Four Strands of Science

After reading Chapter 2 of Ready Set Science I found the four strands of science learning very interesting and insightful. Through "understanding science explanations, generating scientific evidence, reflecting on scientific knowledge, and participating productively in science," students will be able to develop the knowledge and skills required to successful learn science. In my classroom I would like to be able to develop effective lessons that will incorporate all of the strands. After reading the text, the stand that I found the most interesting was strand 4 "participating productively in science." When teachers can give students hands on opportunities with science, students will become more involved. I remember in high school my favorite thing to do in science class was science experiments. It gets repetitive when all you are doing is reading out of a book and copying notes off of the board.
The article The Trouble With Textbooks hit many important points on why students are not successfully learning science. It seems that it is the same for all subjects. Publishers, writers, educators etc. are tying to cram to many concepts into one book, and states expect for the teachers to cover every single topic in the book. There is no point in cramming so many things into a book and forcing students to learn it, when after they have taken the test they are going to forget everything. I agree with the article when it says that "science is not just facts to be memorized or terms to learn, but a process of building up a picture and explanation of the world from evidence." Through incorporating the four strands of science, teachers can make sure that students are learning these process and concepts that will build up the knowledge of science. One of the main reasons that I never found science interesting in school was because I felt like I was memorizing vocabulary terms and facts and that was all that I was doing.