Monday, March 16, 2009

Teaching science with science

An article in the Hunterdon Review (New Jersey) reports on some lucky third graders who during January and February
participated in a special science and astronomy program called Wonders of the Universe in which they took part in a number of unusual lessons and activities such as comet making, rocket making and launching, and observing the day and night skies through high powered telescopes.

The program is through a company called the Pearl Observatory and provides schools an opportunity to bring real science into science class. It is unfortunate, but all too often science class is far removed from actual science. Programs like this not only help students better understand what "doing science" means, but also can go a long way to getting students excited about science.
“Each morning, [my students] entered the classroom and looked at the schedule,” said third grade teacher Jaime Levy. “If ‘Visiting Scientist’ was on the schedule, I heard cheers. If it was not, I got questioned, ‘Why isn't John coming today?’ They especially loved picking his brain with all of their questions.”

1 comment:

  1. I teach Science with science! Today I covered the National Ignition Facility, the Doppler Effect, redshift and the expanding universe! Tomorrow we cover the big bang. One of my students even told me she owns a book that disproves the aging universe, It Couldn't Have Happened. Damnit, why don't my html tags work?

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