School Science Projects – What Teachers Really Want

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:31:58 +0000

Looking for a project that can get your teacher’s attention? You need not look any further! And yes, while you’re on the lookout for the best possible project, don’t forget to hop into our library for free guidelines on your projects.

How to Make Your Project Grab Your Teacher’s Attention? To get you started, here are some things that teachers are looking for in good Science projects.

STEP #1: Choose a topic that interests you. Teachers are looking out for science projects that are wholeheartedly done. They can tell a project done well and just for the sake of doing it. It is therefore important to choose a topic that you love.

Your ideas about the following things could turn into science projects:

1. Things That Amaze You: Ever wondered how a huge airplane manages to fly in thin air? Grab some books on that topic from your library, and do some research. There are many like you who are equally confused. Maybe you could look for books on gravity and aerodynamics.

2. Things That You Encounter Daily: Ever wondered how your camera works? Try constructing a pin-hole camera. Or how your car works? Experiment with various home-made models.

3. Things That Others Say: Find out why your parents tell you to exercise or eat your vegetables or go to bed early. Research and learn the positive benefits of these habits on your body. Why do people prefer a particular brand of toothpaste? Is there really a difference? This could give you a practical topic for your project.

If you’re looking for ideas, check out this guide to good Science projects.

STEP #2: Just Do It! Teachers try to determine how much personal effort a student puts in, in order to create the project. Here are a few steps that can enhance your efforts:

1. Collect Facts from Real Life: Look around your home, your neighborhood and the World Wide Web for facts and materials that support your project.
2. Collect Facts from Science: Use science to go about your project.

Ask yourself the following questions:

* Which scientific principle am I trying to demonstrate?
* If I change one parameter how will it affect another?
* If I do things differently how would it affect the result?

3. Collect Facts From Your Own Experiments: Perform a set of actions and write down the results. Let the results be available for your teachers to study.

STEP #3: Make It Presentable Well presented science projects make the first impression on teachers. Make your project simple and clear.

Here are a few ways to make your project presentable:

1. Present Information Clearly: Get rid of all ambiguity by presenting the facts and figures in a neat tabular and graphic form.

2. Present It Using Pictures: Since our minds understand pictures better, a picturesque presentation would make your project entertaining and knowledgeable.

3. Present an account of your experience: Write an account of how you went about creating your project, what hindrances you encountered and how you arrived at the final step.

And yes, there is one thing you could do to boost your confidence. A day before the science fair, run a mock presentation. Have someone ask you some questions and try to answer them. Imagine the judge and your teachers examining and appreciating your project. For more resources on picking a great topic and creating a great project with minimal stress, check out the links below.

Good luck!

By: Aurora Lipper

Getting Your Kids To Love Science

admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:16:19 +0000

It seems that kids love to do anything and everything, but schoolwork and science is just another extension of schoolwork, or is it? What kids might not realize is that science is all around us in our world. While kids may not realize it science includes outer space, growing flowers or vegetables, animals, and even dinosaurs. So pretty much any thing you do with your kids whether it is going to the park for the day, going to the zoo or going to the animal shelter you can turn it into a science lesson, most of the time without them even realizing what you are doing.

Because kids are naturally curious it is easy to get them to love science because science will give them the answers to the numerous questions they have. One of the keys to getting your children interested is to get them to enjoy reading, while a lot of science can be hands-on you still have to do research and you also have to be able to read the directions. Kids who do not like to read will not have much fun researching information or worse they might not read the directions for the science projects that they want to do.

One of the keys to getting your kids to love science is to start early. Do not wait for school to start before trying to teach your child about science. Start teaching them stuff at a young age. The great thing about science is that you can gear it towards any age. For example when you are taking a walk in the spring you can talk with your child about why flowers are starting to grow this time of year. Or in the winter when your preschooler asks why their snowman melted you can explain to them about what snow is and why it melts.

Another important thing is to take advantage of your child’s natural curiosity. Kids love to ask questions, they always want to know how something works, why something does that, how something is made, and anything else that they can think of to ask. Rather than telling them the answers you can ask them what they think the answer is. Getting the right answer is not as important as letting them think the process through. Giving them this opportunity will make them feel good about themselves, which can lead to a love of science.

Part of getting your kids to love science is to become actively involved in what they are doing. This lets you spend quality time with your kids something both of you love to do. Simply set aside a weekend and do hands-on projects with your kids. For example you can bake cookies with children and teach them about how mixing the ingredients together turn the separate ingredients into something else entirely. You can also teach them about temperatures when the cookies are in the oven. Another great science project for kids is planting a garden, include them in all the steps and let them help you tend it. During the different stages of tending the garden talk to your child about what you are doing and why you are doing it. Or if they are old enough ask them about the processes, this can even work with preschoolers.

Getting your child to love science can be fun for the both of you. And who knows you might find that in getting your child involved in projects you love science too. Just remember to keep the projects at an age appropriate level, but also make the projects challenging so your child does not grow bored.

By: Chuck Lunsford

Science research » Vegetables

School Science Projects – What Teachers Really Want

Getting Your Kids To Love Science