ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY
DEPTS. OF BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, GEOGRAPHY/GEOLOGY, & PHYSICS

BSC/CHE/GEO/PHY 309 Integrated Science for Elementary Educators

Date of Proposal: 9/99 (Course approved by UCC January 2000)

Catalog Description:
309 INTEGRATED SCIENCE FOR ELEMENTARY EDUCATORS 3 F,S
Elementary Education major with 24 hours of science req.
Modeling of exemplary science teaching practices using a unified science approach.

Course Overview:
Integrated Science for Elementary Educators is a required science course that is part of an 18-semester-hour science concentration for elementary education majors. It assumes that students have a solid background in life and physical sciences. Students participate in integrated science lessons that model the best ways of teaching, and are actively engaged in the process of scientific discovery. Multidisciplinary topics serve as the organizing themes for this course, and integrate the areas of biology, chemistry, earth and space science, and physics. Integrated Science for Elementary Educators is a natural extension of a number of content courses, and Foundations of Inquiry. It is a course that demonstrates science as a way of knowing and a process of analysis. Students develop the skills of inquiry and critical thinking, and become experienced in the use of technology to collect, evaluate and interpret data. Though this is not a methods course per se, class time will be utilized to explain the educational theory underlying the pedagogical approaches used in this course. In addition, class time will be used to discuss scientific method and technology, critical analysis, and scientific dispositions. Finally, students will experience activities that unite the moral and intellectual aspects of teaching outlined in ISU Teacher Education's conceptual framework -- Realizing the Democratic Ideal.

Course Goals:
While working through this course, prospective elementary school teacher candidates will:

• utilize and integrate science knowledge obtained from previous content courses through activities requiring the use of inquiry and skepticism;
• come to know science as a process of inquiry rather than merely as a body of knowledge;
• encounter science at work in the context of common, real-life experiences;
• experience and learn about the use of exemplary science teaching practices such as inquiry learning, cooperative/collaborative learning, and problem-based learning;
• experience and learn about such curriculum emphases as unified science teaching, preconceptions/concept change/constructivism, and science/technology/society;
• experience and learn about the use of learning cycles;
• come to understand student difficulties as they experience those same difficulties associated with hands-on, minds-on activities and though daily reflection upon their performance as both student and prospective teacher;
• experience through effective modeling the meaning of a positive learning environment which includes equitable participation of all students and the active engagement of students with different abilities and interests;
• utilize a wide array of instructional and technological resources available on campus and in the wider community;
• learn about the planning of educationally valuable field trips; and
• participate in the creation and use of a variety of assessment instruments.

Student Objectives:
By the end of this course, each student will have demonstrated the ability to:

1. bring together a number of different scientific disciplines in the preparation of a series of integrated science lessons that provide unique and useful insights about the world.
2. use scientific knowledge to explain the workings of selected everyday physical and biological phenomena;
3. demonstrate how the knowledge and processes of science can be taught using hands-on / minds-on age-appropriate science activities;
4. reflect upon learning experiences as they relate to best practice and ISU Teacher Education's conceptual framework with the aim of improving instruction from the perspective of both student and teacher;
5. cite from experience a number of ways that science teaching can be done in an engaging fashion that takes into account differences among and between students;
6. list and explain a number of educational service providers and academic resources available on the university campus, and in the wider community;
7. create valid and reliable grading instruments that serve to raise expectations for students and provide a basis for meaningful assessment;
8. synthesize knowledge and utilize intellectual skills to the extent required for the successful completion of a number of classroom activities that require a demonstration of the following traits that characterize the scientifically literate individual:
   (a) scientific knowledge (major life and physical science disciplines),
   (b) scientific method and critical analysis (induction, deduction, etc.), and
   (c) scientific disposition (critical, skeptical, open minded, empirical, etc.); and
9. utilize the intellectual and procedural skills appropriate to scientific inquiry in the creation of scientific knowledge including an ability to:
   (a) demonstrate the use of technology to collect data, and the use of simple mathematics
   (graphing, statistics, probability) to interpret that data,
   (b) distinguish scientific ways of knowing from other sources of knowledge,
   (c) distinguish belief from knowledge, and
   (d) state underlying assumptions.

Topical Outline:
This course will use a number of organizing themes. Four to six themes will be selected each semester from among the following and similar topics:

STREAMS AND RIVERS

Biology -- collection and identification of wildlife
Chemistry -- water chemistry, concentrations, pH, equilibrium, acid rain
Earth Science -- rock formation/erosion
Physics -- current and water flow
Inquiry -- human impact on waterways, differences between ponds, streams, and rivers

BONKERS OVER BUGS

Biology -- physiology of bugs and insects, social insects, communication
Chemistry -- pheromones in bees, insect venom, ants & formic acid, insecticides,
acid/base neutralization
Earth Science -- making a butterfly garden
Physics -- the sounds insects make
Inquiry -- insect adaptations to the environment

EARTH-SKY RELATIONSHIPS

Biology -- physiology and working of the eye, light and color perception
Chemistry -- composition of the air, ozone depletion, respiration, acid rain
Earth Science -- solar motion, constellation, latitude determination, meteorology, seasons
Physics -- auroras, twinkling, blue skies and red sunsets
Skepticism -- astrology
Inquiry -- near earth orbiting objects

KITCHEN SCIENCE

Biology -- nutrition
Chemistry -- chemical reactions, baking, digestion, decomposition, and gas reactions
Earth Science -- soils for food growth, minerals in the diet
Physics -- microwaves and cooking, cooking at high altitudes
Inquiry -- interpreting food labels, analyzing supplement claims

LIGHT AND SIGHT

Biology -- physiology
Chemistry -- dark adaptation, UV light, tanning and sun screen, rhodopsin/retina, atomic
structure
Earth Science -- polarized light and minerals, phosphorescence and luminescence
Physics -- wave nature of light, spectra, lenses and the eye

DETECTIVE SCIENCE

Biology -- finger printing, blood typing, hair analysis
Chemistry -- ink matching, substance identification (mystery powders), forensics, arson,
and chromatography
Earth Science -- soil analysis, shoe impressions
Physics -- ballistics, measurements
Inquiry -- investigation skills

DIGGING FOR DINOSAURS

Biology -- hypotheses about physiology, reproduction
Chemistry -- fossilization reactions, carbon cycle/dating, glacial frozen animals/people
Earth Science -- fossils, amber, earth stratification
Physics -- radioactive dating
Inquiry -- formation of hypotheses based on fossil record

THE NATURE OF MATTER

Biology -- living and non-living matter, definition of life
Chemistry -- conservation of mass, particulate matter, unknown solids
Geology -- types of rocks
Physics -- buoyancy, density

BONES

Biology -- physiology, health concerns
Chemistry -- bone components, drinking milk/osteoporosis, bone scans/density, X rays,
and fractures
Earth Science -- mineralization
Physics -- structure and function, motion, "cathedral" structure of skull
Inquiry -- identification of bones, calcium supplements

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Biology -- microbes
Chemistry -- chemical degradation, recycling
Earth Science -- tracking waste products
Physics -- compression and compaction
Inquiry -- design of environmentally sound waste management systems

Tentative Schedule:
This tentative schedule assumes initial readings and discussions, followed by in-class activities and/or a field trip, and finally more classroom sessions to conclude the material and allow discussion time. Final course topics will be chosen from among the list above based upon instructional considerations. The schedule below is illustrative of the schedule during a typical autumn semester.

Week In-class Topics Special Activities:

1 Intro & Overview / Ways of Knowing
2 Inquiry, Attitudes, & Assumptions
3 Science Teaching Pedagogy
4 Begin Topic #1: Intro & Technology
5 Data Collection & Analysis Field Trip #1
6 Data Interpretation & Reporting
7 Begin Topic #2: Intro & Technology
8 Data Collection & Analysis Field Trip #2
9 Data Interpretation & Reporting
10 Begin Topic #3: Intro & Technology
11 Data Collection & Analysis Field Trip #3
12 Data Interpretation & Reporting
13 Begin Topic #4: Science as Research
14 Data Collection & Analysis Field Trip #4
15 Data Interpretation & Reporting
16 (Finals Week) Science Fair

Readings:
Students will be assigned readings from a number of teacher-identified sources. They will be expected to regularly refer to textbooks from previous content courses in the sciences. Each student will be required to read and make weekly reports from WWW-based sources that deal with breaking science news. Readings will be taken from the following and similar resources:

PRINTED RESOURCES:

Allison, L., & Katz, D. (1983). Gee, Wiz! How to Mix Art and Science or the Art of Thinking Scientifically. Yolla Bolly Press.
Bosak, S. (1991). Science Is..., New York: Scholastic, 1-15.
Crawford, B. (1998, April). The scientific method -- A fatal flaw. Science Scope, 50-52.
Haynes, L. (1997, September). Consumer Testing: Applying the Scientific Method to Everyday Life. Science Scope, 34-38.
Peters, E. K. (1996). No Stone Unturned: Reasoning About Rocks and Fossils. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.

INTERNET RESOURCES:

A Science Fair Project Resource Guide:
http://www.ipl.org/youth/projectguide/
Bad Astronomy:
http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/index.html
Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide:
http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/dhmo.htm
Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
http://www.csicop.com/
Discover Magazine:
http://www.discover.com/
Quack Watch:
http://www.quackwatch.com/
Science News:
http://www.sciencenews.com/

Required Student Tasks/Assignments:
Multiple assessment strategies will be used to determine the course grade of students. There are seven basic tasks that students will concern themselves with over the course of the semester. The assessment procedures are elaborated below. Along with the title is an indication of the relative weight each has in the determination of the final course grade. Following summaries of the required tasks are brief statements denoting which how objectives for this course are matched with the various assessments.

1. Daily Journals (10%)
Students will be required to critically evaluate and assess the experiences of each class and field trip, and to record these reflections in a daily journal. Reflections will be from two perspectives -- that of student and that of teacher. (Objectives 2, 4, 8)

2. Weekly Article/Website Reviews (10%)
Students will be required learn more about and report on recent science events and discoveries using computer technology to visit such Web sites as www.discover.com and www.sciencenews.com. In addition, students will be required to take virtual field trips using Web resources to such sites as www.exploratorium.edu The weekly article review should emphasize that students apply the argumentation skills (i.e., identifying premises and conclusion) learned during Foundations of Inquiry. Students will demonstrate structured and logical analysis of scientific research and summarize such work clearly and succinctly. In order to improve on those vital analytical skills, they will receive feedback on their performance. Reviews will be submitted using electronic mail. (Objectives 2, 8)

3. Field Trip Notebook (10%)
Students will be required to participate in a number of data collecting field trips including such sites as planetarium, observatory, greenhouse, water plant, river, nature center, and stone quarry. Data collected on these field trips will be analyzed and interpreted using graphical analysis and statistics. All work will be recorded in the field trip notebook. (Objectives 2, 4)

4. Science Fair Project (20%)
Students will be required to design and carry out an authentic science research experiment from the discipline of their choosing. Experiments will include hypothesis formulation, experiment design, data collection, data analysis, error analysis, and conclusion. Results will be presented for peer assessment as science fair projects. (Objectives 7, 8, 9)

5. Participation (10%)
Students will be expected to attend class regularly, to participate fully in class discussion and in hands-on and minds-on group work, and to complete and turn in homework. (Objectives 5, 6, 7, 8)

6. PBL Preparation/Presentation (10%)
Students will be required to prepare an age-appropriate problem-based learning experience for an elementary school class that integrates science, technology, and society. (Objectives 1, 3, 5, 6)

7. Lesson Plans (15%)
Students will prepare a series of three highly detailed lesson plans that serve to integrate in a meaningful and useful way two or more scientific disciplines. (Objectives 1, 3, 5, 6, 8)

8. Quizzes (15%)
Quizzes will be associated with each organizing topic, and will be related to readings, in-course experiences, and expected outcomes. (Objectives 5, 6, 8)

Grading Scale:

A > 94% 83% < B < 94% 72% < C < 83% 66% < D < 72% F < 66%

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