Hello and thank you for your interesting question.
A good starting point is
National Science Education Standards
Content Standards: K-4
Science as Inquiry
http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/html/6c.html
There's a lot at that site that you can read for yourself, but the
introduction pretty much tells the value of early science education:
"From the earliest grades, students should experience science in a
form that engages them in the active construction of ideas and
explanations that enhance their opportunities to develop the abilities
of doing science. Teaching science as inquiry provides teachers with
the opportunity to develop student abilities and to enrich student
understanding of science. Students should do science in ways that are
within their developmental capabilities. This standard sets forth some
abilities of scientific inquiry appropriate for students in grades
K-4."
Science education at the primary level is a great way to give young
children the hands-on learning experience that they need at that age.
http://www.tasis.com/TASIS/ECPoverview.html
Here is how one group of educators learned to appreciate the value of
early science education
"We all believed that to teach reading students actually need to read,
and came to understand that to effectively teach science our students
needed to actually do science. Students needed to develop and conduct
their own investigations to help answer their own questions. We
learned how important it was for all people to become scientifically
literate, and how to encourage under-represented students in science."
PROMOTING PRIMARY SCIENCE
http://www.ed.psu.edu/CI/journals/96pap23.htm
[A good bibliography at the end of this paper, too.]
Here's a K-8 science curriculum worth reviewing
http://www.educationworld.com/science/elem/k_8.shtml
And lots more curriculum material at
Science Teacher Stuff
http://www.scienceteacherstuff.com/scimeth.html
And a comprehensive (!) bibiography
SCIENCE EDUCATION GLOSSARY PROJECT
http://www.usc.edu/dept/education/science-edu/references.html
As you can see, there is a great quantity of material pertinent to
your question.
For example, science education for the disabled is a field all itself:
SCIENCE INSTRUCTION FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
http://www.ctserc.org/library/actualbibs/ScienceInstruction.PDF
I'll stop here, but if after reviewing the above you need more
references, please let me know.
Search terms used
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I hope you find this material useful. If you find any of it unclear,
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Google Answers Researcher
Richard-ga |
