65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science

One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! has the format I was hoping to find when I reviewed One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve with Math! previously.

Instead of short word problems, these are engaging stories that require some knowledge of science to answer the mystery or solve the problem in the story. As a bonus, the answers are not provided on the same page, the reader must turn the page to get the answer. This does provide a chance for the reader to think before being told the solution. This book was the first of the two to be published so I am not sure why the format changed when they wrote the math book. Perhaps the writers were stronger in science than math and found the stories easier to write.

I am putting the science book on my Christmas list of books to purchase. I was pleasantly surprised after being so disappointed in the math one.

Peep Experiments

Almost Unschoolers has been running Peep Experiments and sharing the results over on her blog. I love seeing kids have the chance to see science with material found in the home.

If you have left over Peeps from Easter, Peeps has provided science experiments for people to try. This is a great way to use up some of that extra Easter candy and provide a fun learning experience at the same time. Enjoy.

Moonbase Alpha

NASA has released a free video game for download. The premise of the game has astronauts landing on the moon and encountering problems that need repairs. Players than have the challenge of balancing available resources, using problem solving skills to make the repairs, and limited time to make the repairs to ensure survival of the astronauts.

There are single and multiple player options and the site lists computer requirements to play. This is the closest to the moon many students may get with the severe limitations of our space program.


NASA Moonbase Alpha Game


Picture Credit: http://morguefile.com/archive/display/21379

Fairy Tale Engineering

Studying Engineering Before They Can Spell It NY Times Article

I read this article in the NY Times about children studying engineering in conjunction with fairy tale stories and was surprised to find people had written this was a new idea. It is just not done enough. I think it is great to see teachers taking a story children have a natural interest in, like The Three Little Pigs, mentioned in this story and then finding a way to use the story to teach material from a different subject area. Examining the engineering behind the pigs’ house structures and the damage the homes could withstand is great teaching and learning. One criticism in the article is that it could not be “real” engineering. Well how do students get to real engineering? They arrive there by learning proper science exploration skills. How do we get them there? We engage them in cross-curricular projects that build on interest generated during one class period to explore new skills during another lesson. Instead of spending time generating interest in studying the science lesson of the day, the interest is already present. Kids want to know more about what happened in the story.

Those concerned about proper engineering and science skills taught in these lessons should volunteer with their local schools to help maintain the science principles written into these programs. Most schools could benefit from professional mentors from the science and engineering worlds. However, I am always encouraged to see schools taking on more science and combining it with other curriculum areas rather than avoiding it. The goal should be outcomes and when schools can demonstrate student achievement of curriculum goals, alternative curriculum approaches should not be an issue.

Instead of criticizing the program, one would think critics would be looking for ways to make the program stronger. We have long seen the benefits of engaging students in cross-curricular fairy tale projects in math and social studies. When kids want to know the answer, they are more motivated to look for one. People have used fairy tales to teach upper elementary students about our court systems and engage in math explorations. It seems logical to harvest fairy tales for science exploration.

Picture Credit: ewen and donabel flickr.com

Strengthening Science Education in Primary and Elementary Education

There was an interesting study released by Wheelock College (Wheelock Study) regarding improving science education in at the pre K-6 level. As usual when I read this study, the article in the news was not accurate. It had a narrow focus, making the illogical premise that pre-K science was the sole focus of the study. We suddenly were trying to create MIT geniuses in the preschool. This in fact was not the focus of the study. It looked at Pre-K-6 science, math, and technology improvement.

In fact, there are practical issues surrounding how preschool can involve more engagement with science and math, but hardly the physics and chemistry labs needing to be built at preschools across the country as the article I had seen implied. This was more in line with what I had come to expect from Wheelock’s philosophy of education. Studies aside, it has been my experience that suggestions tend to stay within the college or university’s comfort zone. They rarely stray far when making suggestions for improvements.

The best idea from this study is one that is not new. Preschool and elementary teachers require better math and science training. When I was teaching, I paid out of pocket for several additional courses in science education. Science, unlike math and elementary reading just does not get the same attention for training and materials for educators to utilize in providing students with learning opportunities. Teachers need additional training, not just in core content, but also in better strategies to teach science. This study failed to address what we already know, while we have discovered multiple ways of teaching reading and even math to reach learners with different abilities and learning styles, science still lags behind in differentiation.

Another suggestion that bothered me when I taught and still bothers colleagues today is that we need to spend more time on science even though states have mandated blocks for reading and math. Do any of the people writing these studies read a clock? I sat on a committee to rewrite our town science curriculum across the elementary grade system so we would meet state standards and not duplicate efforts. The biggest issue we had was how much material we had to cover and how little time we had in the day to cover it. We used science material as reading material. We combined math and social studies where possible with science to maximize our time. However, at the end of the day there are only so many minutes of teaching time. Once you carve out specials and maximum blocks for mandated math and reading, just where will this mandated science time come? I have no objection to more science. Kids always were interested and I hated taking away the time to explore and learn the material that this study rightly says they need to know. I am sure I am not the only teacher who has read this study and asked where in the day would you like me to add this?

This is why homeschooling has become so appealing since I have left teaching. I love helping homeschoolers work on curriculum. I have come to appreciate the flexibility and valuable TIME to explore subjects that we lack in public school.

Picture Credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/ / CC BY 2.0

File Folder Games and Activities

Parents and educators are looking for easy inexpensive ways to promote alternate learning styles. Independent learning is another value and frankly required element of learning. Neither parent nor teacher can be with a child at all times assisting and monitoring. Activities that provide solid educational learning and independent structure are valuable for child and teacher. Computers do provide many with these activities but there still are some old but good strategies out there that work.
As I was researching links for the blog the other day, I came across links for file folder games and activities which I added to the blog under Early Childhood and Math sites. I thought this would be an ideal candidate for article for a content site I write for as well as a chance to encourage people to try the strategy. It really isn’t complicated to do. File folders are cheap methods to make game boards and independent learning activities. You can create your own resources or use the pre-made options advertised here.

Want to find the file folder links on this site?

Early Childhood File Folder Links

Math File Folders

Fall File Folder Links

Halloween File Folder Links

Thanksgiving File Folder Games

Christmas, Hanukkah,and Winter Games