PART I

Creating a Vision for Successful Science

1

On the Shoulders of Giants

What can we learn from the work of professional scientists that has implications for high quality curriculum and instruction in science education?

DEFINING THE GOAL: SCIENTIFIC LITERACY

We live in a world of science. Simply stated, science is the attempt to uncover and discover the mysteries of the natural world. It is a process of learning and building and revising conceptual understanding over time, often discarding old ideas as new, more plausible ones emerge. The need to know and understanding what is and a desire to discover what might be motivate humans to seek answers to the continuous flow of questions that arise from the processes of scientific inquiry.

Understanding the natural world and being able to make informed decisions related to the policies and practices that affect the natural world are two characteristics of scientific literacy. Developing such literacy is a lifelong pursuit open to all who wish to participate in the journey. Scientific literacy exists along a continuum where all experiences, both inside and outside of the classroom, slowly move one along to higher levels of learning.

There are many ways to learn about the natural sciences, both formally and informally. Table 1.1 shows some of the environments through which learning can occur.

Much can be learned from informal learning experiences, such as visits to a museum, zoo, nature center, aquarium, planetarium, or other such setting.

Table 1.1 Learning Environments for Science

Generally, in these environments guides or self-guided maps and information packets are available to describe exhibits and explain natural phenomena.

Natural areas, such as seashores, mountains, deserts, forests, streambeds, parks, school sites, and backyards provide opportunities to explore habitats and observe interactions between living organisms and between living things and nonliving components of their environment. There are no limits to learning environments, but there are limits to learning within those environments.

Limits are imposed by a lack of understanding of how to study science—how to ask questions, make accurate observations, gather and interpret data, and make sense of what is observed. Mediation is an important component of learning, for without it learners are left on their own to make sense of natural phenomena, a practice that can lead to the development of incorrect inferences or misconceptions.

Although curiosity is innate and important for guiding the inquiring mind, scientific literacy must be developed through learning how to:

• make careful observations

• explore natural objects and events

• record and interpret data

• make sense of experiences in the context of science

Scientific literacy requires the learner to go beyond the classroom or laboratory and apply scientific principles to societal issues and life in general. It is important not to lose sight of the ultimate goal of science education: the development of the scientifically literate citizen.

The National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996, p. 22) describes scientific literacy in these ways:

• Scientific literacy means that a person can ask, find, or determine answers to questions derived from curiosity about everyday experiences.

• Scientific literacy means that a person has the ability to describe, explain, and predict natural phenomena.

• Scientific literacy entails being able to read, with understanding, articles about science in the popular press and to engage in social conversation about the validity of the conclusions.

• Scientific literacy implies that a person can identify scientific issues underlying national and local decisions and express positions that are scientifically and technologically informed.

• A literate citizen should be able to evaluate the quality of scientific information on the basis of its source and the methods used to generate it.

• Scientific literacy implies the capacity to pose and evaluate arguments based on evidence and to apply conclusions from such arguments appropriately.

• Individuals display their scientific literacy by appropriately using technical terms and by applying concepts and processes.

Thought and Discussion

1. Review the components of scientific literacy. How are you scientifically literate? Identify a spot on the continuum in Figure 1.1 that you believe best represents your level of scientific literacy.

Figure 1.1 Levels of Scientific Literacy

2. Consider each of the descriptors for scientific literacy. Give examples of when, where, or how the average citizen might apply the skills of scientific literacy in daily life.

3. What do the characteristics of scientific literacy imply about the content, skills, and dispositions students need to function as scientifically literate citizens? What are the implications for curriculum and instruction?

Science for All

One does not have to have a photographic memory or be highly intelligent to become scientifically literate. Science is for all! Curiosity is innate; humans are born with the desire to explore and investigate their environment and understand the world around them.

The learning process is continuous and begins in the early stages of a child’s life. Table 1.2 shows a developmental sequence of learning that leads to scientific literacy.

Table 1.2 Sequence of Learning for Scientific Literacy

Copyright © 2006 by Corwin Press. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Becoming a Better Science Teacher: 8 Steps to High Quality Instruction and Student Achievement, by Elizabeth Hammerman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, www.corwinpress.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site that has purchased this book.

UNDERSTANDING SCIENCE AND HOW SCIENTISTS WORK

All scientific disciplines rely on evidence. The observation of phenomena, formulation of hypotheses, search for evidence, development of theories, and use of logic and reasoning are just a few of many practices that are common throughout the scientific community.

Scientists differ in what they investigate and how they investigate, but their understanding of what constitutes scientifically valid investigations is generally common. Communication between and among scientists is an important aspect of their work.

The search for evidence to support hypotheses and theories requires scientists to be actively involved in investigating and experimenting.

Table 1.3 Types of Observation

Investigation

Investigations may involve collections of living and nonliving organisms and materials or collections of data that allow studies of similarities and differences in structure and function, patterns, and changes over time.

Experimentation

In the process of experimenting, scientists control or change one variable at a time to determine the effect of one variable on another or on a condition. All scientific inquiries rely on evidence that is dependent on the quality of instruments, techniques of the researcher, and accuracy of recording and reporting of data.

Thought and Discussion

What Scientists Say About Observation

1. Consider the following three statements about observation. Discuss the implications of these messages for the teaching and learning of K–12 Science.

• Observation is the absolute basis of all knowledge. The first object, then, in education, must be to lead the child to observe with accuracy; the second, to express with correctness the results of his observation. Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1827)

• Instruction must begin with actual inspection, not with verbal descriptions of things. From such inspection it is that certain knowledge comes. What is actually seen remains faster in the memory than description or enumeration a hundred times as often repeated. John Amos Comenius (1592–1670)

• Without accurate acquaintance with the visible and tangible properties of things, our conceptions must be erroneous, or inferences fallacious, and our operations unsuccessful. The truths of number, of form, of relationship in position, were all originally drawn from objects; and to present these truths to the child in the concrete is to let him learn them as the race learned them. If we consider it, we shall find that exhaustive observation is an element of all great success. Herbert Spencer (1820–1903)

2. Consider Bacon’s description of science. Discuss some implications of his message for classroom instruction.

Scientific arguments must, ultimately, conform to logical reasoning. Criteria of inference, demonstration, and common sense often determine validity. The principles of logical reasoning that connect evidence and assumptions to conclusions are valued in the scientific community. Formulating tentative hypotheses drives the process of seeking data to support or refute them.

Only hypotheses that can be put to the test of evidence are useful to scientists. The creativity in science lies in the development of hypotheses and theories and putting them to the test of reality.

The strongest arguments prove nothing as long as the conclusions are not verified by experience. Experimental science is the queen of sciences and the goal of all speculation. Roger Bacon (1214–1294)

3. How do the quotes about observation and instruction relate to Bacon’s description of scientific arguments?

SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES

Many discoveries have been made by accident. However, generally, a degree of knowledge and/or insight is required to recognize the meaning of the unexpected. Louis Pasteur, whose own career involved serendipity when he accidentally discovered that attenuated microbes can be used for immunization, once noted that in the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.

The credibility of theories often comes from the scientist’s ability to show relationships between seemingly unrelated phenomena. The essence of science is validation by observation. But it is not enough for scientific theories to fit only the observations that are already known. (Rutherford & Ahlgren, 1990, p. 7)

Theories should have predictive power. The predictions may be about events from the past that are used to construct events in the Earth’s history. Prediction is important for the study of processes that occur very slowly, such as mountain building, the life cycles of stars, or the history of the human species.

Bias in the investigator, sample, methods of investigation, or instruments may influence evidence. Scientists must be aware of possible bias in their work. With many different groups of investigators working on a problem, results are less likely to be influenced by bias. Again, communication among scientists is critical to validating results.

In the long run, theories are judged by their results. New or improved versions of theories are often accepted when there is sufficient new evidence to explain more phenomena or answer more questions.

Activity: Defining the Work of Scientists

1. Read the information provided about each of the scientists’ theories and/or discoveries. Summarize each scientist’s theory or discovery in Table 1.4.

2. Discuss ways the work of scientists can be modeled in the K–12 science classroom.

Table 1.4 Famous Scientists and Their Contributions

Nicholas Copernicus (1473–1543)

Around 1514, Copernicus distributed a little handwritten book to a few of his friends who knew that he was the author, even though there was no name on the title page. This book, usually called the Little Commentary, set out Copernicus’ theory of a universe with the Sun at its center. He based his conclusions on seven axioms that gave several distinct motions to the Earth. No one prior to Copernicus appears to have explained the retrograde motion of the outer planets.

Copernicus was the first person in history to create a complete and general system, combining mathematics, physics, and cosmology. It took the accurate observational work of Brahe, the exhaustive mathematics of Kepler, and the mathematical genius of Newton about 150 years later to take Copernicus’ theory as a starting point and glean from it the underlying truths and laws governing celestial mechanics. Copernicus was an important player in the development of these theories, but his work would likely have remained in relative obscurity without the interest of other scientists. To a large extent, Copernicus has achieved a place in history through what amounted to a lucky, albeit shrewd, guess. It is probably more appropriate to view Copernicus’ achievements as the first steps toward scientific