Green River Community College has launched a yearlong Interdisciplinary Science course (IDS) aimed at improving the confidence and competence of future elementary school teachers. Physics, chemistry, geology, and biology are combined in a team-taught course with faculty from each discipline. The new 3-quarter IDS sequence is required as part of a new Pre-Professional Associates Degree in Elementary Education.

Learning is inquiry-based, with lectures occupying less than 10% of class time. The course is dominated by hands-on thematic investigation. "Climate and global change" was chosen as a theme that naturally interweaves all of the disciplines represented, while focusing on phenomena that are easily observed.

Students are pre and post-tested for attitudes toward science, conceptual knowledge, and problem solving skills. Since the course is new, evaluation is ongoing, but quantitative and qualitative test results are already encouraging.

Contrary to some expectations, future teachers have been willing to take additional science classes if they believe the course will be relevant to their careers. Among the lessons learned by the faculty is the need to address the special demands of students who have chosen to become elementary teachers.