Episode 93 – Making Connections Between Home, School and Science
Prompted by listener feedback, we talk this week with Sherri Smith Dodgson. As “Miss Science,” founder of Discover Science 4 Kids, and co-founder of SciPreneur, Dodgson has been an active science educator both in and out of the classroom. Dodgson talks to us about her experiences working with getting kids interested in science.
Links:
- Discover Science 4 Kids
- SciPreneur
- SUU Alumni Spotlight: Sherri Smith Dodgson
- Arizona Midday- AZ SciTech Festival
- SciPreneur 12 News Today
- The Science of Baseball
To listen to this episode, download the mp3 directly, find us on iTunes, or use the player below.
Well now you have opened a can of worms. I am catching up on your podcasts now that my car stereo accepts digital input again. I coordinate the elementary science curriculum for all 106 elementary schools. With that large an “N” I can definitely tell you that science has taken a back seat to language arts and math in recent years. However, there are glimmers of hope. Maryland recently changed their measurement for schools whereby science now constitutes 1/3 of whether a school is making progress. Additionally, my friends in the Language Arts Office have reached out to my office to begin building a transdisciplinary that integrates our existing science curriculum with their Common Core standards. The long-term goal is to build the “one curriculum” where students will not see a break between subjects.
Lastly, keep talking about elementary. The NGSS will be felt heaviest at the elementary level. There are some major content shifts that will heavily impact how instruction will be delivered and will have tremendous ramifications at the secondary level if the content is not taught. It is a whole new era for science education.