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Theory of Science

Standard 4. A teacher knows the teacher’s content area and how to teach it (Design of

curriculum and instruction.) Science- Candidates know, understand and use fundamental

concepts of physical, life and earth/space sciences. Candidates can design and implement

age-appropriate lessons to teach science, build student understanding for personal and social

applications and to convey the nature of science.

I believe that from infancy throughout the course of life, science inquiry is essential to humanity.

From the very first moment of life, a child uses sensory input to fulfill their basic needs. Think of a

newborn recognizing mother as source of sustenance with their olfactory system. As we grow we use

these collections of input to form opinions about why and how the world around us works. Piaget (1954)

believed that children construct an understanding of the universe around them, then make distinctions

between what they already know, prior experience, and what they discover in their environment. A child

may pose at the top stair wondering “What will happen if I jump? Will I fly like a bird, or drop like a

rock?” We engage in experiments to explore and manipulate, gaining understanding of the relationship

between all things. It is human nature to attempt to understand, how, why, and what if? If every human is

a natural scientist, as an educator I can harness this inherent ability in each student to develop the critical

thinkers, collaborators, and problem solvers essential for the 21 st century and beyond.

A first step in providing science content that engages learners by utilizing their natural curiosity,

is to frame the course content through hands-on activities around science inquiry. Rather than simply

presenting content through text-based readings and direct instruction, which is aimed at supporting

students to “find the right answer,” I find it more powerful to use a constructivist approach that

encourages students to be in the front seat of their learning. Students then can actively construct their own

theories, ideas, and explanations that will foster their ability to inquire more deeply (Bass, Contant and

Carin, 2014). This Science lesson, the first lesson in a five week unit on the rock cycle, was chosen as an

introduction to the unit because it is hands-on, engaging and dynamic. In Part I, students are introduced
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and encouraged to explore three types of rocks using samples of real rock in each broad category. This is

done through the gradual release of responsibility (Gardner, 2011), an instructional model where the

responsibility of completing any given task gradually shifts from teacher to student. For example, I

presented the three major classifications in a visual graphic and modeled how I would distinguish

different characteristics of the first type by visually and physically analyzing its qualities. Next, as a class

we explored another type of rock and recorded its characteristics on a T-chart via a large visual display.

Finally, students were responsible for exploring and recording in their science journals, which was done

in intentional peer groups to support zone of proximal development (Vygotski, 1978). This zone refers to

the optimal matching a student with a partner (peer, teacher, parent) who is slightly more proficient to

allow the student to work at the edge of their potential in attaining the concept knowledge at which the

task is aimed. Part II was conducted in a science lab classroom, providing an exciting new educational

environment. Students were required to read and sign a safety contract, which introduced them to

concepts of personal responsibility. I believe in hands-on opportunities so that students can engage in

activities that support visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles (Bass, Contant and Carin, 2014).

This supports the theory that all people have a dominant, or a combination of learning styles that best

suits them in gaining an understanding of a specific concept. Visual learners tend to gain and recall

information more effectively through learning and observing. Auditory learners understand through

hearing and listening, and kinaesthetic learners learn through moving, doing and touching. This lesson

gave the student opportunities to observe the rock cycle through a graphic diagram projected on the

board, to listen to each other in discussion about categorical possibilities, and to work with scientific tools

and materials, which was very engaging for all learning styles. Students were able to actually experience

the cycle of change that rocks continuously undertake as they simulated Earth’s direct forces such as heat,

pressure, and glacial erosion. Many of these forces are driving and transforming the Alaskan landscapes

outside the walls of the school, allowing students to connect this new knowledge to the “real world”

around them.
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Students benefit from understanding that “Science is not static; it changes over time, reflecting

shifts in the larger societies in which it is embedded” (Scotchmoor, Caldwell, & Lindberg, 2013). With

this understanding students can be encouraged to believe that they may be integral to solving some of the

world’s greatest global challenges. In turn, making learning science intrinsically motivating. Within every

professional scientist remains a childlike curiosity about the world. To assure that students fully

experience science learning with this curiosity intact, I plan on providing a curriculum that embraces the

Common Core Standards and transfer them into enduring understandings through scientific inquiry. As an

educator I have to form my own support team through professional association membership, collaboration

with fellow educators, and a constant endeavor to research and evolve my own practice. Included in this

example is myself reflection, which is a process I embrace after every lesson to assure that I can shape

each lesson and my delivery to be the most impactful. I must model my own passion and curiosity.

Science opens the door to understanding how our humanity is interconnected with everything the universe

contains and beyond.

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References

Bass, Contant and Arthur Carin. (2014) Teaching science as inquiry. Allyn and Bacon. Twelfth

Edition. 

Gardner, Howard (2011). Truth, beauty, and goodness reframed: Educating for the virtues in the

21st century. New York: Basic Books.

Piaget, J., (1954). The construction of reality in the child. New York: Basic Books.

Slavin, R. E. (2015). Educational Psychology (11th Edition). Johns Hopkins University.

Upper Saddle River, N. J.: Pearson

Scotchmoor, J. G., Caldwell, R., & Lindberg, D. R. (2013, December 24). Science 101: Building

the foundations for real understanding. Retrieved October 10, 2019, from

http://science.mag.org/content/330/6012/1764.full.

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological process.

London: Harvard University Press.