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How to get kids hooked on Science

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Katie Hodge Katie Hodge 946 Points

As a pre-service teacher, I am constantly wondering how teachers get their kids hooked onto new topics/themes. What are some simple, time-conscious, but FUN ways to get kids hooked on elementary-level science? Specific unit/lesson ideas are welcome! Thanks. 

Carolyn Mohr Carolyn Mohr 92596 Points

Hi Katie,

I teach science methods and my students have been learning about discrepant events as a way to get students hooked on science.

I am going to have some of them, post to your question with their Discrepant Event ideas that they came up with for their first lesson plan with my class.

 

Good luck with your science teaching and learning!

Best,

Carolyn

Itzayana Zepeda Itzayana Zepeda 520 Points

Hello Katie! 

My first lesson plan had to do with the topic of properties of matter and non-Newtonian fluids for 2nd grade. To engage the students I incorporated Oobleck into our lesson! It was a fun hands-on activity that even we enjoyed as college students. 

 

Here are some resources to show how to make Oobleck and how to use it in a classroom: 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/oobleck-bring-science-home/ 

https://scienceworld.ca/resources/activities/oobleck  

 

Best Wishes, 

Itzayana 

Dagmara Nowicka Dagmara Nowicka 680 Points

Hello Katie!

In one of my lesson plans that I created for my methods of science course started off with an attention getter involving a discrepent event. A discrepent event is something that challenges what students previously know about the world through their experiences thus far. My discrepent event was called elephant toothpaste, which has to do with exothermic and exndothermic reactions. You can look up a video of Jimmy Kimmel doing this experiement with a scientist he had come on the show! Hope this was helpful!

Sincerely,

Dagmara Nowicka

Anissa Becker Anissa Becker 1250 Points

Hello Katie!

For the first lesson in my unit plan (third grade), I wanted to incorportate a discrepant event that was both engaging and interactive for students.  For my DE, I used an 'Egg Drop' experiment where students could see the workings of gravity and its effect on an object (i.e. egg).  As the plate is pushed away, the egg suddenly drops into the bowl filled with water!  This can be a great way for students to investigate why the egg fell, incorporating the content of gravity. 

Here is the link/reference below:

https://www.regent.edu/acad/schedu/pdfs/mcms/amazing_egg.pdf

 

All the best,

Anissa

 

Margarita Arcos Margarita Arcos 570 Points

Hello Katie, 

 

I am also a pre-service teacher. There are many ways to motivate students for a science topic. Starting the lesson with a book read-aloud can be very exciting for students. My professor demonstrated how to understand the measuring system in an interactive and engaging way for students. She first read the book 'Kings foot' by Rolf Myller. The book explains how important it is to know different measuring units and conversations. After the read-aloud we were asked to measure the lenght of our foot, and provide the measuring unit we used. I hope you find this helpful. 

-Margarita Arcos 

 

Jacqueline Sanchez Jacqueline Sanchez 620 Points

Hi Katie!

I am one of Professor Mohr's student's. My discrepent event was walking on eggs. This event exposes children to the concept of even pressure distribution. It is quite the site, and definitely engaging.

Hope this is helpful.

Natalie Berrios Natalie Berrios 825 Points

Hi Katie!

My discrepant event was a sink or float activity using different types of candy. Based on what is inside the candy, such as nougat or nuts, it will either sink or float. You can place two different candies in water, and one will sink and one will float. Students will begin to wonder why this happened. You will be able to explore mass and volume and how this affects an object's ability to sink or float. Plus, it involves candy, which kids will obviously love! Good luck! 

Best, 

Natalie Berrios

 

Leslie Garcia Leslie Garcia 435 Points

Hello Katie!

In the Science Methods course I'm taking currently, I created a Discrepant Event Lesson Plan. A discrepant event is a great way to spark curiosity within students and begin questioning and thinking like a scientist. My lesson was about magnetic force and cereal - or magnetic cereal! In this discrepant event, I used Total cereal and a magnet to demonstrate magnetic force. The cereal flakes were on top on water and the magnet was very close by the cereal to exert the magnetic force. Total cereal has 100% elemental iron in it, which makes it susceptible to magnetism. Since the cereal does not look like a magnetic object, students to would not think that the event would be possible and could overcome any misconceptions students may have. 

I hope this post was useful to you about getting students hooked to science!

Kind regards,

Leslie

Keisha Barreto Keisha Barreto 630 Points

Hi Kate, 

I did a lesson on static electricty and my discrepant event was 'Can You Bend Water' using a balloon and a stream of water. The discrepant event helps demonstrate static electricity and the interaction objects can have with one another when there is an imbalance of electrical charge within one object. 

 

Just a tip: Make sure you create enough static with the balloon and the stream of water is light and constant. 

 

Hope this help! 

Keisha Barreto 

Joslyn Ramirez Joslyn Ramirez 890 Points

Hi Katie, 

I am a student in Professor Carolyn Mohr's methods to Science. I am here to share my Discrepant Event for my first science lesson. I based my topic on Surface Tension. In order to get my students engaged in learning about Surface Tension, I plan on performing the 'Magic Milk' Experiment. Here is a youtube video of the experiment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq1_fVcji4g

Although my lesson plan was not fully taught to students, I did perform the magic milk experiement with students from grades k-5 and they found it to be super fun! 

Hope this helps with finding ways to get your students engaged in science. 

Good luck,

Joslyn 

Jessica Rock Jessica Rock 750 Points

Hi Katie,

Thank you for your post. As a pre-service teacher as well, I am making a tentative unit plan for third graders on natural hazards in weather. In order to get students interested in this topic, I decided to start with a 'Tornado in a Bottle' Discrepant Event. For the teacher demonstration, you need two two-liter bottles. Fill one 2/3 of the way full with water. Remove the caps of the bottles and tape one two-liter on top of the other at the openings. Make sure that you tape it well, so that there are no leaks. When you flip it over, a vortex of water will form, as the water falls from one two-liter to the other, immitating the funnel shape of a tornado. 

For students to try this on their own, I used regular (16.9 oz) plastic water bottles. Each student only needs one. Again, fill each bottle 2/3 of the way full. But this time add a drop or two of dish soap, along with glitter (to represent debris). Then, screw on the cap. Turn the bottle upside down and hold it by the neck. Twirl the bottle in your hand in a circular motion, and again a water vortex will form. 

Attached is the link I used for inspiration for this project:

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments/makeatornado.html

I hope this helps and good luck with everything!

Jessica Rock

Pamela Arcentales Pamela Arcentales 705 Points

Hi Katie! 

I am one of Professor Mohr's students. As a future teacher, I find myself asking the same question. I believe that topics that engage the students always leave them wanting more. I personally believe that discrepent events are an asweome way to make learning active for the students. My discrepent event that I chose for teaching weather to kindergarten students was to create a cloud in a bottle. 

I hope this helped! Hopefully this increases the engagement of your students! 

 

Best, 

Pamela 

Katie Hodge Katie Hodge 946 Points

Hello All! Thank you so much for your great ideas/suggestions! I really appreciate it! 

Tateayanna Martinez Tateayanna Martinez 755 Points

Hello Katie,

The discrepant event I created for students was introducing the three states of matter using simple ingredients. What you do is wrap baking soda tightly into a napkin, then pour a cup of vinegar into a ziploc bag while dropping the napkin in at the last second. Once it is shut you shake the bag from side to side on the table and the bag fills up with air. What you have just created is CO2.

You have liquid- Vinegar

You have solid- Baking Powder

You have gas- Carbon Dioxide

 

I hope this helps!

Tateayanna

Brooke Neal Brooke Neal 2975 Points

Hi Katie!

The number one rule I have learned, while learning how to teach science, is to always provide your students with a phenomenon. Providing your students with a phenomenon will get them motivated to learn and curious about the upcoming topic. 

A specific topic that we have previously been introduced to, is the idea of why an object sinks or floats. Provide students with a bucket of water, a watermelon, and a grape. Have them make predicitons about if the fruits will sink or float, and why. After the students drop the fruit and observe, have them take notes on what happens, and come up with evidence, etc. Have students come up with ideas of why the watermelon or grape sink or float, based of the knowledge they know. There are other objects you can use for a phenomenon as well. 

There is an article that I will link below called, 'What Makes a Boat Float?' This is a great article to read and use for a lesson on sinking and floating. 

'What Makes a Boat Float?'

Carolyn Mohr Carolyn Mohr 92596 Points

Hi Brooke,

Did you mean this book chapter accessible at: https://common.nsta.org/resource/?id=10.2505/9781933531427.9

Thank you,

Carolyn

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