Jeff Piontek

From The 2000 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education: Status of Elementary School Science Teaching by S.L. Fulp (2002), Chapel Hill, NC: Horizon Research.

UniversityScience Content

Course Requirements

Science Methods Course Requirements

Course description (taken from the course syllabus)

Chaminade University

Students entering the program must take a

minimum of 2 science courses

Students are required to take a 3 semester hour

Environmental Education course

The course will emphasize a holistic approach to understanding our Earth’s systems, and will approach the history of our planet (and our solar system) in a chronological and topical manner in terms of zoological, botanical, geological, atmospheric, and cultural studies. The history of humanity and ecological issues surrounding that history will also be addressed.

Brigham Young Univeristy

Students entering the program must take a

minimum of 2 science courses

Students are required to take a 3 semester hour

Science Methods for the Elementary Teacher

The course is designed to be an introduction to the teaching of science and technology in the elementary school. Students will be able to teach contextual content and unlock the creativity of their own abilities. Students will discuss in depth science processes and develop investigations which are both relevant and understandable to the students in the class.

University of Hawaii at

Manoa

Students entering the program must take a

minimum of 2 science courses and 1

semester credit of a science laboratory

course

Students are required to take a 3 semester hour

Science Methods for the Elementary Teacher

Also offers a 1 semester hour practicum in

Curriculum Development: Natural Science

This course focuses on the teaching of science at the elementary level. Students will explore the purposesof science education, the scope of science education, typical curriculum sequences, fundamental skills, effective teaching methodologies, and a range of available resources and materials. Emphasis will be placed on how to enhance students’ science knowledge and skills, critical thinking skills, and laboratory skills. Emphasis will be placed on teaching to the standards and interdisciplinary approaches to science education.Practicum is for in-service teachers to upgrade subject matter and develop teaching methods and materials for instruction

• The center of the Earth is very hot. (True or False)• The oxygen we breathe comes from plants. (True or False)• Electrons are smaller than atoms. (True or False)• The continents on which we live have been moving their location for

millions of years and will continue to move in the future. (True or False)• Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of

animals. (True or False)• The earliest human beings lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. (True or

False)• Which travels faster: light or sound?• How long does it take the Earth to go around the sun: one day, one month

or one year?• Tell me in your own words, what is DNA?• Tell me in your own words, what is a molecule?• Antibiotics kill viruses, as well as bacteria. (True or False)• Does the Earth go around the sun, or the sun go around the Earth?