how to demonstrate understanding (science) & skills question

[anabelneri]

Hello!  I have a random question about science.

 

I have a 7th grader with excellent recall and who strongly dislikes busywork in any form.  We've tried doing science in a variety of ways, most of which she hasn't really enjoyed.  Lately we've been watching Crash Course videos, which she enjoys, and she picks up a lot of information from them.  However, I don't end up with any written material to demonstrate learning.  Partly I need that because we're with a charter school, and partly because it's a little unnerving to be trying to educate someone and rarely see whether or not anything sunk in.

 

What kind of written work do you require of your upper-logic stage child in science? 

 

Is there a list of skills from SWB or other resource that we should be making sure that our kids get good at?  Either for logic stage or for rhetoric (I'm looking ahead)?  I imagine that note-taking is one such skill, but I haven't come up with anything else.

 

Thank you!

Anabel

[foxbridgeacademy]

You could have her do Biographies of Scientists, or a poster/demonstration for different parts of Science....  Like a Biography on Leeuwenhoek and a demonstration on how to use a microscope/make slides.  Lots of Scientists and lots of discoveries..... Models are good for things like Solar systems.... she'd give an explanation on rotation, gravity or whatever.  Newton and his 3 laws has tons of possibilities. 

[stlily]

I would begin with what your goals are for logic stage science.  Do you want your student to have a general understanding of the major topics, to simply acquire a love for science, etc. According to TWTM, logic stage science should be heavy on science experiments. "In the middle grades, your goal is to teach the young student to think critically about doing science. He'll learn how scientists  in each field --biology, earth science, astronomy, chemistry, physics--use experimentation to confirm their theories. And through experimentation, he'll practice using the scientific method himself." (TWTM, p. 385 3rd ed.)  Basically, the science study in the logic stage should be "experiment-focused", they should gain a firm grasp on the scientific method, and learn how to write short reports. 

 

With this method your student's output would be the lab report and a short research paper.  SWB also recommends students sketch and labeling "models or diagrams encountered in the experiment materials"  Her general recommendation for the length of the short reports are:

 

5th grade - 2-3 paragraphs

6th grade- 1 page

7th & 8th grades - 2 pages.

 

Again, these are SWB recommendations in TWTM.  You have to also consider what your goals for your student are and go from there :)

Edited January 19, 2016 by stlily