Teaching Science in Elementary SchoolsThe National Science Education Standards have set the standards for science education. As part of the curriculum's Standard B, the standards address the best ways children learn science. The program's Standard B states that "the science curriculum should be developmentally appropriate, interesting, and relevant to students' lives: emphasizing student understanding through inquiry and being connected to other school subjects. » This sums up what teachers need to do in their classrooms to teach science. Traditional science teaching only in the form of textbooks and worksheets is clearly not recommended with inquiry and hands-on experiments. Standard B shows representations of methods to be used not only in science teaching but also in other areas. The best way to teach science in primary school is to use a variety of methods. If the teacher uses various methods, children can discover the content and process of science. Some methods work better than others. This is what the teacher must discover in each lesson. Using various methods, the teacher arouses the interest of children. One of the most used methods is discovery learning. Discovery is discovering information through hands-on experiences. Children can discover what is happening in science and why. They respond to problems themselves. They use their schema, their prior scientific knowledge, to search for information. The cycle of scientific discovery begins with a question or a series of questions being asked. Second, through discussion, a problem is identified and narrowed down so that children can solve it. Third, with the help of the teacher, children come up with a way to approach the problem and then collect the middle of the sheet...... Using hands-on activities and not direct lectures helps children learn better. Inquiry gives them experiences that can help them retain the knowledge their teacher is trying to impart. ReferencesBruce, Chip (1997). Helping children learn science. Retrieved February 9, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ed.unic.eduMartin, DJ (2000). Elementary scientific methods: a constructivist approach (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. National Academy of Sciences. (1995). National Science Standards. Available: http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/html/Parker W., & Jarolimek, J. (1997) Social studies in elementary education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Guide for Scientists and Engineers (1997). Science teaching methods. Retrieved February 29, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://wings.ucdavis.edu/guide/methods.html