Can reading for knowledge happen in a first grade class? According to Regina Pearse, it’s happening! Mrs. Pearse feels her first grade students are getting a firm understanding of weekly science vocabulary words taught in a hands-on environment. Students not only write and read descriptive words but also use the words often and repeatedly. They are using the words with their teacher and with each other in the lab and are getting a feel for words in the context of sentences.  Students are even showing an interest in nonfiction books! Library book selections are becoming more about real world and scientific concepts. “They are excited and interested and want to read more about these concepts….a real bonus!”

We would love to hear from other teachers using language arts skills in a hands-on science program, particularly the use of descriptive vocabulary words with primary students. Are there any parents who can share how your child has used descriptive vocabulary words at home that have resulted from school hands-on science activities? 

In a 100% hands-on science education environment, there is often no assigned textbook. Students do not memorize words or concepts but learn through applied instruction.   Fourth grade science vocabulary words like  “solute” and “solvent” are introduced and then immediately applied in a laboratory setting by mixing different solutions and discussing observations.  Rather than lugging a textbook home, a homework assignment might be to use the words with friends and family.  With that in mind, many parents explain that they know that their child understands a science concept when they can apply the concept in a real world setting.  For extra curricular experiences, many teachers use today’s internet and even social networking and Web 2.0 technology to extend science instruction beyond the classroom. 

In this blog, Dr. Verner asks teachers and parents to comment on how they use the web to help students and children learn science.  A sample website is discussed.

http://lablearner.com/blog_videos/blog001-desktop2.flv

How can teachers communicate to parents what their students have learned during a hands-on science experiment?

Many teachers can attest to the enormous value of hands-on science because they witness how students learn and solve problems during hands-on experiments. There can be moments in a group experiment where students turn to their peers to formulate an idea or prediction only to alter their thinking on the spot as they perform the experiment. Teachers observe students challenging themselves and their peers. Teachers have even observed how scientific hands-on problem solving augments students’ critical thinking skills outside the science classroom.

However, it is sometimes difficult for parents to gain an understanding of hands-on science learning because they have not had the opportunity to learn science in this manner or to watch their students in this setting. How can teachers communicate their observations to parents? Also, how can parents probe and question their students to find out what they have learned in laboratory experiments? And finally, how can the family learn science together at home – even during supper at the kitchen table?

In this first LabLearner blog, Dr. Keith Verner, the founder of LabLearner, visits a class of 8th grade students investigating a LabLearner hands-on unit on heat transfer and the conservation of energy. Dr. Verner extends the concept with an ice cube experiment that can be discussed at the kitchen table.

Teachers:

Please comment on your experiences regarding how you communicate to parents how their students are developing scientific skills, science content knowledge, and critical thinking skills while doing hands-on experiments.

Parents:

Please comment on your experiences regarding how you engage your children to help them learn and understand science, particularly when they are participating in a hands-on science curriculum like LabLearner.