The struggle to teach students science

For many of us, memories of elementary school science class include gross—but simultaneously delightful—visions of experiments growing mold in different locales, studying worm-infested compost piles and writing in squid ink while learning about mollusks. This is certainly where I can trace the beginning of my love and curiosity for nature.

Sadly, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, fewer and fewer children are able to develop an interest in science due to the increased emphasis and class time devoted to math and reading. One Bay Area study found that 80 percent of local teachers spent less than an hour a week teaching science. The study also found that ten times as many teachers felt unprepared to teach science (41 percent) than felt unprepared to teach math (4 percent).

The situation in our state of Washington isn’t much better.

"If schools aren't meeting targets in math or reading a frequent response is to cast other subject areas aside," says Carolyn Landel, project director for the North Cascade and Olympic Science Partnership (NCOSP) which is working to reform science education in grades 3-10. “Teacher content knowledge is another factor. Most elementary teachers have a weak science background, which makes them uncomfortable teaching it - so they don't.”

With state expectations still standing that children should receive four years of science education by fourth grade many teachers attempt to shoehorn science in to other lessons, such as reading about animals and writing about the natural world.

Landel thinks that this is poor substitute for true science instruction and hopes to change this misinterpretation of her field. "The idea that 'reading about animals' is 'science' shows that many still view science as just a static body of facts, not as a means of examining phenomena in the natural world and generating knowledge. We've got a lot of work to do!"

I always found that in studying science—from measuring the distance between planets to studying Watson and Crick’s discovery of DNA—rested the practical applications and connections between reading and math I had been looking for. Hopefully, through the work of Landel and NCOSP, today’s students will be able to develop the same powerful connections and curiosity—even if does involve some squid ink stains.