Need to spark a science interest - 8th grade

[bethben]

My 12 year old ds has been doing Apologia General Science with boredom. He knows what's going to happen in the labs so it's a "why bother" type of attitude (I agree - why bother). I'm using the labs to teach him how to write up a lab report which has saved my "why bother" attitude. This is a kid who is not that excited about much. He does well, but there's not really a "love" for anything he does (except his businesses he has on the side). This is just a personality thing - not an attitude thing.

 

I want to see if I can spark a love of science. I think he could do very well with a science related field - he's got the brain for it. I can see him inventing something and I want to give him the skills he would need. What can I use to spark a science interest? It needs to be laid out well because otherwise it won't get done. I have been thinking of Dive Physical Science with the BJU text, but I'm concerned that it would be too overwhelming and that even if I buy the full lab equipment set, he'll still yawn. Anything else? I've heard a lot of talk about conceptual physics or chemistry, but there doesn't seem to be an easy way to do either of those - I need this to be mostly independent.

 

 

Beth

[Alte Veste Academy]

I do not have any recommendations for programs, independent or otherwise. However, I did want to offer my perspective, as someone who has always done inquiry science with my kids. They have always provided their own "why bother" for doing science. Well, after years of this (time spent following his own interests, reading wonderful living books on science, creating his own experiments, etc.), DS10 has decided that he would like to try a curriculum with a traditional textbook, as a way to streamline his science learning. He is at a point where he sees how very much is out there to be learned that he cannot discover on his own and wants to approach the accumulation of scientific knowledge more efficiently, while still allowing for inquiry bunny trails into areas of particular interest.

 

So, anyway, that is my perspective, the background for my suggestion here. I wonder if you can take off a few weeks? A couple of months? The rest of this year? Maybe just one day a week? Lay out the giant feast that is scientific knowledge. A brainstorm chart or science encyclopedia is good for this. I would literally spread the table high and wide with books on a staggering number of individual topics. You can chat about how there is no way on Earth for someone to learn all there is to know about all topics in science. All scientists specialize, sometimes on what we would see as minutiae! But even specialists need to have broader general knowledge of other branches because, ultimately, all of science is related. I would ask him to pick an area of interest in which to specialize and then explain that the rest, by necessity, has to be learned through books and science demonstrations. (I do not call canned, pre-planned activities experiments here. Ruth has some great posts about this somewhere, guidelines for how to choose whether or not to do this or that particular activity.) Maybe he could do an independent study/science fair project for the remainder of the year?

 

Also, some of my son's biggest inspiration has come from reading really good "living" books on science, particularly the Scientists in the Field series. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_scat_283155_ln?rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3AScientists+in+the+field&keywords=Scientists+in+the+field&ie=UTF8&qid=1361036010&scn=283155&h=632aa6cf911be7a26196028ff504842433b3066c

 

All that to say that some freedom can provide a child with his own "why bother" epiphany. I hope you get some good recommendations for actual curricula!

[Kalmia]

I would borrow from the library:

 

Several books written by scientists that retain the enthusiasm and curiosity that is lost in a textbook. (ex. Summer World by Bernd Heinrich, anything by Neil deGrasse Tyson...)

Several "coffee table" books on specific fields of science with lots of gorgeous photos (ex. The Elements by Theodore Gray...)

Several up-to-date documentaries on science topics (Nova, History Channel, Discovery Channel, Nature)

 

I would take a field trip to a science museum and note what your child is most attracted to amongst the exhibits.

 

I would encourage a lot of nature study/amateur astronomy/amateur geology where the student can make discoveries on his or her own.

 

Once the child has an interest in one or more of the sciences, you might look for organizations like Rock & Gem Clubs, Nature Centers, Astronomy Clubs (Star Party!), etc. that will have enthusiastic members ready to share their curiosity.

 

You are right to want to light the spark. Without the spark there seems no point in wading through the dry textbook material or curriculum. With the spark, even a dry text becomes a means to an end--a tool to help them on their journey of discovery.

[dbmamaz]

two middle-school-ish level books we used to give a broader idea - Dr Art's Guide to Science, and Joy Hakim's Story of Science. Also consider The Jason Project.