Science Project: Big Ideas to Get Kids Excited About Experiments

 Education  

American students are lagging behind in science it might be because our present educational culture stresses testing rather than engagement. Here are some ideas for science-based projects that will engage students at a young age about the world around them.

T
here is a debate smoldering in the halls of Academia over the issue of whether or not American school children are being prepared well enough in the sciences to complete globally for future high-tech jobs.

If academic mediocrity in the sciences is to be avoided in our schools then our educational environments need to adapt to present day realities.

If American grade school students are lagging behind in science it might be because our present educational culture stresses testing rather than engagement. If academic mediocrity in the sciences is to be avoided in our schools then our educational environments need to adapt to present day realities.  Educators will need to strive to stimulate the kind of engagement that triggers within students a sense of wonder about science that will across time blossom into a passion. Science projects, when done right will actively engage students at a young age about the world around them.

1. Drama Activates Engagement

To be effective, science educators need to understand the difference between entertainment and engagement. From the viewpoint of students, the most entertaining science experiments are always those whose outcomes are the most dramatic and unexpected. Although they never fail to generate squeals of delight, science experiments, especially those related to physics and chemistry should be regarded as missed opportunities if they succeed at entertaining but fail to get students thinking about the science behind them.

With respect to such experimentation, the object or big idea behind them should include the use of drama as a means to drive student engagement. This is accomplished by conducting the experiment after students have had their chance to offer their opinions, guesses and hypotheses as to what is going to happen next. In this way, the students are more engaged in the process and have a vested interest in the outcome. This approach is also more likely to propel them to start thinking about the science behind any experiment.

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2. The Integrated Method

Educational research has shown that a teaching approach that creates an opportunity for a shared learning experience between teacher and student helps students develop their own methods of finding meaning in classroom experiments. When active engagement is integrated into the process of carrying out science experiments, students gain an opportunity to voice their own ideas and demonstrate evidence of their appreciation and understanding of the scientific method. A method and practice of teaching which stimulates a student to reflexively evaluate a range of possible outcomes and the reasons for them prior to discovering the demonstrated outcome is a far superior alternative to science experiments students passively observe.

Further activities that are likely to foster greater excitement in learning about science would integrate opportunities to attend a field trip to the community recycling center where materials are obtained to conduct these dramatic science experiments.

Science projects should be fun, informative and a gateway for more scientific questions and discoveries from students. Have students create their own projects in the classroom. When you let them ask the questions, the experimentation process will emerge on its own. Teachers should provide supplies, and also a safe way to dispose of waste in a a King Recycling and Waste Disposal Inc. Toronto dumpster rental so students get a chance to create (and destroy) with experiments as they see fit. When you get kid's mind engaged, science can become a subject that interests them all their life.

By Brooke Chaplan

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