SDC Science teacher needs help

[kikue79]

Im a new SDC science teacher and I need help finding simple, science experiments to teach the Scientific Method. All my students are at a 1st-3rd reading and functioning level. Any suggestions would help greatly. Thanks.

[Lisa's Hotscakes]

Take a dime, and have them count the number of water drops that can land on the dime without running off.

Then tell them that you are going to do the same for a nickel. Show them the nickel and have them compare its size to that of the dime. (Much bigger? A little bigger? The same size? Smaller? Much smaller?) Then have them predict how many water drops will be able to land on the nickel and (most importantly) why. Ask them if they used the results from the dime in making their hypotheses. Ask them why they chose a larger number than for the dime. Ask them why they didn't choose a real huge number. Ask them if they ran the same experiment again if they would get the same exact result. Then have them do it.

After the experiment with the nickel, do the same for the quarter. I bet their hypotheses will come out closer than with the nickel. What does that tell them? (In a sense, they will be applying a scaling factor--albeit a rough one--that extrapolates from two prior observations.)

It is important that the experiment with the dime is performed first. Hypotheses are not wild guesses, but predictions based on prior observations and theories. (Unfortunately, too many science experiments are performed at the K-12 level where hypotheses are simply wild guesses. What does that teach?)

[dhom]

I'm writing a book on that subject now... If you still need material, send me an e-mail at secondary at teachbible dot com.