August 14, 2006

Stop Squeezing My Science

When I asked elementary teachers what would be the best way to teach science, the teachers responded with a no-nonsense approach. "Give us easy science activities that help our students build critical thinking skills... to use the scientific method... and are so engaging that kids want to learn more on their own."The days of trying to squeeze science in at the last minute are over. We need to stop squeezing and start integrating science with other areas of the curriculum. Watch the Video Here are a few articles that illustrate the need for better teaching of real science in today's classrooms... Bad News for Elementary Teachers Stop Squeezing My Science You Might Be Teaching the Wrong Thing A Wake-up Call to Parents

March 10, 2006

Crazy about Science: Missouri Teachers Take Over Tan-Tar-A Resort

By 10:30 AM on Friday, March 10th, the place was out of control. Roughly 600 early childhood teachers who attended my featured session - How to Keep Your Children Excited about Science - were smacking each other with giant 8 foot long balloons and learning about carbon dioxide by dropping Mentos candy into 2-liter bottles of diet Coke. I think we broke the previous 16 foot record for erupting soda - the soda shot up and almost touched the 20 foot ceiling. Okay, why is doing this crazy stuff any better than making the 600 teachers sit through a PowerPoint presentation about teaching science? (more...)

June 16, 2005

No need to hire Americans… A wake up call to all parents

Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat, recently interviewed Craig Barrett, the chief executive of Intel, which has invested millions of dollars in trying to improve the way science is taught in U.S. schools. In today's flat world, Mr. Barrett said, Intel can be a totally successful company without ever hiring another American. That is not its desire or intention, he said, but the fact is that it can now hire the best brain talent "wherever it resides." If you look at where Intel is making its new engineering investments today, he said, it is in China, India, Russia, Poland and, to a lesser extent, Malaysia and Israel. While cutting-edge talent is still being grown in America, he added, it's not enough for Intel's needs, and not enough is being done in U.S. public schools - not just to leave no child behind, but to make sure that the best students and teachers are nurtured and rewarded. What's the solution? Stop squeezing science of out of the elementary curriculum! Our young children today will never become the scientists of tomorrow if we continue to put science on the pack burner until we have time to teach it in class. Elementary teachers will … (more...)