Student Centered Experiments

 In another life I did some consulting, teaching teachers how to set up inquiry based experiments.  If you teach Co-op science classes, join the national groups for Chemistry, Physics, or Biology groups on Facebook.  I like to see what the current trends are.  One trend is ‘student centered instruction’.  I can hear you laugh!  Yes, all home-school instruction is student centered.  Let me suggest a tip.  Start with the lab or experiment at the beginning of a lesson, chapter, or module.  Hear me out!  I have two examples I really use.

1. Chemistry: Day One the kids do Reaction in a Bag.  I make sure they have on safety classes.  I go around and ask them to record observations.  I ask what happened and if the calcium chloride or the baking soda made the reaction warmer or colder.  Then we jot down observations as a group.  We repeat and substitute phenol read with Universal indicator.  After we clean up I ask the kids to tell me the purpose of the lab.  Reaction in a Bag has questions to ask the kids.  See if they know terms such as exo and endothermic reactions.   This experiment is my way to explain the scientific method.  For me the scientific method is about testing a question.  Here the question is ‘What’s a chemical reaction?’

2. Biology:  The first day of Biology, we step outside in my backyard and observe organisms.  What do they hear?  Can they see any organisms?  Which ones? The kids jot down as many organisms as possible.  BTW I live in Northern Virginia, near Quantico.  My backyard is a postage stamp.  But there are trees and a retention pond behind the house.  I give the kids five minutes to write as many species as possible.  We compile a class list.  We discuss what the different organisms eat and add those species.  Now we have the basis for a few food chains and food webs.  We can organize the organisms into energy pyramids.  We can categorize the species into producers and consumers.  We can discuss scientific names.  When I lead these discussions, I ask loads of questions.  What is an animal which eats plants called?  Can they differentiate producers and consumers?  Next we do an Owl Pellet Dissection.  We use this information to identify species owl eat, species mice or voles eat, and create food chains and food webs.  This approach allows me to gauge what kids already know and fill in gaps.  Whenever possible, start with a lab or an activity—even the experiments right in your textbook.