SCE 4113 - Science Concepts in the Elementary Classroom

College of Education

Credit(s): 3
Contact Hours: 47
Effective Term Spring 2026 (660)

Requisites

Admission to Elementary Education (K-6) with Infused ESOL & Reading Endorsements (Bachelor of Science) (ELEDR-BS)

Course Description

This is an introductory course designed to prepare individuals to teach general science programs at the elementary grade level. Students will explore fundamental concepts and principles found in the physical and biological sciences with emphasis on chemistry, earth science and biology. Through the lens of history and the nature of science, students will also explore the relationships between science and everyday life.

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

  1. The teacher candidate will analyze and apply developmentally appropriate researched-based strategies for science classroom practice by:
    1. selecting safe and effective instructional strategies to utilize manipulatives, models, scientific equipment, real-world examples, and print and digital representations.
    2. identifying strategies for formal and informal learning experiences that promote learners' innate curiosity and active inquiry.
    3. assessing collaborative strategies to explain concepts, to introduce and clarify formal science terms, and to identify misconceptions.
    4. differentiating strategies in science instruction and assessments based on learning needs.
    5. identifying appropriate reading strategies, mathematical practices, and science content materials to enhance science instruction for learners at all levels.
    6. reviewing ways to organize and manage a classroom for safe, effective science teaching that reflect state safety procedures and restrictions (e.g., procedures, equipment, disposal of chemicals, classroom layout, use of living organisms).
    7. selecting and utilizing appropriate technology, science tools and measurement units in data collection and the pursuit of science.
    8. using developmentally appropriate diagnostic, formative and summative assessments to evaluate prior knowledge, guide instruction, and evaluate learner achievement.
    9. selecting scientifically and professionally responsible content and activities.
  2. The teacher candidate will analyze concepts and principles related to the Nature of Science (NOS) by:
    1. examining the dynamic nature of science models, laws, mechanisms, and theories that explain natural phenomena.
    2. differentiating between the characteristics of experiments and other types of scientific investigations.
    3. assessing attitudes and dispositions underlying scientific thinking such as curiosity, cooperation, collaboration, and skepticism.
    4. identifying the ways in which science is an interdisciplinary process and interconnected to STEM disciplines.
    5. interpreting pictorial representations, charts, tables, and graphs of authentic data from investigations to make predictions, construct explanations, and draw conclusions.
    6. identifying and applying science and engineering practices through science process skills including observing, classifying, hypothesizing, predicting, designing and carrying out investigations, and constructing and communicating explanations.
    7. examining the interactions of science and technology with society .
  3. The teacher candidate will assess the nature and variety of forms of matter found in the universe by:
    1. identifying and differentiating among the physical properties of matter (e.g., mass, volume, texture, hardness, freezing point).
    2. identifying and differentiating between physical and chemical changes (e.g., tearing, burning, rusting).
    3. comparing the properties of matter during phase changes through the addition and/or removal of energy ((e.g., boiling, condensation, evaporation).
    4. differentiating between the properties of homogenous and heterogeneous mixtures.
    5. interpreting the relationship among atoms, elements, molecules, and compounds.
  4. The teacher candidate will assess the nature and variety of forms of energy found in the universe by:
    1. identifying and comparing potential and kinetic energy.
    2. differentiating among forms of energy including transformations of energy and their real-world applications to chemistry, electricity, mechanics, heat, light and sound.
    3. analyzing the functionality of an electrical circuit based on its conductors, insulators and components.
    4. distinguishing among temperature, heat, and forms of heat transfer to include conduction, convection, and radiation.
    5. identifying and applying the characteristics of contact forces (e.g., push, pull, friction), at-a-distance forces (e.g., magnetic, gravitational, and electrostatic), and their effects on matter (e.g., motion, speed).
  5. The teacher candidate will investigate the Earth system, the solar system, the universe, and the interactions that have developed among them over time by:
    1. identifying and analyzing the processes by which energy from the Sun is transferred through the Earth’s systems (e.g., biosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, atmosphere, and cryosphere).
    2. analyzing the Sun-Moon-Earth system in order to explain repeated patterns such day and night, phases of the Moon, tides, seasons and eclipses.
    3. differentiating the composition and various relationships among the objects of our Solar System (e.g., Sun, planets, moons, asteroids, comets).
    4. examining major events in the history of space exploration and their effects on society.
    5. comparing and contrasting the characteristics of geologic formations (e.g., volcanoes, canyons, mountains) and the mechanisms by which they are changed (e.g., physical and chemical weathering, erosion deposition).
    6. distinguishing among major groups and properties of rocks and minerals and the processes of their formations.
    7. analyzing the characteristics of soil, its components and profile, and the process of soil formation.
    8. identifying and analyzing the causes and effects of atmospheric processes and conditions (e.g., water cycle, weather, climate).
    9. identifying and analyzing various conservation methods and their effectiveness in relation to renewable and nonrenewable natural resources.
  6. The teacher candidate will examine the organization of nature as well as the diversity and interdependence of life by:
    1. comparing the characteristics of living and nonliving things.
    2. analyzing the cell theory as it relates to the functional and structural hierarchy of all living things.
    3. identifying and comparing the structures and functions of plant and animal cells.
    4. classifying living things into major groups (i.e., Linnaean system) and comparing according to characteristics (e.g., physical features, behaviors, development).
    5. predicting the responses of plants to various stimuli such as heat, light and gravity.
    6. comparing and contrasting the structures, functions, and interactions of human and other animal organ systems (e.g., respiration, reproduction, digestion).
    7. distinguishing among infectious agents (e.g., viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites), their transmission and their effects on the human body.
    8. analyzing the interactions of living things with each other and with their environment (e.g., food webs, ecosystems, pollution).
    9. identifying and comparing the life cycles and predictable ways plants and animals change as they grow, develop, and age.
    10. identifying and analyzing the processes of heredity and natural selection and the scientific theory of evolution.
    11. identifying and analyzing plant structures and the processes of photosynthesis, transpiration, and reproduction (i.e., sexual, asexual).

Criteria Performance Standard

Upon successful completion of the course, the student will, with a minimum of 75% accuracy, demonstrate mastery of each of the above stated objectives through classroom measures developed by individual course instructors.

History of Changes

C&I Approval: 04/24/2015, BOT Approval: 06/16/2015, Effective Term: Spring 2016 (510).
C&I Approval: , BOT Approval: , Effective Term: Spring 2026 (660)

Related Programs

  1. Elementary Education (K-6) with Infused ESOL & Reading Endorsements (ELEDR-BS) (660) (Active)
  2. Elementary Education (K-6) with Reading Endorsement Apprenticeship (ELEDRA-BS) (660) (Active)