Science is a subject that should be taught to young minds as early as possible. Teachers don’t need expensive equipment or a laboratory to impart knowledge in this field. But they need to understand that before they can teach science to young students, they first need to arouse children’s interest and curiosity. For example, in a science classroom a carefully chosen experiment can drive student inquiry.
The wonders of science should be exciting for young people, especially to ambitious children who can visualize opportunities to improve their future. These are the students teachers love to guide for them to pursue science courses.
Why is this subject important to young students? Science is both a body of knowledge that represents current understanding of natural systems and the process whereby that body of knowledge has been established and is being continually extended, refined and revised. Therefore, one cannot make progress in science without an understanding of both. Likewise, in learning science one must come to understand both the body of knowledge and the process by which this knowledge is established, extended, refined and revised.
The various perspectives of science differ mainly with respect to the process, rather than the product. The body of knowledge includes specific facts integrated and articulated into highly developed and well-tested theories.
The eventual goal of teaching science is to produce individuals capable of understanding and evaluating information that is, or purports to be, scientific in nature and of making decisions that incorporate information appropriately and to produce a sufficient number of skilled and motivated young scientists, engineers, and other science-based professionals.
Learning the skills to support scientific thinking is an important part of a student’s development. As children progress into adulthood, using scientific thinking becomes an art. For example: When students encounter a problem, they need to know how to work through a process of problem solving in a logical fashion, which is essential to growth in understanding.
Scientific thinking skills must be introduced and taught to students as early as possible. These include observing, asking questions, making predictions, testing ideas, documenting data and communicating thoughts.
Research shows that young people’s performance in school heavily depends on the quality of teaching they receive. But to provide high-quality inspirational lessons, teachers should have access to continuing professional development for them to keep abreast with the latest research and modern ways of teaching.
To fully participate in the scientific practices in the classroom, students need to develop a shared understanding of the norms of participation in science, which includes social norms for constructing and presenting a scientific argument and engaging in scientific debates.
However, teachers must be able to mold students to develop habits of mind, such as adopting a critical stance, a willingness to ask questions and to seek help.
Teachers must remember that the process of creating, executing, evaluating and communicating the results of an experiment can be applied to any challenge their students face in school—from proving a point in a persuasive essay to perfecting an experiment. In this way, science is one of the most important subjects for students because it gives them the critical thinking skills they need to excel in every subject.
To become successful science teachers, educators should be able to identify the right attitudes, values or dispositions of their students and find ways to acknowledge and nurture their presence. That’s the only way teachers can guide their students to become future scientists or inventors.
The author is Head Teacher at Abulug National Rural and Vocational High School in Abulug, Cagayan.