What are the challenges of teaching elementary school science?

Question

I am finishing up my education and will be teaching next fall. I am wondering what challenges there are to teaching science in elementary school. This subject scares me more than any other. Please help!

Answer 1

I think for many elementary teachers in the US, the big challenge is getting to actually teach science. Sadly, much of it is being pushed out of the way by greater emphasis on improving test scores in reading and math.

Another challenge is simply the setting up of the hands-on activities and the cleaning up. Hand-in-hand with all of that is safety issues.

Assessment can be a big challenge when doing hands-on science activities. How can you be sure all the kids got what they should have gotten out of all of that? Learning journals/lab notebooks turn out to be crucial here. They also give kids a chance to practice important skills like writing, describing, and summarizing.

Answer 2

Challenges Of Teaching Science

Answer 3

I don't know anything about being a teacher but I'm trying to see this from an elementary grade point of view. I sort of see the challenges of teaching science (history too but that doesn't really apply to your question).

I mean for any other subjects, it's so easy to see if a student understands the material. For math, they actually need to know how to work out the problems, and in reading if they don't know how to read well then that is easily spotted.

I guess the challenge would be to get the student to understand. They're not high schoolers or college students and somehow you have to make the material easier to understand. In elementary and middle school....i had horrible teachers. As a good student, I understood the material, but i didn't really GET it. Does that even make sense? So really, I might have gotten A's on my science tests but really i was just memorizing facts that made no sense to me and regurgitating it on tests. And it did have an effect on me cause I was a little behind in science in high school.

Well, that's what I think is the main challenge of this subject (I have no idea how to overcome this but I'm sure with teacher education you'll manage). Good luck to you =)

Answer 4

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Answer 5

Teaching science in elementary is challenging in several ways. First, as the other responses stated, there is often not enough time to teach it during the day. In Texas, 5th graders have to take a science test as part of the state's standardized testing, and focusing on the science objectives can not just start in 5th grade. This test often refers to lab experiments or hands on activities. Many schools do not have the labs or resources at the elementary level to adequately teach the students.

Make science fun for yourself and for the kids. Be creative with the resources you do have. Encourage the students to write about their experiences. Journaling is one of the best resources for the students to retain their knowledge. When you look at the journals, look at the content and not the grammar. Tell the students to be specific and detailed in their observations. You will be surprised how quickly they will develop an eye and interest in the science around them.

Answer 6

The biggest challenges I've seen in teaching elementary school science include:

1. Finding the time. When you factor in that NCLB's heaviest focus is on reading/writing/math (although science/social studies is included to a lesser extent), you may be lucky to get in three lessons a week in science. Some teachers "sneak" in the textbook reading portion of their science lessons as their reading for the day in Language Arts. However, don't forget that you will need to reteach anything that you schedule overlapping special needs kids' pull-out times for Resource Room language arts support.

2. With that limited time, trying to hit all the state science benchmarks in one year can be difficult, and you are caught between whether you do reteaching on a skill the students didn't really master, or "skim" and hope for the best. Also, if you are doing hands-on activities they take more time. Do you want your students to have the deeper, long-term recall ability for fewer benchmarks, or a vague recognition of many benchmarks?

If teaching science makes you nervous, you should go to your assigned mentor teacher (your district does give you one as a first-year teacher, don't they?) and ask for help in scheduling, planning, and setting up your materials in this area. If your district is not following guidelines and giving you a mentor your first year, go to one of your veteran colleagues teaching the same grade level (or one above or below) at your building.

Start reviewing state standards and benchmarks in ALL subjects now. If you have a chance to get in to look at the school adopted curriculum over the summer, look it over and see how the curriculum maps against the state standards. Your school site and/or district may have an actual map they already use.

Take a deep breath and believe in yourself!

Good luck!

Answer 7

Many elementary schools focus on the basics of reading and math, and other subjects like social studies and science get shortchanged. That is a major challenge! One way to overcome that is to integrate science and social studies into the reading and math curriculum.

Another challenge is the lack of funding. There isn't a lot of money to buy supplies to do science experiments. Fortunately, you can create materials and/or use everyday objects to teach science.

One of the great things about teaching science to elementary students: They don't have highly developed abstract thinking skills yet. When you can SHOW them how something works, it really wows them. It helps them to develop their abstract thinking skills, and then they become more open to other ideas and begin to really expand their imaginations.

Answer 8

I suggest you review your Bloom's taxonomy and Piaget's work on cognitive development. It is important you understand where the kids are and where you are trying to get to. Beyond that you need to develop a little personal enthusiasm for the sciences. Science for kids is not about big words and difficult concepts because frankly they will not be ready for most of that stuff till high school. No, science is about life and living and can be found in everything from cooking to sports. I suggest you try to relax and open up your mind to the possiblities. For instance, being a scratch cook, one of the most used science book on my shelf is "Joy of Cooking" by Rombauer & Becker. It is amazing how much science is involved in cooking. Outdoor recreation, another strong interest, is likewise chock full of science.

For help and ideas I would suggest turning to the web. There are dozen of web sites out there which will help, some like Nasa are eager to help.

Once again my advise is relax and enjoy yourself. Let your enthusiasm carry you through the rough moments.

Answer 9

Right now the global warming alarmists are having their 15 minutes. Tell your daughter that if an environmentalist wants to study climate change objectively, they won't find any funding, but grants will line up if they want do a study on the "ill" affects of global warming. Science isn't even utilized, global warming will go the way of the acid rain scare of the eighties and the "new ice age" scare of the seventies. You are a practical, objective thinker, your daughter will probably be too.

Answer 10

i am science teacher in philippines so i think its more easier to teach high school than elementary because some of the student.,.,., you can't disciplkine them ok