Science is Fun-damental!!!

Learning the Scientific Method is fundamental to understanding all things sci-en-rrific!

The Scientific Method consists of the following:
Posing a question/Gathering information
Forming a hypothesis
Conducting an experiment
Drawing conclusions
Recording/Sharing the results

Having background knowledge in the scientific method allows young students to develop real life problem solving skills.  Here's how:

Posing a question and gathering information enables students to think independently and create an authentic awareness of the subject.

Forming a hypothesis allows a student's possible answer to be tested and keeps the student enaged through critical thinking.

Planning an experiment allows the student to decide how best to gather and record data.

Conducting the experiment allows students to follow the steps in their plan and organize their data accordingly.

Drawing conclusions allows students to evaluate their experiment and to describe whether their hypothesis was supported or not.

Finally, sharing the results allows students to show what they learned during their experiment and may help them think of other questions to ask or ways to change their experiment.

Essentially, providing students with opportunities for developing their scientific process skills early allows them to build confidence in other everyday processs skills such as speaking, listening, reading, writing, and most especially, thinking as well.

Further, there are many opportunities to apply the Scientific Method during the school year.  Most Science textbooks provide step by step experiments for students to work on and these do not have to be assigned by a teacher.  Just take some time to work with your child, follow the steps and see what happens! Most of all, enjoy the process!!! 



 

A Proven Model

Take some time to learn from Barton Elementary School on how to incorporate a
parent connection program within your school.

Using the Internet to Connect

Parents, you may not think that you can relate to what is being taught in the classroom, but with a few simple exercises, you can really grow your child's understanding just by exploring the internet together.

Keep in mind, you must be vigilant in using safe and secure websites! However, there are so many resources on the internet that reinforce our class lessons, it is really a necessity to incorporate home learning time into your child's overall learning experience.

Here are a few of my favorite websites that promote our contents standards:
www.scholastic.com www.pbs.org  www.khanacademy.org www.brainpop.com www.merriam-webster.com and even www.youtube.com are all useful in expanding our lessons.

The best thing to do is log on to the website and type into their search engine a key vocabulary word from our lesson to see what activities are there. From there, let your child explore!!! Most of all, have fun and monitor your child's time on the internet often. Ask questions about the lessons and/or activities and listen to your child's responses. I do and I am amazed at what my students know.

Please share any of the things you and your child have done using the internet as an education tool here. I'd love to hear from you!