How important are science writeups in elementary?

[CroppinIt]

Formal writeups are part of high school lab sciences. I get that.

 

But are they necessary for elementary/middle school?

 

I'm using RS4K Chemistry level 1 next year with three kids ages 12, 9, and 8. Do I really need to mess with the lab book, or can we just work through the text itself? (I don't have my books yet, but I'm assuming they have lab directions in the main text. Let me know if I'm wrong on that!)

 

Thanks,

Crista

Edited April 18, 2012 by CroppinIt

[CroppinIt]

Anyone? :confused:

[lewelma]

I just answered this question on this thread http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=369640

 

X-post: I disagree with the idea that "there needs to be some record of your science studies...narration, drawings, pictures, graphs,and lab reports. It makes the child think about what he has read in a book or saw during the nature walk." Some children like these types of projects, others find them to be busy work. Science does not need to be processed with language arts skills. We use discussion and oral review.

 

When we do our investigation, there is a need for making charts and graphs. Calculating averages. Writing up hypothesis, methods, results, discussion. Preparing a poster and oral presentation for the science fair. These outputs are purposeful. Writing a report on something you learned is language arts as far as I am concerned. Yes, you can write about science. No, you don't need to write about science in elementary school.

 

Hope this gets you thinking. Obviously, not everyone will agree with me. :001_smile:

 

 

And answered your question on this thread http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263107

 

X-post: Ok, so where does output and "sharing" come in for an elementary child? Here are a bunch of examples of output and my thoughts:

 

discussion: all the time

oral narration: sometimes when it might be helpful

memory work: I put together a list of what they want to remember and review monthly or so

projects: large science fair project answering a question of their choice. We write up their report together.

lab reports: none

scientific research reports/ written narrations: maybe a few a year for their writing program

diagrams: if it would help, they have been known to copy them for fun (like 1 a year)

questions from a text book: we don't use textbooks in elementary

Field trips: as much as we feel like

 

The problem with the output for grammar level science is that it is just explaining what you just read about, which is easy. It is just narration, which you can do in any subject, so why slow down the child who is sooooo excited just to learn about science. Your next question should obviously be, WHEN do you expect output for science? My answer would be when they study a high school level subject intensively.

 

High school level textbooks get into the more difficult questions than "explain" and "describe". Questions like evaluate, interpret, integrate, compare and contrast, critique, etc. And these are questions that you need to guide your student over many months about how to answer. I teach ds to make sure he 1) answers the question that is asked, 2) revises his answer orally until it is short enough to write down, 3) write it down 4) check that you answered the question and 5) if you have "ideal" answers, compare your answer to the ideal and figure out how you could have improved. If you have a good textbook with good questions, answering them can be REALLY HARD, and not just for your child.

 

Output also comes in high school with mathematics, equation balancing, essay taking, lab write ups, etc. I do not think that it makes a budding scientist more prepared to have him try to mimic this output at a lower scale when younger. And I definitely think that doing posters and projects etc do NOT help with learning science. They are good for other things like creativity, independence, time management, writing skills, etc. But if your son just wants to fly with science, do posters and projects for something else.

 

HTH

 

Ruth in NZ

Edited April 18, 2012 by lewelma

[hsmom2011]

Formal writeups are part of high school lab sciences. I get that.

 

But are they necessary for elementary/middle school?

 

I'm using RS4K Chemistry level 1 next year with three kids ages 12, 9, and 8. Do I really need to mess with the lab book, or can we just work through the text itself? (I don't have my books yet, but I'm assuming they have lab directions in the main text. Let me know if I'm wrong on that!)

 

Thanks,

Crista

 

We are using RS4K Pre-level 1 and Level 1. The experiments are not in the textbooks, so the lab manuals would be required if you want to complete the experiments. I consider it a necessity for both. The curriculum would be lacking without doing the lab write ups. We also use the study folders for level 1, dd enjoys completing them and it's a great review. We spread everything out over 4 days each week. We spend 2 days on the reading/study folder, one day on the experiment, and one day to do the lab write up. I also assign some extra reading in the Usborne Science Encyclopedia for my oldest (11). We did Chemistry during our first semester and are now doing Bio. The kids are both loving it. :)

 

I also wanted to add, I don't require my youngest (6) to do more writing than she desires in the lab manual. Sometimes she will dictate to me and I will write for her, or she might just answer some of the questions verbally.

Edited April 18, 2012 by hsmom2011

[Corraleno]

I disagree with the idea that "there needs to be some record of your science studies...narration, drawings, pictures, graphs,and lab reports. It makes the child think about what he has read in a book or saw during the nature walk." Some children like these types of projects, others find them to be busy work. Science does not need to be processed with language arts skills. We use discussion and oral review.

 

Hope this gets you thinking. Obviously, not everyone will agree with me.

:iagree: 100%!

 

Jackie

[CroppinIt]

Thank you for this, Ruth!!! Looks like you and I think alike in a lot of ways.

[CroppinIt]

We are using RS4K Pre-level 1 and Level 1. The experiments are not in the textbooks, so the lab manuals would be required if you want to complete the experiments.

 

Well, POOH. I was really hoping to save that money! But thanks for the info!