VOA慢速英语:Scientists, Engineers Help Elementary School Teachers

A program in the United States brings scientists and engineers into elementary schools to teach teachers more about how to teach science.
美国的一个方案将科学家和工程师带入小学，以指导老师们如何教科学课。

DAVE WEISS: "Welcome to science class. So good to see you guys today."
DAVE WEISS：“欢迎来到科学课，今天很高兴见到你们。”
 
Dave Weiss is a retired engineer. One day each week he volunteers at Georgian Forest Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland, near Washington.
Dave Weiss是一名退休工程师。他每周都有一天在马里兰州银泉市的格鲁吉亚的森林小学担任志愿者。

DAVE WEISS: "But the experiment we're going to do, we want to keep all of our variables constant."
DAVE WEISS：“但是在我们将要进行的实验中，我们要保持所有变量不变。”

He works with teacher Fred Tenyke on science projects for ten-year-olds.
他和Fred Tenyke老师在十岁孩子的科学项目上合作。

DAVE WEISS: "Fred is so enthusiastic and he's so much fun with the kids. I can see that he really loves what he's doing. I get as much pleasure from helping the teachers as I do helping the students."
DAVE WEISS：“Fred是如此热情，而他给孩子带来如此多的乐趣。我看出，他非常热爱他现在的工作。我从帮助老师和学生中获得了同样的乐趣。”

Student Jada Lockwood she says enjoys Mr. Weiss' visits to her classroom. She likes the drawings he uses to explain scientific ideas.
学生Jada Lockwood说她喜欢Weiss的到访。她喜欢他用来解释科学思想的图纸。

JADA LOCKWOOD: "Mr. Weiss, like, he would go in the back and draw, like, these pictures and, like, he helps us a lot."
JADA LOCKWOOD：Weiss先生，喜欢他走到后面画出这些图片。喜欢这些图纸，喜欢他帮助了我们很多。”

The American Association for the Advancement of Science sponsors the Senior Scientists and Engineers program. Dave Weiss has been a volunteer in that program for many years. The scientists and engineers help teachers in elementary schools improve their skills.
美国科学促进协会发起了这项资深科学家和工程师计划，Dave Weiss已经成为这个计划的志愿者很多年了。科学家和工程师的帮助小学教师提高他们的技能。

Mr. Weiss says he and the other volunteers help teachers by providing hands-on expertise.
Weiss先生说他和其他志愿者给老师们提供动手的专业知识来帮助他们。

DAVE WEISS: "In this experiment, I think it might be confusing to the kids that we're dealing with two masses."
DAVE WEISS：“在这个实验中，我认为我们正在处理两个质量可能会让孩子们混淆。”

He notes that science is an area in which many elementary school teachers have limited experience.
他指出，科学是一个许多小学教师经验非常有限的领域。

DAVE WEISS: "In elementary school, for the most part, your regular classroom teacher is responsible for teaching science, along with reading and math, and if they don't have a strong science background, just by nature, they're going to tend to underrepresent science in the curriculum."
DAVE WEISS：“在小学，大多数情况下，普通教师在教授阅读和数学之外，还负责教授科学。如果他们不具备很强的科学背景，仅从本质上来说，他们在课程中往往会对科学表述得不够深刻。”

Fred Tenyke agrees. He just started teaching science classes a few months ago.
Fred Tenyke同意该观点。他也只是几个月前才开始教科学课。

FRED TENYKE: "A lot of time I'll spit out information I learned in the book, or things that are part of the curriculum. Dave helps me learn how to supplement that information so that it's more relevant to them, so that it will be more relevant to their work experience later on in life."
FRED TENYKE：“很多时候，我都是照课本里的念出来。Dave帮我学会如何补充那些信息，以使它们更相关联，因此这也将使他们以后的工作经验更加息息相关。”

American fifteen-year-olds scored about average in science among countries that took part in testing by the OECD in two thousand nine. The OECD is the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
美国15岁学生在2009年参加OECD组织的测试中成绩约为平均水平。OECD是指经济合作与发展组织。

Dave Weiss says he is concerned about such results, but hopeful for the future for American students learning science.
Dave Weiss称，他对这样的结果很很担忧，但对美国学生学习科学的未来充满希望。

DAVE WEISS: "In elementary school I try to just give them a solid foundation. I hope they'll develop a curiosity about what's going on around them."
DAVE WEISS：“在小学中，我只是尝试给他们打下一个坚实的基础。我希望他们能对周围的一切养成一种好奇心。”

Fred Tenkye thinks volunteers like Dave Weiss are helping students do that.
Fred Tenkye认为像Dave Weiss这样的志愿者能够帮助学生们做到这一点。

FRED TENYKE: "And if you can develop a passion for science, then eventually the grades and the test scores, then that will follow."
FRED TENYKE：“如果你能培养出对科学的热情，而最终科学水平和考试成绩也会随之提高。”