Science in the Community: Pre-service Teachers Learning Science Through Service Learning
Abstract
Service learning is a valued component of Fundamentals of Science, a two course series required for Childhood and Special Education majors who are non-science concentrators at The College of Saint Rose. Service learning provides an opportunity for students to teach science content in the community and as a result, they begin to recognize the importance of science in the elementary classroom. A Day in the Life of the Hudson River and Project Learning Tree® (PLT) are two service learning opportunities in which the students participate. A Day in the Life of the Hudson River, an annual event sponsored by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Hudson River Estuary Program and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, provides students with an opportunity to collect scientific data in the Hudson River. The undergraduate students partner with local K-6 classrooms and lead the collection of scientific data (chlorophyll, sediment cores, water quality) to create a snapshot of the river. The collected data are shared with the larger community and may be used by the K-6 teachers in science-based, multidiscipline lessons. Some of the findings contribute to ongoing research at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Project Learning Tree® is an environmental education program developed by the American Forest Foundation. This past year, undergraduate students participating in Project Learning Tree® were trained in a curriculum aligned with state and national science standards. In conjunction with Earth Day, the students planted trees and conducted the PLT activities in seven local schools. At the end of the service learning activity, the students wrote a reflection which provided a description of their project and indicated the connection it had with the content/skills learned in the classroom. The students also described the impact the activity had on their own learning Service learning in the pre-service teacher classroom promotes science literacy at all levels of education. Undergraduate students must first master the science content and the elementary school children and their teachers are instructed in environmental science concepts as the students present their activities. The undergraduate students also gain experience communicating scientific information using simple activities which further prepares them for classroom teaching.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AGUFMED51A0502M
- Keywords:
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- 0805 EDUCATION / Elementary and secondary education;
- 0825 EDUCATION / Teaching methods;
- 0830 EDUCATION / Teacher training