16 TEACHING SCIENCE IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL


 CHAPTER II.

SCOPE AND CONTINUITY OF SCIENCE IN THE
 ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Explanation of Chart
 This scope and continuity chart of areas and major con-
cepts found in the succeeding pages is intended as an aid to
teachers as they plan a continuous course in science for boys
and girls from grades one through six.
 Scope refers to the breadth or range of work. Science in
the elementary school should include understandings from all
the major areas of science: the earth as a part of the universe,
the earth and its changing conditions, matter and energy are
subject to change, conditions necessary to life, living things and
their activities, man and his environment. By reading down
the chart, individual teachers and faculty groups can see the
scope of work and develop their plans in such a way as to avoid
gaps in pupil understandings or over-emphasis on certain areas
with a corresponding under-emphasis on other areas.
 Continuity refers to the development of ideas from simple
to complex as pupils reach greater maturity levels. By reading
across the chart the individual teachers and faculty groups can
see the development in ideas from the simple to the complex.
It is also possible to plan for continuity by building the experi-
ences of one year upon those of the preceding years.
 The concepts stated are not, of course, in children's lan-
gauge. The statements merely represent some of the major ideas
pupils will acquire from a well-rounded program. The chart is
certainly not exhaustive. Many other important ideas will be
developed. Neither is any time sequence implied by the arrange-
ment of the chart; i.e., the earth as a part of the universe is
not necessarily the first area studied.

Uses of the Chart
 In Faculty and Individual Teacher Planning. The chart
 should be of service to anyone who is interested in obtaining a
 comprehensive view of science in the elementary school. It
 should be of special service to faculty groups, curriculum com-
 mittees, and county groups in planning schoolwide or countywide
 programs in science. It should be of use to individual teachers
 first in obtaining an over-view of science in all the grades and
 second in checking their plans for proper breadth and balance.
 In Multiple Grade Planning. The chart should be of par-