Science experiments and demonstrations don't always work! This was supposed to be one of our control cases in our lima bean growing experiment. This was the no air specimen. Our other plants have not grown for a variety of reasons and yet this one is doing great. We had to have a heart to heart about science on Monday. What I was in for was an amazing conversation.
I asked why this would happen when we had predicted that it would not grow? Students did a great job of identifying that we had trapped some air in the container. One student proposed that the plant was maintaining the proper levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Another student noticed the moisture and we talked about how we had created a mini bio-dome with an atmosphere. These kids knocked my socks off.
I am convinced that science this year is going to be more of a conversation and less of an information dump. There are times that we need to trust an expert on a video or in an article, but I want our assessment to be more open ended which allows students to take it much deeper than plants are alive and need water and air. Yesterday we watched a video on photosynthesis and I just gave them a blank piece of paper and told them to draw what they learned. Not only did the students draw and explain photosynthesis, I found that some of them absorbed information about the stomata, the xylem, and the chloroplasts.
Never put lids on the potential of these kids. Give them room and let them impress you. I become more and more convinced that traditional methods put lids on our kids. I want to teach them to self-learn and drive the conversation deeper instead of memorize some information. Keep supporting them at home by asking good questions and letting them share. They don't need to know everything perfect right now. They need to learn to ask great questions and be observant.
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