This week, I want to focus on the idea that science is not a
body of knowledge. Well, it is that. But more importantly, science
is a way of finding things out. I am less interested in what our kids “know” by
the end of the year. I am much more interesting in how we’ve developed
their skills in finding things out.
In their future careers, 99% of them will not need to know
squat about the shape of the Earth’s magnetic field. And if they do,
they’ll google it. Would I like them to know? Of course. But there
are tens of thousands of things I’d like them to know. And unfortunately,
our time with these kids is not infinite. So we’ve got to choose our
battles. Also, we must make kids good at finding out things that no one has
before. These problems cannot be googled, and there is only one
appropriate way to solve them: test, gather data, and draw conclusions.
That is science, and that is what we’re going to emphasize this week.
As many of you have already finished covering your science
content in preparation for SAGE, I’ll look back to your whole year’s core for
ideas this week. These ideas will just be questions, and some of them are
a little vague. That’s okay, because remember, we’re not as interested in
the answer as we are in the process.
On to the ideas:
Kindergarten Ideas: Can the weather today help us predict
the weather tomorrow?
First Grade Ideas: What path does the sun follow across the
sky?
Second Grade Ideas: Do heavy things fall faster or slower
than light things?
Third Grade Ideas: How does a particular simple machine
change the amount of force applied?
Fourth Grade Ideas: How long does it take to water to
evaporate?
Fifth Grade Ideas: How does the density of water change as
it changes phases?
Sixth Grade Ideas: How does the insulation of a dry sock
compare to a wet sock?
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