The Scientific Method

[~Amanda~]

First of all, I would like to apologize for the number of questions from me of late :P

 

Ok, tell me if this exists.  I'm looking for a type of experiment to introduce the scientific method (obviously all experiments will be utilizing this method) but I'm looking for something that maybe takes everyday things, or situation, breaks it down to where the kid kind of goes "Ah-ha!" and they have this to reference back to as far as the steps of the method and how and why it works?  Am I totally reaching?

[Arcadia]

Maybe Ruth (lewelma) might know what you are looking for

Her threads on scientific inquiry

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/463952-scientific-investigations-with-my-12-and-9-year-old/

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/361740-scientific-inquiry/

[Farrar]

There are a lot of good demo type experiments that use everyday things where you can make a child predict and observe to see if the prediction was correct then learn about the why behind what really happened.  And sometimes that sort of thing is really fun - especially when it gives you a result that's not intuitive.

 

But that's not really the scientific method.  If you want to really follow that, then the kids have to come up with the question themselves and dream up a way to answer it.  So that's not something that's proscribed.  And for that, Ruth's threads are often very good.

[lewelma]

I assume you are talking about your 11 and 13 year olds.  The best, easy, experiment that I have ever found is making silly putty.  You only need borax, corn starch, and 2-3 different types of glues.  Your goal is to find out what ratios of each ingredient make the "best" silly putty.  By changing the ratios, you change the bounce and stretch of the end product.  And what is absolutely wonderful is that with 3 variables to change, the combinations are quite large and thus require very good record keeping and very complex graphing.  Your students actually have to define "best", and then have to design how they will test for the bounce and stretch of the different putties in an objective way.  All you have to do is get a basic starter recipe off the internet and work from there.  *You* don't know the answer, so it is real science.  We took more than 10 hours to work through all the combinations that my ds wanted to try (we used food coloring to make the different putties identifiable), and in the end he had a great time playing with the silly putties with his friends! 

 

I did have him keep a scientific notebook and write up a scientific paper (with intro, methods, results, discussion) at the end.  Your 11 and 13 year olds should be able to design their own record keeping tables, experiments, and graphs with your guidance (this might take quite a bit of thinking).  Part of science is this process -- science is not about filling in pre-made tables, so make sure that you go in with the right attitude and expect it all to take some good honest thinking. 

 

Let me know if you want more details.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

 

[~Amanda~]

This is genius. thank you.

[My3girls]

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