I think it is important that we, as future teachers, learn how to teach science now! As a teacher I want to be able to interest my students and hold their attention. I want to be able to do fun experiments and do things that my students will remember forever. Science is a hard subject to teach because if you have too much fun, you loose the class, but if you don't have any fun, they won't fully understand a topic and learn what you are trying to present. During a science lesson you need to find the perfect balance of direct teaching and hands on learning. Science is hard, so if your students don't get their hands on physical aspects, they will not fully understand. Especially if you are teaching something that no one has ever even heard of. How are your students supposed to picture something that you are talking about in their head if they don't know what it is? That is why pictures, videos, activities, and physical objects are so important! Based off of my own experience with science in elementary school, I think it is so important that future children get to learn and focus on science because it gets them thinking about the world around them!

Physical Science

Physical Science!

Technically, physical science is the study of non-living things including: chemistry, geology, astronomy and physics. But obviously when it comes to elementary school students, you wouldn't be doing major chemistry or physics with them. Physical science is the study of all inanimate object, so of course you could do many cool and exciting experiments involving this. One thing that falls under physical science is energy and gravity. So, as a teacher, you could tie physical science into the end of a space science lesson so that your students don't feel too confused. Even a light bulb in a lamp is considered physical science. As a teacher you could do many things with light bulbs and electricity. You could have your students make an electric circuit to light up the lightbulb or do an experiment to find out what is inside of a lightbulb. 

When I think of physical science I think of energy and thing I as a human might not be able to see. There are four phases of matter - solid, liquid, gas and plasma. If teaching the younger grades, you may leave out the plasma but for older, you could find a simple way to include it. Out of these four phases, solids have the lowest energy phase of matter, and plasma has the highest. You could discuss with your students how vaporization is when a liquid turns into a gas or sublimation is when a solid turns into a gas. As a teacher you could find and do so many awesome experiments with your students just thinking about these facts! Out of all the categories of science, physical science is my favorite because I find it the most interesting. Once I have my own classroom and teach these topics of science, and do many experiments, I'm sure my students will agree!

Life Science

Life Science!

Life science is one of the two major branches of natural science, the other being physical science. From the smallest microbe to the largest mammal, life science explores the origins, evolution and expansion of life in all its forms. Biology is one of the main components of life science, explaining how our bodies work and why life is the way it is. Studying cells and microscopic organisms can be very interesting to your students because they are essentially learning about their own bodies and how they work, what is going on inside them. Most elementary students don't know exactly what is underneath their skin and once they realize what is really going on, they are amazed. Life science can focus in on a specific organism, but overall, life science is about cells and how life is the way it is. Though most things are clearly alive, sometimes alive things don't actually seem so living. When teaching life science to your students, you can use this as a starting point. This will spark and interest and make them wonder, "How can something that looks like that be alive?" 

To start teaching life science you should begin with explaining what is means to be alive, what is life?  Distinguish the differences between things that are living and things that are nonliving, such as a rock vs a dog. No single characteristic is enough to define what is meant by "life." After this, you can begin to classify the living things. Explain to your students that are are so, so many different living organisms that you must classify them to be able to keep track of all of them. Talk about how plants and animals, although obviously different, are also kind of the same.  Explain how energy flows through not only our bodies, but all living organisms. Your students will love to learn about their own bodies, discuss how many cells each human has, the way your DNA works, and how germs effect your immune system. When teaching life science you must get your students involved, make it as much about themselves as possible, because this is what will keep them interested!

Space Science

Space Science!

Space science is something that goes beyond what we already know, in fact, most of space has not even been discovered yet. But if most of it has never been seen, how are we as teachers supposed to educate our students on it? Well, most children are interesting in the different planets and aliens naturally, so you start with your students thoughts. You start with what they already know or think about space and move forward from there. Technically, space science encompasses all of the scientific disciplines that involve space exploration and study natural phenomena and physical bodies occurring in outer space, such as space medicine and astrobiology. But, if you were to say those words to even a fourth or fifth grader, they would immediately loose interest and not want to learn. Therefore, if you start with just the simple plants, it is more likely your students will want to keep learning about what life would be like in a place other than earth. 

When teaching space science you can talk about different space expeditions and NASA. If your cards are right, you could even go on a field trip to a space museum or exhibit, this will make it more real for your students. They will most likely have a hard time picturing space, because it is somewhere they have never been and probably never will go. So, using as many visuals and physical objects as you can find is the best way to go about teaching space science. The sheer vastness of it, along with the trillions upon trillions of objects in the many billion galaxies of the universe is almost incomprehensible to the human brain. So when trying to explain all of it to elementary school children, you must make sure to make it as basic, yet informational as possible. To start with a few important facts for the students to visual what space is is helpful, such as, space is silent, there may be life on mars, nobody knows how many stars are in space, there is floating water in space, etc. These starting facts will helps your students create a point where they at least understand what space is and why it is so undiscovered. To also talk about the moon is very important because a lot of children are already interested in the moon. Building off what your students already know or are interested in helps you to teach topics that are so broad, such as space science!

Earth Science

Earth Science!

Earth Science is a very broad and interesting topic. When teaching earth science to elementary school students, it is important to know what to mention and what to leave out. The study of Earth involves both tactile exploration and abstract concepts. Earth science contains four main branches, geology, oceanography, astronomy, and metrology and climatology. All of these branches are things that we don't necessarily notice in our everyday lives, but most definitely do effect them, therefore, making it important, for even young students, to learn about. The physical constitution of the earth and its atmosphere is something that everyone should learn about because it explains why things on earth are the way they are. Earth science helps us better understand how and why things happen on this planet, such as hurricanes or earthquakes. 

In todays world, our planet faces many challenges that we haven't had in the past - climate change. To education our students on that is extremely important because they are the future and they should understand why it is important to change our ways and how to change them for the better. Our changing climate is cause by human activity so to not education the future human race on how to treat our planet earth, is a big mistake. Earth science also teaches us about energy and where we as humans get it and what we use it for. Energy is something we always will need, but by educating children on earth science, maybe in the future they will discover new ways to get out energy or make our energy more resourceful. Natural science is something that will always be relevant because we will always be on and effecting this planet.