https://spark.adobe.com/video/2s4TrkLByHsFS/embed
Congratulations to our 12 science fair teams who are moving on to HISEF and AZSEF.
Tag: science fair
What’s Wrong with Science Fairs?
It’s not that I have something against science fairs. What I have a problem with is how students in 2017 are expected to showcase their scientific, mathematical, and written knowledge.
I’ve been teaching in one district for 19 years now, and students are still using tri-fold display boards just like they did my first year as a 6th grade teacher. The format hasn’t changed much, yet how I students present other knowledge had changed immensely.
From now on, just say no to display boards and yes to the numerous other engaging ways to share our learning.
The Rubber Cement Made Me Do It
Last week I missed the ETMOOC session “Intro to Blogging” hosted by Sue Waters (@suewaters and Sue Waters Blog) and Peggy George (@pgeorge) because I was knee deep in judging science fair display boards from our 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students. And as I sit down to write this I am still about shin deep. 70+ display boards judged twice by a small number of teachers, parents, administrators, and community members takes an enormously long time. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. I want these students to receive fair scores and quality feedback. And it’s not that I’m against science fairs. In fact I love science. I love competitions. My complaint/concern is the avenue in which students communicate their science, math, and engineering knowledge at our school and district science fairs.
Each year we order hundreds of cardboard tri-fold display boards for students to share their inquiry projects (click here for more pictures). The problem with this format is that it is limiting. It limits students telling their story by confining them to a predetermined space. It limits students sharing their leaning since no other items other than a science log can be displayed (i.e., no models can be displayed). It limits students interacting with 21st Century technology. Students have so many other interactive tools to use to share their learning and yet we limit them to a piece of cardboard. This is a disservice to learning. It’s almost criminal. Students should be able to use a variety of tools, one of which could be a display board if they chose it.
For the past two years I’ve tried to up the educational technology requirements of my students in terms of their science fair displays. Last year many of my students used qr codes to showcase slideshows or movies. This year I planned on offering a qr code workshop. Unfortunately I was sick on this particular day. When I returned the following day I found out that many teams either already knew about qr codes and had create their own or that some teams simply watched others and figured out what to do. LOVE IT! Students were using services like Kaywa, a legitimate qr code generator. But our students all have Gmail and GAFE accounts. So I showed several teams how to use Google’s URL shortener to generate a code. Using goo.gl allows students to track the traffic to the code. Here’s a screencast I created to demonstrate how to do this.
This year I encouraged students to use the qr code to help tell the story of their project. Once such team used human subjects to determine how various distractions affected reflex time. The connected this experiment to texting while driving. However, the write-up and graphs didn’t do justice to the quality of the project. Therefore the students created this movie to help people better understand what they were studying. Unfortunately, students aren’t allowed to use a laptop or tablet to showcase movies or other presentations. And judges aren’t using qr code readers when evaluating student projects. But maybe they should.
Another edtech tool we are using are infographics. I’ve meant to play around with this type of communication for several months but have been intimidated by the services I’ve looked into. I recently saw a post on Twitter about a teacher using Piktochart. Once again, students are limited to a tri-fold display board to tell the story of their science fair project. Unfortunately this format doesn’t fit all learners. With the rise in popularity of graphic novels and other visual media, infographics are a great tool for students to share their stories. (I’ll share a student’s infographic in just a bit. I’ve contacted her on Edmodo and email for her to share it with me on Google Docs.)
I know this quote from Oscar Goldman from The Six Million Dollar Man doesn’t fit exactly, but I think you get what I’m trying to say.
“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world’s first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.”
It’s all about the board…or is it?
It’s the 21st Century. Our kids make iPhone apps. They reprogram our remote controls (sometimes on purpose). They produce movies and upload them to YouTube and get 1,000,000 hits in a matter of weeks. So why is it that schools continue to utilize the ever-popular three-panel display board for science fair projects?
It seems like it would be on the best interest of our Millennial learners if we would allow them a variety of presentation options. I can imagine a team of 5th grade researchers directing, producing, and editing a movie about the effects of wing design on bottle rockets. I can imagine another team building a model that demonstrates how objects with the same surface area but with different shapes fall to the Earth at different rates. But instead, we limit the presentation of their research to a static 2D board. In fact, our district doesn’t allow any objects except for a log book to be in front of the board. So, if a team built a lunar rover the only way that the judges could see it is through pictures. Hmm?
Maybe it’s time for teachers, administrators, and community members to revisit the science fair rules and make adjustments to fit this new type of learner. If we don’t, this will continue to be the square peg-round hole problem.
Having said all this, Knox Elementary will be hosting their 2011-2012 Science Fair on Tuesday, January 24 from 5:30-6:30. And if you can make it, please bring your smartphone or tablet, because the Buist Bunch is bringing a little 21st Century technology to the event.
Up, up, up and away!
My fifth graders are currently working on science fair projects. And unlike the typical “Which Solution Cleans Pennies Best?’ or “What Liquid Helps a Plant Grow Best?”, my students are focusing on Earth and Space Science.
Some students are building water bottle rockets and studying the effects of wing design on flight. Other students are experimenting with front- versus rear-wheel drive lunar rovers. And still other groups are researching parachute canopy designs and their effectiveness to deliver cargo safely to the ground.
One group working with parachutes noticed that many designs included a hole in the top or sides of the canopy and they didn’t know why. Their hypothesis is that there is a certain size of hole in the top of a round canopy that will most accurately deliver cargo to the ground.
At first the team planned to design a rocket that would launch the parachute and its cargo. They quickly realized that this experiment design including too many uncontrolled variables – height of the parachute separation, speed of the rocket, etc. I’m not sure where the inspiration for their next design came from, but it reminded me of the movie “Up”.
Using helium balloons, a tether, and a basket, the team was able to raise the parachute and cargo to a specific height, place a target below the basket and drop it to calculate the accuracy of the design.
I had know idea if they would get their project “off the ground”, but they did it and have been successful. Truly inspiring!
Jamie and Adam would be so proud
In pure Mythbusters style, a science fair team designed a template for measuring how high an object will bounce when dropped from a certain height. To better analyze the data, they will videotape their experiment and play it back in slow motion to more accurately determine the object’s bounce height. And to think that a group of 5th graders came up with this idea. If this is the kind of student we are developing at Knox Gifted Academy then the future looks very bright.
Slingshots Are Cool!
And they’re even cooler when it’s related to science standards.
As I was passing between my classroom and my neighbor’s classroom I was struck by a huge wooden machine. I’d seen one of these before having taught 5th grade for many years. But I’d never seen one of such high quality.
With eyes bugged out, I asked who this catapult belonged to. One of the creators proudly came up and announced that he and his science fair teammate had worked on it for two weeks. He quickly demonstrated how trigger system worked, what they would be launching, and how one could easily manipulate launch angle.
It’s designs like this that really excite me. The size, the craftsmanship, the potential. Because of the controlled trigger system (see image above) and the accuracy of the protractor-style launcher (see image below), I think this team has a great chance of being in the top five in the science fair.
The Buist Babble 