Learn physics? But we're teaching primary science...

Why is the sky blue? Why do I move forward when the bus stops? Why are my legs shorter in water? Why? Why? Why? As parents,we answered questions after questions to quench our child's thirst for knowledge. As they grow older and reach the primary level, more questions come into their minds that need to be answered. By who, but not us teachers..?

I have students asking me why they have to do physics when they're only going to teach primary science..My answer is..but if you did not do physics, how could you understand enough to teach these phenomena to your pupils? How would you select the best teaching strategies/approaches/aids? For example; pulleys make it easier to lift objects. But how does they make it easier? Of course you won't be talking about MA or IMA when explaining it to your pupils, but your knowledges of these will give you enough confidence that you will be able to explain their functions and how increasing the numbers make us require less force to pull the object up.

Remember that to teach a physics topic, you need to have the relevant knowledges; the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK).Content knowledges give you enough background information on the topic that you're going to teach, so that you will able to provide information, answer their questions or prepare relevant summatif assessments for your pupils. PCK on the other hand helps out when you're teaching as you will be able to identify problematic concepts, probable misconceptions and teach the topic according to your pupils' levels.

So students, to be an good teacher..know your physics concepts. Teaching primary science is not an excuse not to learn physics.