Register for EDU 560SA and EDU 560SB in this series now through June 30, 2013!
Is science in your classroom just another "reading" class?
The best way for a student to learn science is to be a scientist! Collecting data through direct observation, recording and posting that data, organizing the posted data, and looking for patterns that lead to generalizations that can be tested by further observations.
"The focal point of teaching science should not be learning facts, it should be the building up in the student of the thinking processes, skills, and methods for gathering his/her own data to enable his/her own personal arrival at those same facts." R. Kremer, Master's Project, 1970, CSUS.
Stir your students' imagination and creativity with exciting art and game extension activities that make science concepts come alive!
As a result of taking courses in this series you will have experience in:
- Asking interactive questions that engage students in the higher level thinking skills.
- Leading an open-ended brainstorming session that may include "friendly disagreements."
- Using the experience-based learning technique that relates science concepts to the real world.
- Motivating students with hands-on (concrete) activities.
Here are just a few science verbs taken from some of the activities:
Sort, Classify, Compare, Collect, List, Identify, Evaluate, Explain, Describe, Group, Record, Draw.
All the activities are related to science concepts in the state science framework. You will need to have students available to complete the coursework assignments in this series.
One Teacher's Comments:
I just want you to know how much I’m enjoying Teaching Elementary Science/Animals. I’ve been teaching for 11 years, so it’s nice to have some new, fresh ideas. My students are having a blast.
We went on a field trip to ( ) Beach during the Seashell activity and it was amazing to watch them identifying shells.
We are working on the bird observation logs now. Wouldn’t you know that a killdeer bird built her nest outside of our classroom window! We get to watch her all the time. She wasn’t happy when the workers put up protective tape around her nest this morning, but she is back on her eggs now.
I have 100 stories I could tell you about these lessons. My students and I are loving it!
HOW DO I RECEIVE MY COURSE INSTRUCTIONS?
After registering for this course, allow 48 business hours and then your course instructions will be available through this website. Log in to our website by using your e-mail address and password. Go to MY ACCOUNT and the course instructions will be there for you to download and print. Please allow 48 business hours for this access. PLEASE NOTE THAT COURSE INSTRUCTIONS ARE APPROXIMATELY 80-170 PAGES AND CAN TAKE SOME TIME TO PRINT OUT, DEPENDING ON YOUR PRINTER.
For course content information, contact USD Professional and Continuing Education at pce-edu-info@sandiego.edu.