The Scientific Method

Woodenvelt's Journal

The Scientific Method
Mar 17, 2011 at 9:43 AM
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- Woodenvelt
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We are big science fiction and fantasy fans in our family and that passion for all things slightly surreal colors our lives in any number of ways. I think that is a good thing, in fact I think that is a very good thing. Any time you can encourage a child to be imaginative, to think about everyday things in different ways, to ask questions, and to support their arguments with facts rather than opinions you are doing them a solid. You are teaching them to think about the world and to think for themselves. You need both the ability to analyze and to imagine. That is science and the scientific process is just as much a part of our lives as playing make believe and learning about ancient legends and lore.

Now imagination and fantasy come natural to kids so it would seem easy to incorporate in thier day to day life, but you might be thinking, "How do you do that with science?" It's not as hard as you might think.

For us, it's about encouraging experimentation. Don't rush to always tell your children the answers. Sometimes you have to let them find the answers all on thier own.

For example, last night my six year old wanted a straw and a piece of paper. Some kids in his class were blowing paper across a table with a straw and he wanted to try it at home. I gave him a plain piece of white paper and he started folding it in fourths. Then he got a little perplexed and turned to me.

"Mommy, how should I fold this to make it work?"

I could have just folded the paper for him, but I didn't. Instead I suggested an experiment. I tore the paper into four squares and we folded the paper four different ways. I asked my son to think of different ways we could fold the paper. We tried just a balled up wad of paper, paper fold into a V shape, paper rolled into a tube, and a loose piece of paper folded into fourths and then opened back up so that it had pockets that would catch the air.

Then I told him to make a prediction. I asked him to make a hypothesis about which one would catch the most air and go the farthest. Then I told him to go test his hypothesis and come back and tell me whether he proved it or disproved it. Now you don't neccessarily have to use the big words like hypothesis, but I consider an opportunity to expand on our vocabulary.

He went off and did his experiment and returned to me about five minutes later.

"I proved my hypothesis, Mommy!"

Those are five words I am always happy to hear.

For the record the loosely fold paper with big pockets was the winner and the structure my son hypothesized would go the furthest.

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