Long-term Sabbatical
Elementary children are quite capable of understanding science concepts usually reserved for college and advanced high school level students. I know this because my biology students and I are in our 10th year of teaching ecology to 3rd through 6th grade students using a one year long curriculum – teaching one day per week. Our curriculum guide is my paper on teaching ecology to elementary students (American Biology Teacher 65:341-346) which outlines the content and methods of instruction for such a curriculum. I propose to write and test a curriculum of the same model for the teaching of evolution to elementary students.
The goal of this project would be to write and publish a year-long curriculum for the teaching of evolution to elementary students, then initiate a trial teaching effort to test its possibilities, and then evaluate the effort.
Designing and teaching an evolution curriculum for elementary students
| PI(s): | Joseph Fail (Johnson C Smith University) |
| Start Date: | 1-Sep-2006 |
| End Date: | 31-Aug-2007 |
| Keywords: | education, ecology, evolutionary theory |
Elementary children are quite capable of understanding science concepts usually reserved for college and advanced high school level students. I know this because my biology students and I are in our 10th year of teaching ecology to 3rd through 6th grade students using a one year long curriculum – teaching one day per week. Our curriculum guide is my paper on teaching ecology to elementary students (American Biology Teacher 65:341-346) which outlines the content and methods of instruction for such a curriculum. I propose to write and test a curriculum of the same model for the teaching of evolution to elementary students.The goal of this project would be to write and publish a year-long curriculum for the teaching of evolution to elementary students, then initiate a trial teaching effort to test its possibilities, and then evaluate the effort.
Related products
Publications- A no-holds-barred evolution curriculum for elementary and junior high school students Fail, J.L., Jr. (2008). A no-holds-barred evolution curriculum for elementary and junior high school students. Evolution Education and Outreach 1(1): 56-64.
- Book review: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond Fail, J.L., Jr. (2008). Book review: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. Evolution Education and Outreach 1(2):227-228.
- Fail, J.L., Jr. 2008, March. Poster: Teaching an Elementary Story of Life. Molecules of Life Conference, NSF/NYU. Atlanta, Ga.
- Biology belongs in ""...elementary school"" Fail, J.L., Jr. (2007). Biology belongs in ""...elementary school"". American Biology Teacher 69(6): 328.
- Fail, J.L., Jr. 2007. A Primer of Biology - A textbook for elementary and junior high school students and teachers. Published as textbook for two teacher workshops - 50 copies by James Madison University.
- Teach evolution early Fail, J.L., Jr. (2006). Letter: Teach Evolution Early. BioScience 56: 877.
