How to Teach Science

by hoyasmeg

Science is a subject that most elementary-age students enjoy because teachers make it fun. Even though some of the concepts are difficult, teachers often do experiments and projects, bring in movies, assign research on the Internet and explore topics with their students. Teaching science can be difficult because you will have students at many different ability levels and with many different levels of interest. Stick to your objectives while allowing students to answer questions and explore their scientific world.

Things You'll Need

• Science curriculum
• Textbook or other science reading materials
• Beakers
• Scales
• Clay
• Goggles
• Computers with Internet connections
• Paper
• Pencil

Instructions

1. Read your science objectives and make a yearly plan. A yearly plan means looking at the school calendar deciding to teach six weeks of matter from the first of September to the middle of October and then teaching six weeks of space and so on. It is looking at the broad picture and planning, so you can fit all science objectives into your school year. Yearly planning also helps you keep on track throughout the school year. You should take note if you are covering material more quickly or slowly than you thought and if you are going to be able to teach all the objectives in one year. As with social studies, when you are a science teacher, you usually have more material to cover than you will have time to teach. You will want to make sure to tell the next grade's science teachers what you were unable to cover each year.

2. Plan each unit of study and include several different types of activities to reach all learners. Some of your students will be auditory learners, some will be visual learners and still others will be kinesthetic learners. You will need to do activities and lessons to reach all types of students. You should probably plan for each science unit to have students reading some text material, taking notes, writing about the subject, conducting experiments and presenting material or teaching each other science concepts.

3. Take careful notes and keep files on each lesson and unit you teach in science. You will want to be able to use some of the same material in the next school year and there is no need to redo all the material each year. You will also need to observe your students and take notes on which activities seemed most successful, which were difficult and so on.

4. Collaborate with other science teachers in your building, in your district or even online. Science is not an easy subject to teach and there are teachers who have a lot of experience and a plethora of great ideas for teaching science. There is a National Science Teachers Association (see Resources).

5. Assess your students on the science objectives you taught during the unit. You can use traditional assessments such as a written or oral test. You can also use authentic assessments such as students working on a project about recycling or the food chain. Whatever type of assessment you choose make sure it is fair and unbiased as well as that it is testing the material you taught in class. These are all the tools and steps you need to teach science successfully.

Resources

• National Science Teachers Association