LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

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Elementary Science Learning

Developed by Dr. Mark Enfield

This course is part of LEARN NC's catalog of online courses for teachers. Please see the current offerings at the bottom of this page for information about when it may next be taught.

About this course

  • Audience: teachers

Teach this course

This course is available to the public schools of North Carolina and may be offered locally or statewide. Learn more

Science is fundamentally about the process of making sense of phenomena in the natural and social world. In this course you will think about the scientific process and how it applies to teaching science in the elementary classroom.

There will be two levels of engagement in this course:

  1. You will learn to make sense of phenomena by conducting first-hand investigations and reporting your findings in the online environment.
  2. You will discuss the process of how to make sense of phenomena, in addition to thinking about the implications of using that process for teaching and learning science. This meta-level engagement will examine both first-hand investigations, as well as readings and other sources that will promote discussion about science, teaching, and thinking scientifically.

Prerequisites

You must be actively teaching in the elementary classroom during the course. You will also need to be familiar with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.

**Please note that you will need to select a lesson plan to revise in Week 4 of this course, and teach it in Week 5.**

Course objectives

This course has two broad goals. First, to provide a framework for understanding the nature of science and scientific inquiry, as well as how and why scientists know the things they know. Second, to help you engage your students in authentic scientific inquiry.

You will address these goals through the following objectives:

  • Investigate experiences of learning science and your own students' conceptions of science
  • Investigate and learn to make sense of phenomena following the norms and practices of science
  • Review existing curriculum materials and district standards to identify opportunities for scientific practices
  • Review classroom activities to think about the ways that the nature of science is/isn't part of instruction
  • Revise and teach an existing lesson plan

Audience

This course is appropriate for teachers of grades K-5.

Current offerings

Begins March 22.

This course is open for enrollment. Enroll in this course