Intro to Science

There are several components to quality science instruction.  First, it is important to choose a specific learning goal so that students are not overwhelmed and/or unsuccessful.  Because science covers such a vast array of topics and ideas, even the most joyfully planned, hands-on investigation can yield little in terms of what the students' actually take away.  Teaching science needs to extend beyond just learning from a speaker or a mentor text as well as just doing an exciting experiment.  It's important that the learning surpasses just facts and dates and really asks questions of children that makes them think and lead them toward critically examining the world around them.  In science, children should be gaining experience in making observations, asking questions, hypothesizing, finding evidence, discussing and recording, making claims based on that evidence and the scientific knowledge they already know.