http://www.stevespangler.com Making Science Education Fun Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:00:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en © alyssa@stevespangler.com () alyssa@stevespangler.com() 1440 Making Science Education Fun alyssa@stevespangler.com No no http://www.stevespangler.com/stevespangler/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpg http://www.stevespangler.com 144 144 http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/08/20/the-science-of-leadership-and-the-windbag-theory/ http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/08/20/the-science-of-leadership-and-the-windbag-theory/#comments Sun, 21 Aug 2005 05:06:49 +0000 Steve http://www.stevespangler.com/?p=121 http://www.stevespangler.com/archives/2005/08/20/the-science-of-leadership-and-the-windbag-theory/feed/ 00:01:01 In 1996 I was asked to be a student council sponsor at Willow Creek Elementary. We had a problem getting kids to show up to ... In 1996 I was asked to be a student council sponsor at Willow Creek Elementary. We had a problem getting kids to show up to student council meetings at 7.30am. A fellow science teacher and I came up with the idea of the Science of Leadership - where kids learn how to act as leaders and develop their leadership skills using science experiences. Like the Windbag activity where you take a long bag (8 foot long x 10 inches around) and ask how many breaths it will take to blow up the bag? About 40-50? If you know the secret, you can inflate 45 litres of air in a single breath. The secret is to hold your mouth away from the bag, breathe, and the bag pulls air in from the side. So how does this relate to a leadership activity? Kids are taught you can do anything you put your mind to, but people around you might lose interest or you might get bored. A 7th grader seeking election to student council used the Windbag experience in her electioneering speech. The bag, she said, contained an impossible goal - to fill the bag. Anybody can do it she said. #1 you focus on what you want. #2 you open the window of opportunity. #3 you focus your energy. And #4 - the most important thing - is to stand back. The hardest thing for a leader to do is to stand back and let other people get involved. So who won the Student Council election? It was the kid who gave out the free lollypops! Seriously though, this girl went on to become class president using an activity she learned in elementary school. That's the Science of Leadership. Listen to my podcast on the science of leadership and the windbag theory (File size is 2.7 MB) (Show length 5 minutes 44 seconds) Educating,,Podcasts alyssa@stevespangler.com no No