Teaching Elementary Science: Whos Afraid of Spiders

360 Pages·1988·5.59 MB·English

by  Selma Wasserman

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title: The New Teaching Elementary Science : Who's Afraid of
Spiders?
author: Wassermann, Selma.; Ivany, J. W. George
publisher: Teachers College Press
isbn10 | asin:
print isbn13: 9780807735121
ebook isbn13: 9780585374673
language: English
subject Science--Study and teaching (Elementary)
publication date: 1996
lcc: LB1585.W29 1996eb
ddc: 372.3/5044
subject: Science--Study and teaching (Elementary)
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Page iii
The New Teaching Elementary Science
Who's Afraid of Spiders?
Second Edition
Selma Wassermann
and J.W. George Ivany

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cover next page >

title: The New Teaching Elementary Science : Who's Afraid of
Spiders?
author: Wassermann, Selma.; Ivany, J. W. George
publisher: Teachers College Press
isbn10 | asin:
print isbn13: 9780807735121
ebook isbn13: 9780585374673
language: English
subject Science--Study and teaching (Elementary)
publication date: 1996
lcc: LB1585.W29 1996eb
ddc: 372.3/5044
subject: Science--Study and teaching (Elementary)
cover next page >
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Page iv
Published by Teachers College Press, 1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027
Copyright © 1996 by Teachers College, Columbia University
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission
from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wassermann, Selma.
The new teaching elementary science : who's afraid of spiders? /
Selma Wassermann, J.W. George Ivany.2nd ed.
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: Teaching elementary science. 1st ed. 1988.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8077-3512-4 (pbk)
1. ScienceStudy and teaching (Elementary) 1. Ivany, J. W.
George, 1938. II. Wassermann, Selma. Teaching elementary
science. III. Title.
LB1585.W29 1996
372.3'5044dc20 95-41119
ISBN 0-8077-3512-4 (paper)
Printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
03 02 01 00 99 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

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Page v
Contents
Preface vii
1
Teachers, Children, and Science: Theoretical Perspectives 1
2
This Book Is for Teachers
3
Perspectives on Science and Sciencing
5
Science Versus Sciencing
7
Implications for Classroom Practice: the PlayDebriefReplay Instructional
Model
11
Perspectives on Children
13
Children Today
14
Implications for Teaching
14
Principles of Child Development
17
Perspectives on Play
20
Perspectives on Teaching for Thinking
21
There Is Thinking and There Is Thinking
22
Teaching for Thinking and Classroom Practice
27
Perspectives from the Classroom
30
The PlayDebriefReplay Instructional Model
33
Conclusion
2
Organizing the Science Program 37
39
Children Working in Groups: A Question of the Teacher's Beliefs
41
Preparing Pupils for Sciencing
46
Gathering the Materials
51
Making Room for Sciencing
53
Choosing the Right Approach to an Elementary Sciencing Program
60
Guidelines and Ground Rules
62
Teachers Helping Teachers
63
Evaluating Pupil Growth
66
Evaluating Students' Work in Sciencing
75
Reporting to Parents
76
Evaluation: Some Last Words

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Page vi
3
Thinking and Decision Making in Science 79
82
Levels of Thinking
86
Freedom to Choose
88
Implications for the Teacher
89
PlayDebriefReplay: Instructional Strategies Emphasizing Thinking and Decision
Making
89
Investigative Play: Concept Development through Hands-on Experience
91
Debriefing: Extracting Meaning from Play
98
Cognitive Play: Opportunities for Students to Learn to Choose
101
Debriefing: Interactions to Analyze and Inform Decision Making
103
Learning Teaching-For-Thinking Interactions: Tools for the Teacher
109
Samples
116
Choosing a Way to Teach Science: A Recapitulation
4
60 Sciencing Activities 120
122
Introduction to the Activities
122
How the Activities Are Grouped
124
Presentation of the Activities
125
Choosing Activities
127
Classroom Applications
131
Category A: Wet, Wetter, Wettest
155
Category B: No Fuss, No Muss, No Sticky Mess
259
Category C: Who's Afraid of Spiders?
5
Journey into the Unknown 289
290
Buying Your Ticket
291
PlayDebriefReplay: Some Teacher Concerns
303
Conclusion
Appendix: Profiles of Thinking-Related Behaviors 305
Index 317

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Page vii
Preface
In the brief six year period since the first edition of Teaching Elementary Science: Who's Afraid of Spiders? was
published, science and technology have taken a giant leap into the future. The original manuscript was written on
an electric typewriter. That machine, considered state-of-the-art at the time, is now buried in the attic, like some
dinosaur relic of a prehistoric time.
The universities at which we teach are moving to implement the "virtual university" that involves the use of
information/computer technology, including telelearning for the advancement of educational effectiveness. The
virtual university concept will make use of teleconferencing and the more interactive forms of computer-aided
learning that will extend instruction far beyond face-to-face classrooms. The mind-boggling information super-
highway allows for instant information access to topics that are encyclopaedic in range. E-mail and FAX have
taken over "snail mail" as more preferred means of instant communication. No waiting, no stamps to lick.
When Alvin Toffler wrote in 1970 that the pace of change was accelerating, many of us had difficulty appreciating
his admonitions. Now, 1970 seems like ancient history. We are today, as Toffler warned, in an "abrupt collision
with the future."
While life all around us is moving at e-mail speed, quality science teaching in elementary classrooms marches
forward in painful half-steps, like snail mail. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
document, Science for All Americans, published in 1990, reports that
A cascade of recent studies has made it abundantly clear that by both national standards and world norms,
U.S. education is failing too many students. . . . The nation has not acted decisively enough in preparing
young people . . . for a world that continues to change radically in response to the rapid growth of scientific
knowledge and technological power. (p. 3)
Clearly, not enough attention has been focused on the quality of instruction in science in the elementary schools.
What's more, the preparation of elementary teachers is still found wanting in the areas of science and technology,
leaving many teachers at a loss in bridging the gap between the theoretical constructs offered in university classes,
and the application of effective strategies that promote scientific literacy in young learners.
It was our hope that the first edition of Teaching Elementary Science would provide a resource for classroom
teachers to develop students' knowledge, attitudes, and skills that would prepare them to become more scientifically
literate. By articulating a clear theoreti-

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Page viii
cal framework, coupled with accessible teaching strategies, we hoped that teachers who felt unprepared for and
intimidated by teaching science would be helped to cross the bridge to more effective, more satisfying, more joyful
science teaching experiences. Virtually all of the feedback we have had from both preservice and inservice teachers
in the last seven years has suggested that those hopes were not unfounded. Teachers and prospective teachers have
told us that this text has helped them to understand better how science might be more effectively taught, and it has
provided them with tools and resources that allow them to translate these understandings into classroom practice.
Wherever we have met with teachers who have used this book, they have told us the same story: "These teaching
strategies work! Children love this way of learning science! I'm losing my own fears and learning to love science
teaching!"
In writing this new edition, we have kept much of the "stuff" that has demonstrably worked for teachers thus far:
the emphasis on investigative play, or "sciencing" as a way for children to think about and do science that builds
conceptual understanding about scientific phenomena; the focus on ''debriefing," the classroom discussion that
helps children make connections and promotes scientific literacy; the extensive collection of resources and
activities that are easily applicable to classroom use. We have, however, made some important changesadditions
that we hope will make the book even more useful. The recent work done by the AAAS, with its emphasis on the
development of "scientific literacy," has been articulated with our own vision of sciencing. Current literature and
research in science education, cooperative group work, and constructivism are now explicit reference points for
what we have proposed. The use of portfolios in student assessment has also been incorporated into the chapter on
evaluation. The identification of the "big ideas"those important science concepts that are being examined and
investigated in each activityhave been identified for all 60 activities. There is an added emphasis on the technology
side of science, since it is in this area that major breakthroughs have occurred in the past dozen years. Helping
children to become more scientifically literate is now explicitly identified as a key goal. By adding these new
dimensions to the text, we hope that we will have increased its value and its effectiveness for teachers and teacher
educators.
There is still more work that we, as educators, need to do to satisfy the demands and expectations of a radically
changing and increasingly complex world. But we still very much believe that Teaching Elementary Science:
Who's Afraid of Spiders? in its new and updated edition offers teachers useful information and practical help to
take giant steps toward more effective science teaching.
Many significant contributions made to the first edition continue to enrich what we have done here. To Drs. John
Wormsbecker and Stewart Martin, and to all the teachers and children in the Vancouver classrooms where the
original research was carried out; to Heather Hamilton, Marti Edwards, and Susan Sheremeta, whose classroom
work contributed to the development of the instructional model; to members of the research team, Neil and
Maureen McAllister, Pat Holborn, Fiona Crofton, Rob Henderson and Harold McAllister; to Dennis Smith for his
drawings; to Chris Hildreth and Linda Hof, for the live-action photographsour heartfelt thanks once again.

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