Repairing Elementary School Science

Abstract

The heterogendered cultural discourse that privileges heterosexuality and normalizes sexual and gender binaries damages the science knowledge and opportunities to engage in science learning that children experience in elementary school science. This article analyzes a typical science lesson on crayfish to show how the heterogendered obsession with dichotomies and categorization hides the diversity of sexual morphologies and reproductive processes of the natural world. Furthermore, although sexuality, defined here as an innate desire to satisfy curiosity and use bodily experiences to build knowledge, is a foundation of science, typical elementary school science lessons repress children’s curiosity and constrain their embodied understandings. Repairing elementary school science by providing a more expansive view of the diversity of life, inspiring and following children’s curiosity, and providing opportunities for children to build embodied knowledge can create a more gender and sex-inclusive curriculum and encourage all children to flourish as learners of science.

Additional Resources

1. Seemel, G. (2012). Crimes against nature. Portland, OR: Author.

http://www.gwennseemel.com/index.php/pages/from/category/nature_book/

This book, written for children, displays the amazing diversity of the animal kingdom in vivid paintings by painter Gwenn Seemel. Forwarded by Joan Roughgarden, it is a visual compliment to the Roughgarden’s Evolution's  Rainbow. The book can be ordered from the author/artists’s website. There is also an e-book version available online.

2. Kim, K. H. (2017). Want to foster creativity in children? Science says, “Nurture curiosity!” The Creativity Post. http://www.creativitypost.com/education/want_to_foster_creativity_in_children_science_says_nurture_curiosity

This is a blog post that provides an extensive list of tips and ideas for teachers and parents for nurturing children’s curiosity.

3. Tracy, K. (2002). Barbara McClintock: Pioneering Geneticist. Hallandale, FL: Mitchell Lane Publishers.

This middle-grades biography tells the story of how Barbara McClintock worked in obscurity as a woman scientist in a field dominated by men, how she discovered jumping genes, and how she eventually won the Nobel Prize 20 years later. The book provides a starting point for discussions about how scientists rely on empirical observations, as well as passion and intuition to make discoveries.

Notes

¹ FOSS kits are widely recognized and used. Kit-based science curricula produce the same or slightly better student outcomes compared to textbook-based science (e.g., Jones, Robertson, Gardner, Dotger, & Blanchard, 2012; Young & Lee, 2005).

² Gender identity and sexual orientation develop throughout childhood (e.g., Carroll, 2018; Martin & Ruble, 2010).

³ In response to those who argue that such inclusion turns science into a sex education course, I point out that the curriculum already contains representations of sex and reproduction, as seen, for example, in the original crayfish lesson.