It's time to start getting students excited about science and learning about the world around them. Please join me in helping develop their love of science by encouraging participation in the Wildwood Science Fair . A way teachers can support this goal is by taking a concept from your current science kit and developing it as an actual Science Fair (SF) project in class using groups.
An example of incorporating a science fair project using the science kit : 3rd grade Plant growth and development.
Lesson 4 is about thinning and transplanting.
- The students brainstorm how to test this concept and from that develop a testable question such as "Do plants grow taller when they are spaced farther apart? * Your manipulated variable is how far apart the plants are spaced, your responding variable is the plant height and some controlled variables are type of seed, soil, and planter used.
- Split your class into 4 groups and have them plant 2 planter flats, one with plants 1/2 inch apart and another planted 1 1/2 (or whatever would work based on the area used). Since there would be 8 planters (4 sets of data) the experiment has been repeated the required 3 times.
- Have each group do a poster board of the project. PTA can provide poster boards for the classrooms.
You could also do an experiment, using the same concept, such as "Do thinned plants grow taller than unthinned plants ?" and have all planters started with seeds equally spaced but then thin one flat and not the other. Your manipulated variable then becomes the process of thinning.
By working through this process with the students you are encouraging them to take it a step further and complete an individual project which is a great learning experience and is very rewarding for the student.
Resources that are available for classroom teaching include the Puyallup district website located at
http://teacherweb.puyallup.k12.wa.us/icr/sciencefair/index.php?section=documentsThe Puyallup district science fair team have developed some tools to help teach science in a fun way in the classroom. These include a PowerPoint presentation on variables and a fun game of tic tac toe for the whole class called what's my variable game - see attachments or the district website. The teachers that used these tools last year had very positive feedback.
Teacher science fair packets will be in your mailboxes this week so please take a minute to look them over. In another week I will be sending a flyer home to students to encourage any students interested in participating in the SF to start brainstorming over the Thanksgiving weekend. Please remind the students that the science journal is very important and they need to document everything they do including brainstorming.
For more information on the Wildwood Science Fair including dates please see
http://wildwoodelemenetary.oursciencefair.com Please contact me if you have any questions or need assistance.
Thanks,
Laura Beste 253-845-8512 or lbeste@comcast.net
Labels: science fair
