Journal 1-Sarah Mazur

Sarah Mazur

Journal 1

The main idea of this chapter was to incorporate inquiry teaching into your classroom. According to the book, this approach has been proven to be more effective than other approaches taken to teach science in the classroom. This idea made a lot of sense to me because it allows children to figure information out on their own. They are allowed to try out different solutions and look for similarities/differences in their observations. The chapter also included the benefits of having science in the curriculum in elementary schools. According to the book, “science provides a rich context for children to further develop their language and mathematical skills” (Bass 8).

I really enjoyed reading about the successful lessons that a few teachers had by using this approach in their science classes. The inquiry-constructivist approach is a very simple approach that many teachers can utilize. To see that students respond well to it is a wonderful feature. All of the concepts introduced in the chapter seemed to make sense. The main idea that I got out of the inquiry approach was that it had to be structured, but used with availability for students to do their own research and observations. By simply setting up the concept, the students were usually able to get a hold on what they were learning about through their observations.

It was also interesting to read about how much time and effort the United States has put into the development of science in our country. We have incorporated numerous science-based programs to try and improve our scientific knowledge. The U.S. has also made science more hands on for students to try and get them more into the subject. Because of our curiosity in science, National Standards are in use today. This is a great concept for all teachers to be able to make sure that they are providing students with the information that they need to know and understand.