Scientific thinking and the design process are sometimes difficult concepts to
teach at the elementary level. Students often do not see the connection between
themselves and science. They believe that scientists have to be adults working in
laboratories. The consumer research project described in this application allows
students to see themselves as a scientists as each one selects a product that interests
him/her, decides on one aspect of the product to test, and then designs and carries
out an experiment to answer his/her question. As a culmination, the studentresearchers become the experts as they share their results with parents and friends at
a Consumer Fair. By allowing the students to choose their topics of study, their
interests are piqued and they are more likely to stay engaged and fully invest
themselves in the project. This consumer research project incorporates both science
and social studies (economics) standards in real-world situations.
Description of the Science Program
Philosophy, goals and objectives:
Anyone who has ever set foot in a classroom knows that all students
different.
No two come with the same background,
strengths.
level of readiness,
A basic belief that all students can participate
the success of any inquiry-based
program.
are
challenges, or
and succeed is paramount
In my fifth-grade science classroom,
to
I have
students with reading levels ranging from first grade to eleventh grade, as well as
hearing-impaired
may participate
students for whom English is a second language.
differently, all of these students
Although they
can learn to think scientifically and
do what scientists do.
In an effort to provide an opportunity
their own individual levels the consumer
for all of the students to participate
fair project was developed.
at
The goal of this
project is to get the students thinking not only as scientists, but also as smart
consumers,
product.
and to expand their scientific understanding.
Students are encouraged
information
Each student selects a
to choose something that their family uses so the
will be useful to them. This can be a food product, a beauty product, a
piece of sports equipment,
almost anything.
and office supply, an art supply, a cleaning product -
An important
part of getting the students engaged in the project is
the fact that each student gets to select a product that appeals to their own interests.
For example, it would not make sense for a student who doesn't have a younger
sibling at home to choose to test diapers.
After selecting the product, each student develops a testable question focusing
on one quality of the product.
For example, one student testing paper towels might
want to find out how much water each brand will absorb, while another student might
try to find out which brand is stronger.
the questions
Once the product choices are approved
and
developed, the students go through the design process forming a
hypothesis,
writing a procedure,
conducting the test, collecting data, and reaching a
conclusion.
These basic objectives are the same for all of the students, however each
project looks very different based on the student's
understanding.
A student with a very basic understanding
which brand of marshmallow
the marshmallows
and level of
might decide to find out
cereal has the most marshmallows.
just counting the marshmallows,
He might begin by
but then realize that counting is not enough because
are not equal in size. After this realization, he may decide to find
the mass ofthe marshmallows
to make a better comparison.
shows me that his scientific understanding
of readiness
readiness
This change in thinking
has grown. A student with a higher level
might design a project that is much more involved.
student who is very interested
in basketball
For example, a
might decide to find out which brand of
basketball bounces higher. He has to consider, and decide how to control, many
variables that could influence the outcome, such as the inflation of the basketballs,
the
force with which each ball is dropped, the height from which each ball is dropped, and
the surface onto which each is dropped.
While the two students are clearly working
at different levels, they are both using scientific thinking and inquiry to answer a
question.
Evolution of inquiry-based science teaching practices in the school:
When I first began teaching science, my students participated
science fair, as many students
in a typical
do. This had been done for many years and was a
tradition at the school. The students were provided with many choices of projects
and each selected one to conduct and then present at a science fair. This did provide
the opportunity for choice, as well as for some differentiation, however an important
aspect was missing. Instead ofthinking like scientists, asking questions,
hypothesizing, and designing tests to answer questions, the students were simply
reading and following directions.
It's not that that was a bad thing, however there
was definitely room for improvement.
I wanted to create a situation in which the
students could design their own tests, focusing on one question and controlling the
variables.
This obviously is not something that the students could instantly do. It
would require many exposures to the scientific process, as well as opportunities
for
guided practice. Each school year, before the consumer fair project is introduced, the
students participate in many hands-on activities where they make predictions, follow
(and later write) procedures, and collect data. We point out variables and discuss the
importance of controlling the variables in order to have a fair test. We compare
results to discover that they may vary from group to group, showing the importance
of conducting a test multiple times to get reliable results.
Over the past several years I have also noticed a change in the earlier grades.
The third and fourth grade teachers in my building have begun to use more inquirybased strategies in their classes as well. Those younger students come to visit the
Fifth-Grade Consumer Fair and get excited about the projects and about seeing their
friends and siblings "be the scientists." By the time they are in fifth grade, they
already have some ideas about what they would like to do for their consumer project.
One might think that they would simply repeat a project that they had seen at an
earlier presentation,
however I rarely see the products tested in exactly the same way.
Each year the students come up with different products to test and new, creative ways
to do the testing.
skateboards,
I have seen everything
from nail polish, to fishing line, to
to one student who tested duct tape by taping his younger brother to the
wall ofthe gymnasium
(with parent supervision,
of course).
Nominee's inquiry-based classroom activities:
While I wholeheartedly
believe that my students are scientists, I also know that
they are kids. They are only ten and eleven years old. They need to move, to be
engaged, and have many opportunities
to "think and do" science. For this reason, my
classroom is not a quiet place. There is always something
gong on. For example,
during our current unit on the Earth, my students have experimented
cracker tectonic plates, built fold mountains
earthquake-proof
structures
using earthquake
with graham
using towels, designed and tested
tables made out of cafeteria trays and
springs, taken core samples of "Earth cupcakes," conducted
rock tests on different
kinds of rocks, and acted out the rock cycle to music.
Nominee's impact on students, other teachers, parents, community groups:
While I cannot take credit for the change that has taken place in my building,
this shift in thinking about science instruction
science teacher uses some inquiry-based
has definitely had an impact. Every
activities in his/her
classroom.
The students
that arrive at my door in the fall have much more of an idea of what scientists do. The
parents have also become more accustomed
to this way of thinking and learning.
They know that their child's grade will not be based solely on worksheets
paper/pencil
tests, but rather on performance-based
and
activities and applications.
Many of them have become involved in the process, not only by assisting their own
children, but also by volunteering
to come to the school to work with those who do
not have the support at home.
Connection with grade-level and National Science Education Standards:
Both the state and the national standards
inquiry.
place a high priority on scientific
Content Standard A of the National Science Education Standards
Scientific Inquiry strand of the Ohio science standards
students to ask questions,
reasonable
explanations
The Ohio standard
processes
make observations,
and the
set forth expectations
conduct investigations,
based on these experiences,
construct
and communicate
the results.
describes this as "using scientific habits of mind an they use the
of scientific inquiry." The consumer fair project provides an opportunity
for the students to apply all of these things in a situation that is meaningful
they have chosen something
connections.
The Ohio fifth-grade standards
students to learn about choices made by consumers,
between competition,
have the opportunity
because
that is of interest to them.
Another aspect of this type of project is the opportunity
curricular
for
to make cross-
for social studies requires
and about the relationship
price, and product quality. This project is a perfect fit. I also
to extend the conversation
into my language arts class when we
read the story Max Malone and the Great Cereal Rip-Off by Charlotte Herman.
reading, students
share stories of times that they have experienced
quality, and eventually write a narrative
making connections
After
poor product
about a time they were "ripped-off."
By
in all of these areas, the students see that science and scientific
thinking are a part of our everyday lives.