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Enhance Your Science Program by Kathleen Julicher |
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The discovery type of science books are great beginnings to the study of science, but they usually assume that your child will absorb the scientific principle being taught simply by doing the experiment or by watching it being done. Sometimes this happens. Occasionally, a student will remember an experiment done last year and connect the action with the theory. Sometimes they do not. You can help this process along very easily by following up the experiment with a written product of some type. One time-honored method is the science notebook.
In a student's science notebook, you will want him to record his science activities. They can be organised according to topic, according to skill being worked on, or according to the experiment book you happen to be using. Each experiment should have an organisation, too. The classic system is the scientific method. This method is a system used by scientists to help plan and carry out experiments. You can use it easily at home. Here is a list of the steps in the scientific method: Identify the problem or question, study the problem, make a guess as to the answer, decide how you are going to test the problem, record what happened, and, lastly, try to explain what happened. In school, we usually call these steps by their shortened names: Problem, Research, Hypothesis, Procedure, Observations, and Conclusions. Children use these steps naturally when given the opportunity. They have been using observation and trial-and-error all their lives. The method of recording science experiences depends upon the ages of your children. You can use photos for younger children as the observation step or as the procedure step in the scientific method. In the notebook, you can put photos of Johnny rubbing the balloon on the cat. With the camera, you can catch Susan as she is zapping the doorknob (or the cat) with the static she developed from sliding her feet on the rug. Using photographs is a good way to record science activities. A second method of recording activities is by drawing. This method can be used by young children who can color as well as by much older children in college. This is a useful skill for the young scientist to develop. The older your children, the more writing you will want to incorporate into the report format. I have included several reproducible worksheets for you to copy and use with your own science text, experiment book, or even your own original projects. Use different sheets with children of different ability levels when you are teaching an age integrated study. In the following section, I have condensed the scientific method into patterns for different ages of children. At each sucessive age you may expect more analysis and drawing skill from your child. Since the scientific method is both a process and a pattern of thought, you will be giving your child a system for problem solving of any type, as well as nurturing his ability to think. You will be turning the haphazard learning of a science experiment book into something systematic and recordable. 2 - 4 years (pre-writing) Observations (dictated to mother), Drawings, Conclusions - your students will draw conclusions, but do not require it. Just let them think. Children at this stage do learn a lot of scientific principles, but not because they have been taught from a text. For example, observe the principles of gravity. The young child does know that what goes up, must come down. About the time when he was 12 months old, he used experimental evidence to demonstrate that when he let go of something, it fell. In this way, your toddler is learning science and the nature of his universe. You can ask them to tell what they see or hear or smell. By doing this you are developing their skill at observation, a necessary part of the scientific method. Let them draw, but have them dictate labels to you so that you can write them down. 5 - 7 years (learning to read and write stage) Observing, Measuring, Drawing, How-to skills: planting, building with toys. These children are ready to start "doing science" (As if they could be stopped.) This is skill-building time. Some useful skills are drawing, measuring with moderate accuracy, making lists of (or dictating) observations, planting food plants, and building bridges, cars, etc. They still will be making conclusions, but you don't need to require it. When you use the scientific method with this age group, you can let them try more on their own. They can start writing their own labels on the drawings and lists of materials. If you use a form like the one here, let them dictate it to you if their writing skills are still developing. Require dates and page number on their reports, though. Let them copy pictures from a book onto the drawing paper. 8 - 10 years Guessing, Learning to predict,Measuring, Drawing, Observing, Graphing, Drawing conclusions, Explaining why, More building ( add motors). This stage is the time to build the skills of observing, measuring, building, and drawing. Now, the children have better coordination for these tasks. Have them measure everything: temperature, wind speed, number of bounces, weights, volumes, etc. Have them copy drawings from books: arches, columns, faulting, types of fishes, bird beaks, zones of the Earth, etc. Label everything. I would not expect that you have a text for the student yet, but you should have advanced volumes available for you (the instructor) to read aloud. (By advanced volumes, I mean junior high texts or above.) When a young child is studying with the scientific method, it is not necessary to do a whole experiment. Break the parts down and just have your student draw a diagram, or play with the measuring cups so that he/she can determine how much lunch is on the plate. Don't forget to record your finding in your science notebook. Doing only parts of the scientific method is especially good for young science students. Sometimes, you should let your child do an experiment when you are not in the room. What the child did and what happened should be given as an oral report. The instructor should take notes and place them in the science notebook. The oral communication of science is also useful to a student. By using the scientific method in this way to teach science, you are giving your student a set of tools which can be used in other areas besides science. In addition, by breaking down the scientific process into small skill-oriented topics, you make science easier to grasp. © 2002 Kathleen Julicher. All rights reserved. Re-printed with permission. |
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Kathleen Julicher has a science background with a Bachelor's Degree in Zoology and a minor in Geology. She also holds a Master's Degree in foreign relations. Kathleen has over 20 titles in print, is a former columnist for Homeschooling Today, and is the principal of The Westbridge Academy. She also operates the Castle Heights Press with her husband Mark. | ||
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