Reminders about systemic issues

• Science should be taught in the elementary grades, and children should engage in sensemaking around first-hand investigations.

• Schools that serve mainly students of color are often more likely to eliminate science from the schedule.

What could I try to do? 

(Here are some examples of these moves.)

• Privilege first-hand science investigations that involve natural phenomena. 

• Find or adapt investigations that use everyday materials, without assuming families can provide those materials for you. 

• Provide a shared experience with a natural phenomenon to launch a science investigation.

• When crafting opportunities to learn that go beyond first-hand experiences, provide multiple modalities (e.g., audio, video, text) for children to engage with ideas, to make the ideas accessible for a wider range of learners.

• Make science a long-term endeavor, so that children consistently have opportunities for science learning. 

• Adapt curriculum materials to infuse sensemaking opportunities—give opportunities for thinking and knowledge generation, not just hands-on science.

• Use participation structures that give students opportunities for scientific discourse and to build on one another’s ideas.

• Develop talk moves to support scientific discourse (consider using posters, table tents, back-pocket questions), while making sure to not make students’ use of talk moves simply another way of enforcing the teacher’s rules.

• Introduce academic language after experience with the phenomenon. Don’t pre-teach vocab about concepts, because in science this often takes away the opportunity for inquiry.

• Use language supports and other scaffolding for emergent multilingual learners and children with learning differences. 

• Use local museums, zoos, outdoor spaces, or aquaria as opportunities for science learning grounded in the local community.

Questions to ask myself

• How am I making time in the day (and week, and year) for science?

• How am I ensuring children have the opportunity to experience wonder about the natural world, and the joy that comes from understanding it?

• How do I make sure that all students have equal footing with respect to the contexts?

• How do I use language in accessible and accurate ways, and help students to do so?

• What content knowledge do I need to teach this effectively? Where are the gaps in my own knowledge? What content do I need to learn more about to teach this effectively?

Tools, frameworks, and activities that can help me

• Use the talk moves tool to help you engage children in authentic scientific discourse.

• Use the science practices scaffolding continuum (SPSC) tool to help you engage children in the science practices.

• Contact the high school shop teacher to ask about having something built for your classroom.

• Do a “science materials scavenger hunt” in your school to track down potentially forgotten resources.

• Look at Arbor Scientific or Carolina Biological for inexpensive science tools; Lowes has gift certificates and/or discounts for teachers.

• Seek out funding for your ideas through sites like Donors Choose or by reaching out to your district or school leaders. 

• Consider how science and literacy support one another (Nell Duke’s video).

• Explore PD opportunities through local science museums or nature centers.

• Join the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and/or your state science teachers’ association (e.g., MSTA).

• We helped write this Science and Children paper (DOI or PDF for U-M) that gives some ideas about how to make time for elementary science. (If you don't have access to the paper here, please email Betsy directly.)