Integrating Science with Other Subjects

Reading Assignment

Chapter 10 in Teaching Science to Every Child:

Using Culture as a Starting Point

Interest in Thematic Units

Although the curriculum and the school day are neatly divided into separate subjects, real-world approaches to problems and issues cut across disciplinary lines.

 

Over the past few years, the need for and interest in curriculum integration has intensified throughout the country.

 

Thematic Units Some Cautions Regarding Science Integration

• Distracting Nature of Thematic Units

• Science concepts are often supplemental to the theme of the unit.

Remember that science lessons

should involve the science process

skills.

Using Themes for Developing Units

Common Starting Point – Identify a central organizing idea which may be either:

Interdisciplinary (Cross-Curricular)

Means organizing the whole curriculum including science, mathematics, social studies, language arts, music, and art around a particular theme such as the environment, space exploration, or the oceans.

(Or)

Integrated (Blended) Science Curriculum 

Means organizing the curriculum around a broader science idea that would require students to understand concepts from different fields of science.

Example: Climate Change, which involves Earth sciences, physical sciences, and life sciences or

Ocean Science which involves the biology, chemistry, geology, and chemistry of the oceans.

Ways to Apply Mathematics to Scientific Inquiry

Mathematics has been called the language of science. The NSES stress that science “requires the use of mathematics in the collection and treatment of data and in the reasoning used to develop concepts, laws, and theories.”

• Quantifying the Real World

Measuring

Science, Mathematics, and the Metric System• Organizing and Interpreting Data

Using Graphs to Organize and Interpret Data• Using Patterns and Relationships

Making Predictions from Graphs• Operating on Numbers

Connecting Science and Social Studies

 

• Making connections between science and social studies helps students create a more complete picture of the world.

• Science/Technology/Society (STS) Themes work especially well for integrating science and social studies.

 

Language Arts at the Center of Science Learning

Teachers of all subjects should be engaged in language instruction.

Literacy in most schools generally includes

Reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Inquiry-based science instruction is especially useful for incorporating language instruction. 

Incorporating Trade Books in Science Lessons

• “Do first, read later.” (Yore, 2004) - Science-related books that may be used to enhance science lessons. (Biographies, reference books on a particular topic, books with fictional characters but focus on a science concept).

• Can provide an aesthetic or emotional dimension to learning. Can involve a wider audience and offer an applied setting for learning science.

• Teachers need to carefully select trade books because some have factual errors, or information and illustrations that encourage the formation of misconceptions.

Excellent Website on Integration of Literacy and Science with recommendations of trade books.

http://www.esiponline.org/index.html

Concept Maps as an Alternative Form of Writing

Concept maps represent an individual’s understanding about a concept and its relationship to other concepts.

(Novak, 1999)

See PowerPoint

on Concept

Mapping.

Science Notebooks: Journals for Science Knowledge

Need to give careful thought to how notebooks will be used.

At the very least, students can record observations in their notebooks. If you want to have students reflect on their thinking, time should be devoted to this task.

Teacher also need to provide feedback or notebooks lose a lot of power.

Science Writing Heuristic to Support Science Inquiry (Wallace, Hand, & Yang, 2004)

Beginning Ideas – What are my questions?

Experiments – What did I do?

Observations – What did I see?

Claims – What can I claim?

Evidence – How do I know? Why am I making these claims?

Reading – How do my ideas compare to other ideas?

Reflection – How have my ideas changed?