In the early twentieth century, a curriculum known as nature study flourished in major city school systems, streetcar suburbs, small towns, and even rural one-room schools. This object-based approach to learning about the natural world marked the first systematic attempt to introduce science into elementary education, and it came at a time when institutions such as zoos, botanical gardens, natural history museums, and national parks were promoting the idea that direct knowledge of nature would benefit an increasingly urban and industrial nation. The definitive history of this once pervasive nature study movement, TeachingChildren Science emphasizes the scientific, pedagogical, and social incentives that encouraged primarily women teachers to explore nature in and beyond their classrooms. Sally Gregory Kohlstedt brings to vivid life the instructors and reformers who advanced nature study through on-campus schools, summer programs, textbooks, and public speaking. Within a generation, this highly successful hands-on approach migrated beyond public schools into summer camps, afterschool activities, and the scouting movement. Although the rich diversity of nature study classes eventually lost ground to increasingly standardized curricula, Kohlstedt locates its legacy in the living plants and animals in classrooms and environmental field trips that remain central parts of science education today.

"Teaching Science to Every Child provides timely and practical guidance about teaching science to all students. Particular emphasis is given to making science accessible to students who are typically pushed to the fringe - especially students of color and English language learners. Central to this text is the idea that science can be viewed as a culture, including specific methods of thinking, particular ways of communicating, and specialized kinds of tools. By using culture as a starting point and connecting it to effective instructional approaches, this text gives elementary and middle school science teachers a valuable framework to support the science learning of every student. Written in a conversational style, it treats readers as professional partners in efforts to address vital issues and implement classroom practices that will contribute to closing achievement gaps and advancing the science learning of all children. Features include "Point/Counterpoint" essays that present contrasting perspectives on a variety of science education topics; explicit connections between National Science Education Standards and chapter content; and chapter objectives, bulleted summaries, key terms; reflection and discussion questions. Additional resources are available on the updated and expanded Companion Website www.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415892582 Changes in the Second Edition Three entirely new chapters: Integrated Process Skills; Learning and Teaching; Assessment Technological tools and resources embedded throughout each chapter Increased attention to the role of theory as it relates to science teaching and learning Expanded use of science process skills for upper elementary and middle school Additional material about science notebooks "--Provided by publisher

This brand-new elementary science methods text uses an innovative applied approach and is authored by three leaders in the field. The text takes a constructivist approach and practices this approach by engaging students in reflective thought and investigations.Project-based science engages young learners in exploring authentic, important, and meaningful questions of real concern to students. Through a dynamic process of investigation and collaboration and using the same processes and technologies that real scientists use, students work in teams to formulate questions, make predictions, design investigations, collect and analyze data, make products and share ideas. Students learn fundamental science concepts and principles that they apply to their daily lives. Project-based science helps all students regardless of culture, race, or gender engage in science learning.The book is packed with numerous examples so that the reader can easily understand points that are made throughout the book. Each chapter has activity boxes with experiments that exemplify the project-based approach. The book provides useful tips, charts, diagrams, and tables that illustrate how to get children doing investigations. The text's dynamic teaching methods match all of today's major science education reports including The National Science Education Standards, Project 2061: Science for All Americans, and Benchmarks for Science Literacy.

If you like the popular?Teaching Science Through Trade Books? columns in NSTA?s journal Science and Children, or if you?ve become enamored of the award-winning Picture-Perfect Science Lessons series, you?ll love this new collection. It?s based on the same time-saving concept: By using children?s books to pique students? interest, you can combine science teaching with reading instruction in an engaging and effective way.

What is science for a child? How do children learn about science and how to do science? Drawing on a vast array of work from neuroscience to classroom observation, Taking Science to School provides a comprehensive picture of what we know about teaching and learning science from kindergarten through eighth grade. By looking at a broad range of questions, this book provides a basic foundation for guiding science teaching and supporting students in their learning. Taking Science to School answers such questions as: When do children begin to learn about science? Are there critical stages in a child's development of such scientific concepts as mass or animate objects? What role does nonschool learning play in children's knowledge of science? How can science education capitalize on children's natural curiosity? What are the best tasks for books, lectures, and hands-on learning? How can teachers be taught to teach science? The book also provides a detailed examination of how we know what we know about children's learning of scienceâ€"about the role of research and evidence. This book will be an essential resource for everyone involved in K-8 science educationâ€"teachers, principals, boards of education, teacher education providers and accreditors, education researchers, federal education agencies, and state and federal policy makers. It will also be a useful guide for parents and others interested in how children learn.