This paper examines the hypothesis that St. Lucian primary school teachers' science teaching and learning beliefs and their applicability beliefs are stronger predictors of their science teaching strategies than their teacher education experiences. Quantitative procedures were used where the level of each belief construct as well as their…

My exploratory case study examined the use of a learning platform to facilitate constructivist teaching strategies by pre-service teachers during their student teaching and field experiences in elementary science classes. Constructivist teaching strategies include inquiry lessons and active learning techniques. Dialogue, interviews and online…

Conceptually, students are typically introduced to light as a type of wave. However, children struggle to understand this model because it is highly abstract. Light can be represented more concretely using the photon model. According to this scientific model, light emanates from sources as tiny "packets" of energy (called "photons") that move in…

In this article, the author discusses the deliberate policy on the part of Primary Science Committee (PSC) to ensure that not only is primary science embedded in all aspects of the work of ASE but is seen to be there. She also describes the events for the 2010 Annual Conference. Over the coming months, PSC will continue to put much thought into…

The familiar kaleidoscope toy was developed by the Scottish physicist David Brewster (1781-1868) in 1816, patented by him in 1817, and described in his 1819 book, "A Treatise on the Kaleidoscope." Generations of elementary students have made their own kaleidoscopes by assembling three microscope slides inside a tube and looking through it at a…

On a recent autumn afternoon at Harmony Leland Elementary in Mableton, Georgia, students in a fifth-grade science class investigated the essential process of classification--the act of putting things into groups according to some common characteristics or attributes. While they may have honed these skills earlier in the week by grouping their own…

Based on the best-selling book "The Parallel Curriculum", this professional development resource gives multifaceted examples of rigorous learning opportunities for science students in Grades 6-12. The four sample units revolve around genetics, the convergence of science and society, the integration of language arts and biology, and the periodic…

Art and science are sometimes viewed as opposing subjects, but are united in many ways. With an increased awareness of the benefits of interdisciplinary studies in education, it is desirable to show students how different subjects impact one another. Visual arts are greatly connected to chemistry in several ways. Pigments are usually synthetically…

This study examined preservice teachers' understanding of biotechnology and its related processes. A sample comprised 88 elementary education preservice teachers at a large university in the Midwest of the USA. A total of 60 and 28 of the participants were enrolled in introductory and advanced science methods courses, respectively. Most…

The paper explores the ways girls appropriate gender through actions, gesture and talk to achieve things in primary school science classrooms. It draws on socio-cultural approaches to show that when everyday classroom practices are viewed from multiple planes of analysis, historical, institutional and in the micro dynamics of classroom…

Taking children out of the classroom to learn in a totally different environment can be very rewarding for both the children and the teacher. Part of the excitement is the unfamiliarity of the place, which has its positive sides but can lead to a lack of focus. As part of the Darwin 200 celebrations in 2009, the Charles Darwin Trust and…

The purpose of this research was to investigate the conceptions and misconceptions of young children (ages 3-8) related to science concepts, skills, and phenomena. These conceptions and misconceptions were investigated within the framework of the Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards for Pre-Kindergarten and the Pennsylvania Standards for…

We investigated curricular and pedagogical innovations in an undergraduate science methods course for elementary education majors at the University of Maryland. The goals of the innovative elementary science methods course included: improving students' attitudes toward and views of science and science teaching, to model innovative science teaching…

This article examines the pedagogical practices of two science inquiry teachers and their students using a Web-based system called Web of Inquiry (WOI). There is a need to build a collective repertoire of pedagogical practices that can assist elementary and middle school teachers as they support students to develop a complex model of inquiry based…

Assessment serves many purposes in the elementary classroom. Formative assessment, often called assessment for learning, is characterized by its primary purpose--promoting learning. It takes place both formally and informally, is embedded in various stages of an instructional cycle, informs the teacher about appropriate next steps for instruction,…