Ever do this to your parents? It’s getting towards bedtime and you suddenly remember that you have a science project due tomorrow.
In the olden days when I was a kid, the stores closed early. Nothing was open much past seven o’clock on a week night. I remember my parents confronted with this scenario (which only my brother pulled, never me, of course!) as they began scrambling through the attic, the garage, closets and any other areas that might be hiding supplies for the imminent necessity.
My mother laughs now to think of those times, but it wasn’t too funny when this happened at our house in those days. I can remember some pretty intense family interactions as neighbors were called to see if certain objects might be hiding in their houses. Of course, at the same time, they might be scrambling too because their son had had the same idea amazingly strike his mind at the last second too!
Now days, I’m sure that children would never do this because science projects and their deadlines are announced weeks in advance and are put in bold letters on weekly newsletters. Or would they? Realistically, the tendency to procrastinate seems not to have died with my generation.
Nevertheless, some children do get projects organized prior to the last moment as is obvious with their results.
Our school science fair was last week. Here are what two of the winners came up with:
A fourth grader who won first prize used this hypothesis: “If different types of music affect people’s moods, then the tempo of music should affect their blood pressure and pulse.”
To prove his hypothesis, he first took the pulse and blood pressure of every student in his homeroom. Then he played a slow composition by Mozart and measured both again. Following that, he played a fast piece sung by Elvis Presley and again measured both pulse and blood pressure.
His results that you can see if you attend the county science fair were surprising.
A fifth grader who won second place at our school happens to suffer from diabetes. He was interested to learn what the effects on blood sugar would be if subjects drank a bottle of apple juice. He measured the blood sugar first of four students, one with diabetes (himself) and three who are not subject to the illness. All four then drank the same size bottle of apple juice. He measured their blood sugar again in one hour. After two hours, he measured the blood sugar of all four once again.
All entrants in the science fair present their experiments and findings on a large display board. Each also keeps a log. Included in their display must be items like the hypothesis, the question to be answered, a list of materials necessary for the project, and, of course, the results and conclusions.
As is obvious by the thinking that went into devising these two projects, scientific inquiry is not foreign to young children. The scientific process is important in the development of critical thinking.
Unfortunately, science has not been at the forefront of teaching since No Child Left Behind became the law of the land. Emphasis has been more on reading, language development and math with both social studies and science being taught when time permits. In most elementary classrooms, time permitted science one week and social studies the alternate week. It’s just not enough.
This should help children begin to see the overall picture that relates to life experiences in a more realistic way. Using proper grammar is important in a science project when the hypothesis is stated, conclusions are drawn, and explanations of procedures are given. Mathematics is important when averaging the blood pressure and pulse readings of 20 or more students. Broad projects are not new to the curriculum, but are going to receive more emphasis in the future. As is evident in the science fair winner’s experiment, music is also basic to science; it involves mathematics, literature, and evolves from history. Music too will be an important part of teaching in the Core Content.
This should prepare our future scientific research team members better for the role they will assume as college students and as members of the working public. In fact, it should prepare all students for whatever profession each chooses to follow.
So parents, get ready for exciting days in the coming years—and make sure you keep up with project deadlines. Otherwise, you may be making a late visit to stores to find project boards, scientific equipment and other materials that your child may need when it occurs at the last moment that, indeed, tomorrow is “the day” it’s due.
