Northern Arizona University
College of Education

The mission of the College of Education at Northern Arizona University is to prepare education professionals to create the schools of tomorrow.

ECI 645 Modern Elementary School Science

Summer Session I, 2003
Location: AC 214
Dates/Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 4:30 – 9:10
 June 3 – June 25 AND Saturday, June 7, 7:30 – 12:00 at the Yuma Conservation Garden  
Special note: There will not be class on June 18, or 19.
Credit Hours:    3 hours
Instructor:  Vicki Ardisana
Office hours:   AC 245    T & Th: 1:00 – 4:00 or by appointment
Email:    Vicki.Ardisana@nau.edu    Phone: 928-317-6415


                                            


Course Description

ECI 645 is designed for evaluation of texts and reference materials in science; use of homemade and commercial equipment, extension of subject matter concepts in the physical, earth and space, environmental, and biological fields. ECI 645 will also presents students with a variety of currently-accepted standards-based instructional approaches to teaching elementary science, including a constructivist approach which encourages children to construct information in ways that are meaningful to them.  Teachers will experience these instructional approaches, using a variety of resources, so they will have the skills to use them with children in classrooms.

Thematic Focus

In order to increase learning and develop scientific concepts, this course will focus on a theme of “Interdependence in the world around us.” Students learn by “doing science” through questioning, observing, manipulating, collecting and analyzing data, and drawing and communicating conclusions, which lead to more questions. Students are expected to develop, model, and participate in activities and field trips as part of the course requirements. Science as inquiry will be modeled to include all of the national science standards.



Course Objectives

In accordance with the College of Education Mission Statement, this course prepares education professionals to create the schools of tomorrow. Objective numbers following each section refer to Arizona’s Professional Teaching Standards (which should correlate with the Arizona Educators Proficiency Exam). Your successful completion of this course will enable you to:

Knowledge: All, 7:1a, 7:4

Conceptual knowledge. Students in ECI 645 will demonstrate their ability to present scientific concepts in a developmentally appropriate manner for students in grades K-8. The unifying concepts and processes that under lay this are:
1:3, 1:6, 1:10, 1:12, 3:2, 3:3, 3:6, 7:2

Knowledge of the physical universe. One of the grand success stories is the unification of the physical universe. It turns out that all natural objects, events, and processes are connected to each other in such a way that only a relatively few concepts are needed to make sense of them. In a way, this fact complicates what students should know about the makeup and structure of the universe. Any one arrangement of topics inevitably neglects many cross-connections among topics. The physical universe is a subject in which many ideas make high demands on students' comprehension and imagination. Students in elementary school can only begin to form notions of stars and matter. The drastically different scales of astronomical and atomic phenomena can be learned only over many years. But it is important that all elementary students develop a sense of the context of place, time and physical interactions in which their lives occur. Students in their early years are especially curious about how the world works. 1:4, 1:5, 1:7, 2:4, 2:6, 2:7, 3:10, 3:12, 8:12

Knowledge of the nature of living things. What can be anywhere near as awe-inspiring as the vast array of living things that occupy every nook and cranny of the earth's surface, unless it is the array of extinct species that once occupied the planet? This sense of wonder at the rich diversity and complexity of life is easily fostered in children. They spontaneously respond to nature. However, attempts to give them explanations for that diversity before they are able to handle abstractions, or before they can see the need for explanations, can dampen their natural curiosity. The challenge for educators is to capitalize on the interest that students have in living things while moving them gradually toward ideas that make sense out of nature. Familiarity with phenomena should precede their explanation, and attention to the concrete object should precede abstract theory. 1:8, 1:9, 2:8, 3:3, 3:7, 7:5, 8:6

Skills:
(Letter designation refers to National Science Content Standards.)
The student will be able to demonstrate the following competencies after successful completion of ECI 645 and will be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding that conceptual and procedural schemes unify science disciplines and provide students with powerful ideas to help them understand the natural world. 1:3, 2:5, 3:2, 3:3, 3:4, 3:5, 3:10, 3:12, 3:14, 4:1, 4:2, 4:3, 7:1, 7:1a, 8:2

A. Construct science lessons that have "science-as-inquiry" as the controlling principle in the ultimate organization and selection of activities. 2:2, 2:6, 2:9, 3all, 7:3 [AZ 1SC]

Through the use of science facts, concepts, principles, theories, and models demonstrate an understanding of the following science content standards:

B. Physical [AZ 5SC] 
 C. Life [AZ 4SC]
 D. Earth/Space [AZ 6SC] 
 F. Personal/Social[AZ 3SC]
Properties and changes of properties in matterMotion and forcesTransfer of energyLight, heat, electricity, magnetism
 Structure and function in living systemsReproduction and heredityPopulations and ecosystemsDiversity and adaptations of organisms
 Structure of the earth systemEarth's historyEarth in the solar system
 Personal healthPopulations, resources, and environmentsNatural hazardsRisks and benefits
E. Science and technology in society
1:1, 1:2, 1:11, 1:12, 2:9, 3:2, 3:3
 1:1, 1:2, 1:11, 1:12, 2:9, 3:2, 3:3
 1:1, 1:2, 1:11, 1:12, 2:9, 3:2, 3:3
 2:9, 3:2, 3:3, 3:11, 5

          
Properties and changes of properties in matterMotion and forcesTransfer of energyLight, heat, electricity, magnetism    Structure and function in living systemsReproduction and heredityPopulations and ecosystemsDiversity and adaptations of organisms    Structure of the earth systemEarth's historyEarth in the solar system    Personal healthPopulations, resources, and environmentsNatural hazardsRisks and benefitsE. Science and technology in society
1:1, 1:2, 1:11, 1:12, 2:9, 3:2, 3:3    1:1, 1:2, 1:11, 1:12, 2:9, 3:2, 3:3    1:1, 1:2, 1:11, 1:12, 2:9, 3:2, 3:3    2:9, 3:2, 3:3, 3:11, 5

G. Demonstrate an understanding of the History and Nature of Science by incorporating science as a human endeavor, nature of science, and history of science appropriately into science lessons and connections with social science learning. 2:1, 2:4, 3:2, 3:3, 3:4, 3:8, 3:12, 5 all, 7:4, 7:5, 8:6  [AZ 2SC]

Demonstrate an understanding that assessment in science plays a key role to standards-based science and ability to develop a variety of assessment strategies and questioning techniques appropriate for formative and summative assessments in science. 1 all, 2:4, 3:10, 3:12, 3:14, 3:15, 4 all



Attitudes/Values:

After a successful completion of ECI 645, the teacher will understand the importance of the role of the teacher in the science classroom. The teacher/student will be able to:
Projects/Experiences/Expectations

In order to be a successful science teacher, it is expected that you participate fully in all activities and trips to enhance your cooperative/collaborative abilities in inquiry-based science learning/teaching.
Mapping the standards
Project WILD training
Project WET day
Utilizing the Yuma Conservation Garden and duck pond as a teaching tool that addresses all science standards and reinforces or enhances many other content standards
Observing, recording and analyzing patterns and characteristics
Researching and applications
Developing a science resource binder to include people, places, materials, activities and other resources

Text

Kit provided from NAU through NSTA from a grant, written by Dr. Julie Gess-Newcome which includes:

National Research Council. (1996). National science education standards. Washington , D. C.: National Academy Press.
Lowery, L. F. (Ed.). (2000). NSTA Pathways to the science standards, elementary school edition (2nd ed.). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
Russell, H. R. (2001). Ten-minute field trips: A teacher’s guide to using the schoolgrounds for environmental studies (3rd ed.). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
Burnett, R. (1999). The pillbug project: A guide to investigation. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.




Web resources
http://www.learner.org/channel/workshops/inquiry
http://www.nsta.org/
http://www.scilinks.org
http://www.enc.org/
http://www.ed.gov/NLE/
http://www.nasa.gov/
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html
http://www.noaa.gov/
http://www.ccsso.org/SciMathIndicators01.html
http://www.exploratorium.edu
http://school.discovery.com/
http://www.pbs.org/
http://www.ade.state.az.us/
http://www.nsf.gov/home/ehr/
http://www.learnersonline.com/
http://www.ymsrtc.apscc.k12.az.us/default.htm







Grading:
Your grade will be based upon:
Active participation in class                10@10        100 points    
Resource binder                                        150             6/25
Journal notes and reflections                10@6          60    6/5    6/25    
Garden write-up                                        30            6/11
Two science teaching journal article reviews        2@25          50    6/10    6/17   How to Cite Sources cite
Final exam                                                  50        6/25
Your contributions to the notebook:                    
    Experiments and/or activities            2@30          60    as done    
    Field trip write-up                              50        6/24

Total possible                                            550 points

90% - 100%     495 – 550 points    A
80% - 89%    440 – 494 points    B
70% - 79%    385 – 439 points    C
Less than 385 points is not acceptable and you will need to retake the course!

Please review the NAU policy statements attached.
(The full student handbook is also available at: http://www.nau.edu/~stulife/handbook.html )



Your Science Resource Binder should be organized in a logical fashion that makes sense to you and includes:
·    Cover page
·    AZ Science standards
·    Each of your activities/experiments and those of your classmates
·    Your garden write-up
·    Your field trip/guest speaker information along with everyone else’s
·    Your inventory/materials/equipment lists
·    Your journal
·    Hand outs from class can be in a section at the end
·    Optional – activities you found for later use that you did not write up


Field trip/guest speaker write up should list the critical information followed by a short narrative paragraph of information. Example:

Place: Yuma Conservation Garden (some call it the “duck pond”)
Location: Next to the Yuma County Fairgrounds across from MCAS
Contact: Sheryl Christianson, steward
Email: lagunaandyuma@aol.com
Phone: 317-1935 – leave a message with all of your information and a good time to return your call.
What: Outdoor classroom to learn about Sonora desert plants and animals
Cost: minimal

Best time to go is October through April. There is an activities guide with lessons to do while you’re there. Most of the equipment for the activities is available at the garden. This trip is suitable for any grade level for science, math, or social studies, and supports language arts, fine arts, and physical education as well. You should plan to spend at least a half day there and do 3 to 5 activities. Check out their web site at: http://www.ymsrtc.apscc.k12.az.us/YCG%20home.htm
You can print out the activities you’d like to do, preview the rules, expectations, and map, and decide where your class might want to have a picnic lunch.

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