Human existence will change radically during the next 100 years.  Science, along with mathematics and technology, will be the center of that change—causing it, shaping it, and responding to it.  Therefore, it is essential that today's children are prepared for tomorrow's world by becoming scientifically literate.  Such instruction must start early and progress gradually through the various grade levels so that by the time students graduate from high school they are ready to accept the social, political, and economic realities and responsibilities of adulthood.  Science literacy requires individuals to use scientific, technological, and mathematical knowledge, skills and habits of mind to make sense of the world around them; to ask questions and to find answers; to weigh evidence and to evaluate alternatives; to deal sensibly with problems and to make responsible decisions for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Elementary Education Majors who choose science as their concentration area will take courses in the three broad categories into which the discipline of science is divided:  Life Science, Physical Science, and Earth Science.  The science concepts and principles which they will encounter, as well as the science skills and dispositions they will practice, will provide them with the competence and confidence necessary to teach each of the Kindergarten through sixth grade state mandated science proficiencies found in the new Indiana Science Proficiency Guide.

  Choose two courses from any one area

Life Sciences

            BIO 112, Principles of Biology 2 (4)
            BIO 210, Principles of Biology 3 (3)
            BIO 216, Ecology (4) 
            BIO 253, Human Genetics (3) 
            BIO 401, Developments in Modern Biology (3) 
            BIO 420, Field Biology of Distant Areas (3-12)
                 Note: BIO 253 is not open to students who have credit in HONRS 299)  

Physical Sciences

            CHEM 108, Introduction to Chemistry (3) 
            CHEM 111, General Chemistry 1 (4) 
            PHYCS 102, Preparation of Phys. Sci. Teaching Materials (3) 
            PHYCS 110, General Physics 1 (4) 
            PHYCS 482, Independent Studies in Physics (1-3) 

Earth Sciences

            GEOG 230, Weather 1 (3) 
            GEOG 353, Geography of Indiana (3) 
            GEOL 110, Age of the Dinosaurs (3) 
            GEOL 207, Environmental Geology (3) 
            GEOL 301, Field Geology (3) 
            GEOL 450, Geology of Indiana (3) 
                  (Note: GEOG 230 is not open to students who have selected it as a part of the concentration requirement.) 

Required Courses, 9 Credits

             ASTRO 101, Astronomy Materials for Teachers (3) 
            GEOG 230, Weather 1 (3) 
                        or 
            GEOL 102, Historical Geology (3) 
            SCI 498, Science as Inquiry (3)                  

(Note:  If GEOG 101 was selected for the General Studies Requirement, then GEOL 102 must be selected for the Concentration Requirement; if GEOL 101 was selected for the General Studies Requirement, then GEOG 230 must be selected for the Concentration Requirement.)