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Please help. I submitted intent this summer to teach 2 sessions of Summer Youth Academy. Although I am certified Secondary Science, I decided to take on a challenge of teaching younger elementary school level students preferably 2-3rd grade? maybe K-1? for one of the classes as well as 6-8 graders the second session. Summer Youth is a 100% hands-on learning opportunity that thrives on inquiry-based learning and focused on creating love of learning for students K-8th grade. I've decided to take on this endeavor as teaching it last year really gave me the opportunity to do a 100% hands on class based purely on inquiry skills AND with no particular content focus (I could teach anything from Biology to Physics, to Ecology!). I'm going into this summer with the hopes of sparking young minds through inquiry based lessons and exciting WOW moments of hands-on experiences that will create a love of learning in the field of science. Any cool and low cost ideas? I would appreciate fresh, innovative ideas as your thoughts and sharing always help to make it fun and exciting for me as a teacher (not just for my students)! I look forward to anything anyone can share! Thank you in advance!
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Rochelle,
Just a thought. I too teach middle and high school students, but found myself teaching summer school to younger students. One of the things that I found impacted the students the most was incorporating cooking into the curriculum. It was very all encompassing though. You can really focus on many different aspects, such as math, science, life skills (do you know how many students are not allowed to go anywhere near the kitchen and have little to no knowledge on how to do anything when it comes to cooking?!) We would set aside one day a week to cook, and I would plan out the menu in advance and send home slips of paper with each student bringing back their contribution to the cause. I had tremendous support from the families as we kept the recipes fairly simple (nutritious of course), and everyone only had to send in one or two items. As we progressed we got more and more into it with fresh fruit smoothies, banana lumpia, vegetarian tacos, etc... This was years ago, and I still have students and adults who remember "our summer". While this doesn't have to be the focus of your lessons, it can make a very enjoyable (and tasty) learning opportunity.
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Thank you very much Nancy for taking time to help me with ideas!! I really do enjoy baking and cooking myself (though I'm not too innovative with the meals but LOVE the making of desserts). I'm sure the students would enjoy this a lot however, they already have 2 cooking classes and often limit them. I'm wondering, maybe I could do a morph of cooking and "gooey science?". Thank you again, and if you hear of anything else, I would love to hear more!
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Hi Rochelle,
THis link at [url=http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Summer_Science_Activities/]Education.com has lots of ideas you might be able to use.
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My students loved learning the different states of matter in a simple recipe. You may want to teach them how to make "guri guri" or "goodie goodie" a.k.a. strawberry flavored sherbet. In a hands-on science experiment using the ingredients to make guri guri, students will be able to use their 5 senses. This was a hit when I taught this to my fourth and first grade students.
To make this scrumptious delight, the ingredients needed are condense milk, strawberry soda, and 7-Up (liter). Students will be able to observe the different liquids being poured into a mixing bowl. The condense milk will flow slower than the strawberry soda. Teaching the students about gas, can be more challenging. However, twisting off the 7-Up bottle cap demonstrates the state of gas (carbonate) being released. Students can hear the release, and also see the bubbles too. Once the ingredients are put into the bowl, students can now see how mixtures of various liquids combine. When the mixture is placed in the freezer, they will also see how the liquid mixture hardens once placed in the freezer overnight. The last thing that students can see and observe is condensation. They can see this on the outer bowl or cup of which the mixture was placed in before it was frozen when brought out to room temperature.
This will be an absolute hit with the students and something worth remembering =) Enjoy!
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Hi,
I am not sure if this is possible but going along the cooking idea I was thinking along the lines of gardening. Incorporating culture such as the Hawaiian culture could really spark something with the science especially harvesting taro and understanding why it is important to cook it well or else you might get itchy. Or even studying how native Hawaiian plants adapted to its environment. I know that this might not be a possible unit of study but just jotting down some ideas =). I'll keep on thinking and let you know if I come up with anything else.
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Hi All -
wow those sound like awesome ideas - in fact, I may want to sign my children up for "Mrs. Tamiya's class." Hahahaha. In all seriousness, I think food is an excellent means of getting a scientific point across. I really like the idea of using "guri guri" to teach about gas and carbonation. You could also stress the importance of having a clean and sanitary environment. Hand washing technques could be incoporated, such as singing the ABC song twice to time the proper length of washing your hands. You could also incorporate the lessons on properly packing food and even cross contamination. I wish there was a class offered like this for adults!
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