About the Book
Teaching and Learning Science consists of sixty-six chapters written by more than ninety leading educators and scientists. The contributions are informed by cutting-edge theory and research and address numerous issues that are central to K–12 education. This resource will be particularly valuable for parents and teachers as schools around the country prepare students to meet the challenges presented when science is added to the No Child Left Behind Act in 2007. These insightful contributions touch on many of the most controversial topics facing science educators and students today, including evolution, testing, homeschooling, ecology, and the achievement gaps faced by girls, children of color, and ESL learners. Accessible and full of insight, the set is written for teachers, parents, and students, and offers a wealth of resources germane to K-12 settings. The book is arranged according to themes that are central to science education: language and scientific literacy, home and school relationships, equity, new roles for teachers and students, connecting science to other areas of the curriculum, resources for teachers and learners, and science in the news. The authors address controversial topics such as evolution, and present alternative ways to think about teaching, learning, the outcomes of science education, and issues associated with high stakes testing. In addition, relationships between science and literacy are explored in terms of art and science, making sense of visuals in textbooks, reading, writing, children's literature, and uses of comics to represent science. Chapters also address how to teach contemporary science, including the origin of the chemical elements, the big bang, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, and tsunamis.
Table of Contents:
Part 1 Key Issues in Science Education
Chapter 2 Analyses of Current Trends and Practices in Science Education
Chapter 3 High-Stakes Science Testing
Chapter 4 Conceptual Change as a Viable Approach to Understanding Student Learning in Science
Chapter 5 Finding Meaning in Science
Chapter 6 Controversy over Evolution
Chapter 7 Learning from Laboratory Activities
Chapter 8 Learning Environments in Science Classrooms
Part 9 Language and Scientific Literacy
Chapter 10 Scientific Literacy
Chapter 11 Verbal and Nonverbal Interactions in Science Classrooms
Chapter 12 Understanding Visuals in Science Textbooks
Chapter 13 Science and Writing
Chapter 14 Reading and Science
Chapter 15 Making Science Content Comprehensible for English Language Learners
Chapter 16 The Interrelationship between Technological Fluency and Scientific Literacy
Part 17 Home and School Relationships
Chapter 18 Elementary Students and Parents Learning Science through Shared Inquiry
Chapter 19 Rethinking Homework
Chapter 20 Using Science to Bridge the Learning Gap between Home and School
Chapter 21 The Homeschooled Child and Science
Part 22 Equity
Chapter 23 Race, Equity, and the Teaching of Science
Chapter 24 Exploring Issues of Race, Power, and Concern in Rural Lower-Track Science Contexts
Chapter 25 Science Learning Achievements to Leave No Community Behind
Chapter 26 Poverty and Science Education
Chapter 27 Gender Equity Issues
Chapter 28 Understanding Agency in Science Education
Chapter 29 Building Rovers to Bridge the Achievement Gap: Space Exploration at School and at Home
Part 30 New Roles for Teachers and Students
Chapter 31 Teachers as Researchers
Chapter 32 Choreographing Teaching: Coteaching with Special Education/inclusion Teachers in Science Classrooms
Chapter 33 Theater of the Oppressed Pedagogy: Fostering Critically Reflective Science Teachers
Chapter 34 Constructing Knowledge about Electricity, Motors, and Magnets outside of the Box
Chapter 35 Students as Researchers: Creating New Identities
Chapter 36 Using Cogenerative Dialogues to Improve Science Education
Chapter 37 Distributed Leadership Practices in Science Education
Part 38 Making Connections with Science
Chapter 39 Culturally Relevant Pedagogy for Science Education
Chapter 40 Interactive Historical Vignette: The Scientific Endeavors of Mary Anning, the First Woman Paleontologist
Chapter 41 Science and Art
Chapter 42 Resources for Connecting Science and Literature
Chapter 43 The place for Comics in Science Education
Chapter 44 Using Driving Questions to Motivate and Sustain Student Interest in Learning Science
Chapter 45 Students as Curriculum Guides: Environmental Science
Chapter 46 Student Interest-Focused Curricula
Part 47 Resources for Teaching and Learning Science
Chapter 48 The Internet and Science Education
Chapter 49 Educational Robotics
Chapter 50 Science Teaching and Learning through the Zoo, Aquarium, and Botanical Garden
Chapter 51 Using the Museum as a Resource for Learning Science
Chapter 52 Using Field Trip Experiences to Further the Participation in and Learning of Science
Chapter 53 Building Adult Advocacy in Science: A Girl Scout and Science Museum Collaboration
Chapter 54 Pitfalls in the Teaching of Evolution: Darwin, Finches, History
Chapter 55 Teaching Electrochemistry
Chapter 56 Demo Essays: Using an Old Trick to Teach in a New Way
Chapter 57 The Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami, December 26, 2004
Chapter 58 Investigating Volvanic Flows through Inquiry
Chapter 59 A Matter of Timing: Learning about the Impact of Environmental Changes on Animal Migration
Chapter 60 Get Rocks in Your Head!
Chapter 61 Use of the Internet in the Teacing of Elementary Science
Chapter 62 Using Bill Nye, The Science Guy within a Framework of Inquiry Science
Part 63 Science in the News
Chapter 64 The Origin of the Chemical Elements
Chapter 65 The Big Bang: How the Universe Began, and How to Teach It
Chapter 66 Hurricanes and Tornadoes
Chapter 67 Global Warming
Chapter 68 Environmental Protection
Chapter 69 Protecting the Air We Breathe
Chapter 70 Childhood Overweight and Science Education
Chapter 71 The Truth about Trans Fats Will Break Your Heart
Chapter 72 Hair Relaxers: The Chemistry of an Everyday Experience
Chapter 73 Sunscreens and Sunblocks: Using Sunprint Paper to Investigate SPF
Chapter 74 Hydrogen Fuel Cells: The Alternative Energy Source of the Future?
About the Author :
Kenneth Tobin is presidential professor, Urban Education Program, The Graduate Center, City University of New York.
Review :
Teaching and Learning Science is an excellent resource for those studying science instruction as well as those in need of a survey course in science education. Readers will certainly appreciate the suggested readings and websites at the end of the chapters. The book is also a valuable tool for conducting a book study for science professionals and is highly recommended for all science learning institutions, especially college libraries.
US teachers of K-12 science and teachers who teach them explore core issues in science education to help teachers, parents, students, and the general public become better informed about the science education curricula and public debates around it. The themes they address include language and scientific literacy, home and school relationships, equity, connecting science to the rest of the world, resources, and science in the news.
