While watching President Barak Obama's State of the Union Address, I was pleased that he and his administration are aware of the painful reality which is the state of the United States' educational system. Specifically, the need to improve the quality and level of interest in the fields of math and science. Many of President Obama's statements reminded me of an article that I wrote in April of 2008 which discussed the fact that parents need to take the time to teach their children math and science skills as well and not just those found on the sports field. Because last night's speech stated this continuing need, I feel it only relevant to post the before mentioned article here...
"Add Science to Your Recipe for Summer Fun", by Bectoria Stafford, April, 2008
Alarming reports over the past several years indicating poor science performance by students in the United States have left many Americans wondering who will become future leaders in science related professions. Report findings of studies like Lessons Learned from U.S. International Science Performance from the U.S. Department of Education and the American Institutes for Research in 2007 have given parents further cause for concern. This study found that “U.S. science performance exhibits successively lower rankings across assessments” when comparing the performance of U.S. students to those of other industrialized countries. Additional findings of this study “show that the U.S. ranking decline begins in middle school and that reform efforts should not wait until secondary school science” (Ginsburg, et al.). While lawmakers and educators continue to work toward reversing this trend with the No Child Left Behind and other reform measures, parents should also become actively involved in improving their children’s performance in science. By taking an early interest in their children’s education, parents will lay a solid groundwork for their children’s scholastic careers.
The winter 2006/2007 research brief Family Involvement in Elementary School Children’s Education, by the Harvard Family Research Project, highlights “the importance of family involvement for children's outcomes”. Indicated in this brief are findings that “substantial research supports the importance of family involvement in the elementary school years”. Also included are two concepts that parents should adapt as principles when considering their involvement in their children’s education…
•“Home–school relationships are the formal and informal connections between the family and educational setting.
•Responsibility for learning is the aspect of parenting that places emphasis on activities in the home and community that promote learning skills in the young child” (Caspe et al.).
As a foster parent, I spent much of my time helping children catch up to their peers in preparation for better school success. I quickly learned the simple rule that the more fun the children had the more interested in learning they would be. Included in this article are examples of activities from a mom who knows how to turn a child’s world into a classroom of surprising wonderment. By adding science related experiments and activities to their recipe for summertime fun, parents will take the dryness out of science and show that it can be infused with excitement and adventure.
Parents can teach children how this whole “science thing works” by capitalizing on their natural curiosity and having them think of questions about their world that they want to have answered. Webster’s defines a hypothesis as “an unproved theory, proposition, etc. tentatively accepted to explain certain facts or to provide a basis for further investigation…” Basically, parents can teach children that they can use what they know about the world to guess what will happen during a given exercise. Children can then make observations which are, as Webster’s states, “…a noting and recording of facts…” for added interest during the activity. Learning about science does not have to strictly include conducting a handful of structured experiments. On the contrary, families should take advantage of the learning opportunities that they have in their area, on the internet (with supervision) and their local library to answer any number of science related questions. These experiences will also give children valuable study skills and tools for research that they can use throughout their scholastic career. Parents can peak children’s enthusiasm in science by showing their own interest in what their children are learning. Below are some science-based activities that have proven to be interesting to children of varying ages. By sharing these activities with their children in the coming summer months, parents spark their children’s interest in the fascinating world of science.
Good Vibrations
Learning about sound and other types of vibration can be an eye (and ear) opening lesson for students of any age. To prepare for this topic, parents can visit www.teachersdomain.org for definitions and further information. A simple demonstration can show children that vibrations are caused when objects and other “mediums”, as discussed by Webster’s, are affected by forces. When a rock is dropped into water, rings will appear. This demonstration can show children what vibration waves look like when a medium, in this case the water, is disturbed by the rock being thrown into it. To compare how sound in the air is similar to vibrations in the water, parents can straighten a wire hanger and then, with everyone maintaining a safe distance, hit the side of a table or tree with the hanger. Children will be able to see vibrations by watching the straightened hanger wobble. They will also be able to hear vibrations by (safely) holding the center of the vibrating hanger close to an ear. For older children, Acoustic Vibration and Animations, by Dan Russell, Associate Professor of Applied Physics at www.kettering.edu provides interesting information and animated examples of what vibrations look like.
Glues and Goo’s
While some parents may be tempted to skip this section, they should remind themselves that it is sometimes the gooiest messes that provide the best learning opportunities! The following “goo” (playdough) recipes from Stephanie Brown can be found at www.about.com. “These playdoughs are for children aged 2 years or older and require adult supervision at all times.
Kool-Aid Play Dough
Materials:
•2 1/2 to 3 cups flour
•2 cups boiling water with 1 package Kool-aid (any flavor)
•3 tablespoons corn oil
•1/2 cup salt
•1 tablespoon alum
Directions:
1.Mix ingredients and knead with flour (may take up to 1 extra cup). Use more if the dough draws moisture in high humidity. Keeps well, has a nice fragrance and is very colorful and very flexible” (Brown).
Parents will be the coolest adults on the block when they show their children how to make slime! The following is a homemade slime recipe provided by www.madsci.org. Homemade Slime
Materials:
•Borax
•White Glue
•Food Coloring (optional)
•Ziploc bags
Directions:
1.“Borax is available in the laundry section of your local grocery store. Take a cup of water and add to it 1 Tbs. of borax (approx 4% solution). Stir until completely dissolved.
2.Make a 50% water 50% white glue solution. Take 1/4 cup of each and mix thoroughly.
3.In a ziploc bag, add equal parts of the borax solution to equal parts of the glue solution. 1/2 cup of each will make a cup of slime.
4. Add a couple drops of food coloring.
5. Seal bag and knead the mixture.
6. Dig in and have fun. Remember to wash your hands after playing.
7. Keep your slime in the sealed bag in the refrigerator when not playing with it to keep it longer. Unfortunately it may eventually dry out or grow mold. Just throw it out and start again!” (Lee).
Just as goo’s do not have to be messy, learning about polymers, or glues, does not have to be a boring chemistry lesson. Parents can get a head start in teaching about polymers by visiting www.hometrainingtools.com. Children can also “ask a scientist” about polymers at Cornell University by visiting www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education/ask. Below are other hands-on projects that will help children discover the fun side of adding properties together to create a completely different product.
The Gooiest Goo There Ever Was!
Materials:
•Bowl
•1/2 cup flour
•¼ cup oatmeal
•¾ cup water
•1 tsp. salt
•3-4 drops food coloring
Directions:
1.In bowl, mix flour and oatmeal together.
2.Add salt.
3.In a separate, smaller bowl mix food coloring to water together.
4.Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and stir until you have goo (add more water if necessary).
Too Hot to Handle: Volcanoes
Okay moms and dads! Time for a little bravery! Many parents will remember making homemade volcanoes for school projects when they were students. Now it’s the kids’ turn! It’s fun when the light bulb pops on and the connection is made between heat, pressure, time and eventual volcanic eruptions. After learning about lava flows and all of the marvelous natural phenomena related to volcanoes, children will be excited to simulate their own volcanic eruption.
Homemade Volcano
Materials:
•Papier Mache Paste
•Disposable cup
•Newspaper
•Wire mesh (optional)
•Masking tape
•Wooden board (at least 24” square)
Directions:
1.On top of the wooden board, sculpt the shape of a volcano using crumpled newspaper and wire mesh (optional), securing each piece of the structure with masking tape.
2.Place the disposable cup in the mouth of the volcano.
3.Paper mache the structure. Let dry.
4.Paint the volcano. Let dry.
At www.sciencebob.com, parents can find the following instructions in how to conduct their own volcanic demonstration…
“To make an erupting volcano you will need:
Materials:
•A volcano - Talk to an art teacher about making a volcano out of paper mache or plaster. If you're in a hurry to make your volcano, use a mound of dirt outside.
•A container that 35mm film comes in.
•Red and yellow food coloring (optional)
•Vinegar
•Liquid dish washing soap
Directions:
1.Go outside
2.Put the film canister into the volcano at the top
3.Add two spoonfuls of baking soda
4.Add about a spoonful of soap
5.Add about 3 drops of the red and yellow food coloring
Now for the eruption!
6.Add about an ounce of the vinegar into the container and watch what happens”. (Pflugfelder).
What’s Up?
Parents often joke about the question “what makes the sky blue” but few take the time to explore this question with their children. Younger children will be pleased to discover the answer to this age old question by learning that the Sun sends many colors to the Earth and that parts of our air (nitrogen and oxygen) allow the strongest (or dominant) light, blue, color the sky. Building on this knowledge, older children can learn about the gases that compose the Earth’s atmosphere and about how light interacts with these gases and other properties.
Many children and parents alike enjoy looking at the clouds on a warm summer day. Parents can build on this fascination by helping their children understand that water is constantly transforming. They can demonstrate this concept with the following activity. For safety, children should keep a safe distance and only observe this activity.
Materials:
•4 cups water
•Small saucepan with lid
•Stove top
•Clear glass
Directions:
1.Pour water into saucepan, cover with the lid and place onto the stove top.
2.Bring to a boil over medium heat.
3.Keeping a safe distance to avoid burning, remove the lid and observe the steam that rises from the saucepan.
4.Cover the saucepan once more with the lid and allow steam to build up on the lid.
5.Remove the lid and allow the built up steam condensation drip into the glass.
6.Observe that the ice turned to water then “water vapor” and then returned to the form of water (ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu).
Out of this World!
A visit to a planetarium can be fascinating to children of any age. Younger children will enjoy looking at the shapes of different constellation while older children might be interested in learning about what stars are made of. Children can easily create their own starry sky with the following recipe for fun.
Homemade Starry Sky
Materials:
•Paper bowl or square tissue box
•Scissors
•Tap light
•Marking pens or crayons
Directions:
1.Draw constellations on the bowl or tissue box and have a parent cut them out w/scissors.
2.In a dark room, turn on a tap light and place the bowl or tissue box on top of it.
3.Observe the star patterns that are projected onto the walls.
When studying the sky, many children will learn that some of the lights that they see are not actually stars at all but planets. Learning about planets will launch children into their own fascinating exploration of space. By building a scale model, children will learn how each planet circles the Sun beginning with “Mercury, then Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and ending with Neptune which precedes Pluto, a dwarf planet”. Parents can guide children in the scaling of their model by teaching them that “the largest planet is Jupiter. It is followed by Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury, and finally, tiny Pluto” (Col). Families can also design a fun trivia game to test each family member’s knowledge about the planets.
Planet Trivia
Materials:
•Note Cards
•Pens or pencils
Directions:
1.Have each player choose their own favorite planet.
2.Write questions about different planets on separate note cards. (e.g. “what is the atmosphere like on your planet?” or “is your planet cold or warm?”).
3.Have each player take turns answering the questions.
4.Players can guess the planet in question at any time, but they can only have one guess per question. If the guess is correct, it is now that person’s turn.
How Did They Do That?
Many children have a fascination with discovering what makes things work. Parents can steer these interests toward the field of science with activities that will help their children explore these interests further. Operating with the understanding that “electricity is a major physics topic”, many science centers have child-friendly exhibits that explain how electricity works and how it is used in the 21st century (Ginsburg et al.). Activities at home and during other planned outings can also help to teach children about electricity. Parents can share with school aged children the sources of electricity in nature and how electrical currents travel on wires into the home. Beginning with a battery powered flashlight, older children can be taught that while lower voltages can power small things, like light bulbs, far more electricity is required to power larger objects like the family refrigerator.
Parents can continue this exploration of how things work in any number of ways. The doors to scientific discovery can be flung open when parents customize lessons about science to include their children’s unique interests. To learn more about basic mechanics, children need only look as far as their own home. By turning a bicycle upside-down, children can observe how gears of a bicycle work. They can then take this knowledge with them to a local science museum or the local library to learn how that concept relates to machine technology. Parents can go online to show children where an interest in mechanics can be combined with science by visiting www.dspace.mit.edu .
When Ideas Take Flight
Hot air balloons can teach children about the use of air currents in navigation and flight direction as well as how hot air balloons use air temperature to fly. If available, visiting a hot air balloon exhibit, event or seeing one at a fair can be described as nothing less than spectacular. Learning about hot air balloons does not have to be restricted to observation only as homemade hot air balloons are relatively easy to make.
Homemade Hot Air Balloon
Materials:
•Garbage bags
•Pipe cleaners
•Hole punch
•Hair dryer
•String
•Tape
Directions:
1.Create a balloon using garbage bags and tape.
2.Punch small holes around the opening of the balloon and thread the pipe cleaner through the holes around the opening.
3.Join the two ends of the pipe cleaner to create a ring at the opening.
4.Tie one end of the string to the bag. Hold the string out of the until it is filled with hot air.
5.Release the balloon once it has been filled with hot air; anchor it with the string.
6.Observe the bag as the warm air pushes it up into the sky.
After learning about hot air balloons, children may want to learn about airplanes. Parents can help children learn about the science involved with these beautifully engineered machines by doing research online or at a local library or by visiting an aeronautical museum. For a hands-on approach, children can become little aeronautical engineers by designing their own paper air planes with wing structures and designs that will maximize lift and minimize drag. They can then test and record which designs worked the best and compare their findings with one another.
By no means are the ideas included in this article meant to bombard children with science or to burn them out. Because the science based experiences that can be provided to children are only limited to ones own imagination, parents can use the above activities to launch their children into a world where science can be a fun and fascinating adventure!
-End of Article-
I realize that the above article was written for the summertime. With a little imagination, any of the referenced activities can be adapted for any time of the year. The idea is for parents to realize the importance of emphasizing math and science in their homes so that children can realize the satisfaction found in eccelling in these areas as well. I challenge each reader to make competence in math and science a fun and lasting adventure at home today and throughout the year. Have fun!
