Alexis Anderson

TEAC 315: Fall 2014

Summary #1
09/17/2014
Primary Science Taking the Plunge chapter one discusses the importance of science the
subject for teachers and for students. The section digs deeper into understanding science, and
what science means to young learners. The questions, why science, what science, and how
are addressed. By the end of the chapter we recognize all students must make sense of not only
science, but the world around them. We can directly correlate this chapter and the other two
readings with the fifth pillar of the course goals, the capacity to create a positive environment
that encourages science learning by modeling the attitudes and dispositions of scientific inquiry.
(Class Syllabus; Musson 2014) As teachers it is our job to provide useful, diverse, interactive,
processing, and questioning science atmospheres.
In addition to chapter one, the Olson article focuses on teaching science concepts. It
concentrates not on the big ideas of science or the meaning, but how we can make science
learning relatable and more involved. The text presents a goal of making sure students leave
science class with specific information and ideas to share and expand on. Instead of children
arriving home and saying they worked with plants in science, they can specifically state the
workings of photosynthesis the process, and the functions of each of the plants pieces (leaves,
stem, and roots). By having this type of outlook on a science classroom, students will feel more
positively connected to the material, but also be able to relate it to their environment. We can
model the process of hypothesis, by giving children plants, parts, and variables to work with.
This assures the information is being deposited.

The third article by Powell discusses the use of connecting science with the world. It
limits the details of the Olson article and presents teachers with a bigger picture. Learning across
subject areas is extensively diverse yet correlated to one another. It is important to include many
of the same processes within the same context. Focusing on the larger broad topics of science is
useful in determining valuable and specific information. It creates an environment for opinion,
suggestions, questions, and even theories. Students become more involved in the process and are
able to link the concepts to other aspects of their lives.
The Harlen chapter for me, was a great wide spread text to read. I enjoyed the way the
book presented the idea of learning. The book suggests, as teachers we should not only focus on
what children are learning, but how they learn. This is a vital aspect of not only science teaching,
but teaching in general. Finding our own answers is an important aspect of any scientific
discovery. As educators, we need to foster these types of thought processes, model their uses and
assure that correctness and exactness is limited. Teachers at any grade level need to acknowledge
what students know, why they know it, and how to aid each.
Each of these readings connects in its way of looking at science. Whether the idea is
detailed oriented or larger picture, students will be exposed to positive thought provoking
experiences. By expressing the diversity of our world and its answers, students will be more
positively inclined to have memorable experiences in science, leading to more thoughts, more
questions, and more discoveries.