Children
learn about science by doing science - by observing and describing, questioning
and searching for answers. If you want to find out how fast woolly bear
caterpillars crawl, you've got to follow them!
Doing science
includes working with others – collaborating on research, tossing ideas around,
sharing your findings. By working together scientists (and curious children)
build upon their knowledge. They test ideas, make connections, and maybe even
change their views on how things work.
What can we,
as helpful adults, do to help our children become more comfortable
exploring science? We can give them time to work out their ideas. It might take
hours, days, weeks, maybe months to observe, investigate and test a single
idea. As every scientist knows, the minute you start investigating one
question, a gazillion more leap out at you.
Scientists
need a workspace. A kitchen counter will do; we used a kid-sized table covered with a plastic table cloth. We shelved reference books and field guides on a kid-level bookshelf and piled journals, hand lenses and other things
in a plastic bin that fit under the table. For messy experiments, we put a plastic sheet under the table.
Children
learn a lot of skills as they do science:
- Classifying (sorting things into groups using a system)
- Creating models (graphs, charts, 3-D models, diagrams)
- Formulating hypotheses (a tentative explanation for how things work)
- Generalizing (drawing conclusions)
- Identifying variables (factors that influence their project)
- Making decisions
- Using tools of science
- Measuring things
- Sharpening observation skills
- Making predictions
- Recording data
- Sharing what they discover with others
If you are
looking for ways to get kids involved in projects with
real scientists, look for a local Community Science (or Citizen Science) project.