Making Time for Science in the Elementary Classroom
Navigation Links: Kayla Wagner's ID Portfolio
Overview and Purpose
Think about a typical elementary school day. Between reading instruction, writing, mathematics, intervention periods, and other classroom responsibilities, finding time for science can be challenging. Even when science is included in the schedule, it may receive significantly less instructional time than other subjects.
One possible solution is to integrate science into existing instruction. Science naturally connects to literacy through informational reading, vocabulary development, writing, and discussion. It also connects to mathematics through measurement, data collection, graphing, and identifying patterns. However, meaningful integration involves more than reading a book about animals or completing mathematics problems with a science-related theme.
Students need opportunities to do science, not just learn about science. This means asking questions, investigating phenomena, collecting and analyzing evidence, and developing explanations about the world around them. The challenge is finding ways to incorporate these experiences into an already busy instructional day without losing the learning objectives of science, literacy, or mathematics.
In this mini-course, Making Time for Science in the Elementary Classroom: How to Integrate Meaningful Science in a Classroom Focused on Literacy and Mathematics, learners will explore why science receives limited instructional time, what meaningful science interaction looks like, and how science can connect to literacy and mathematics skills. By the end, learners will be able to identify opportunities for science within existing classroom schedules and redesign a literacy or mathematics lesson to meaningfully incorporate science.
Needs Assessment
Elementary teachers often struggle to provide meaningful science instruction because literacy and mathematics receive much greater emphasis during the school day. Research highlights this problem, with K–3 teachers spending an average of 89 minutes per day on ELA and 57 minutes on mathematics, compared with only 18 minutes on science (Schwartz, 2024). More recent priorities, including post-pandemic learning recovery and the Science of Reading movement, have placed additional pressure on instructional time.
Although integrating science with literacy and mathematics can help address these challenges, simply including science-related content does not always result in meaningful science learning. Teachers need practical strategies for identifying natural connections among subjects while providing opportunities for students to ask questions, investigate, analyze evidence, and develop scientific explanations.
This mini-course is designed for pre-service and full-time elementary teachers with varying levels of experience, resources, and classroom schedules. It will help learners distinguish meaningful science integration from superficial connections, evaluate examples of interdisciplinary instruction, and identify realistic opportunities to incorporate science into their existing teaching. Ultimately, the goal is to help teachers make science a more consistent and meaningful part of the elementary school day.
For a more detailed Needs Assessment, visit Kayla Wagner's ID Portfolio.
Performance Objectives
After completing this mini-course, learners will be able to:
- Explain what meaningful science integration looks like and distinguish it from simply including science content within literacy or mathematics instruction.
- Analyze examples of integrated lessons and evaluate whether they provide meaningful opportunities for students to engage in science learning and practices.
- Identify natural connections among science, literacy, and mathematics and determine when integration or dedicated science instruction is most appropriate.
- Apply strategies for incorporating meaningful science learning into existing elementary classroom schedules and instruction.
- Redesign an existing literacy or mathematics lesson to meaningfully integrate science while maintaining the learning goals of both subjects.
Course Units
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