Tag - teaching

Carnival of Education: Education Buzz

Welcome to the latest Education Buzz! Steve Spangler Science is honored to be your host this week.

Education is all about connections, you know. Nothing exists in a vacuum, or even only within the four walls of a classroom. All things connect to all other things in one way or another. As educators, we encourage our students to activate their schema – think of what they already know that they can connect to something new – with each unit, chapter, lab or problem set.

When we study science, for example, we are also studying mythology, Latin, Greek, history, and sociology. Astronomy cannot properly be studied without also studying mythology. A proper study of history is also a study of biography and geography. English is a combination of hundreds of languages. The ink in our pens. . . the alphabetical order of a keyboard. . . . the composition of our bread. . . . the etymology of our words. . . .the names of rockets and cars. . . . everything is connected to everything else. Oh, and by the way? All those weird punctuation symbols exist not only in writing class,
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Active things parents can do to help kids learn science

It doesn’t all rest in the hands of the teacher. If you are a parent there are some active things you can do to help your kids prepare for a lifetime of science or inquiry. Help by reinforcing what your teacher is doing in class.

When your son or daughter comes home after doing a science experiment and it gets to the dinner table, it must be good. Instead of saying “I know that”? when your son or daughter says “Do you know that an orange will float, but if you peel an orange it will sink”? try saying “That is not true! An orange won’t float! That’s impossible!”?

Your child will beam from ear to ear because they have got something on you.

In other words, allow your son or daughter to own the discovery. It is one of the most motivating things you can do to reinforce what the teacher is teaching in the classroom. Act surprised and you will be amazed.

Listen to my podcast on active things parents can do to help kids learn science

(File size is 1.5 MB) (Show length 3 minutes 9 seconds)