How To Grow A Young Scientist Misti D. Schneidewind Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Rapid City, SD 57701 Integrating Learning Into Daily Life Children have an innate desire to learn. They want to know about the world around them. - Daddy why is the sky blue? - Mommy where does milk come from? How Do You Teach A Child? 1. Provide an environment that stimulates learning. - children learn from toys that are hands on 2. Teach the children by example. - children learn by watching you 3. Use objects familiar to the children. - children learn about things that interest them 4. Reward the child for learning. - children learn more with positive reinforcement 5. Be patient. - children learn by exploring 6. Ask a lot of simple questions. - children learn by thinking 7. Encourage observation. - children learn by asking questions Experiments with Air What you will teach: Air is all around us. Air affects the way things move. Materials: Two pieces of typing paper and a sturdy chair. What you do: Wad up one piece of paper. Talk about how the pieces of paper are different. Weigh each piece of paper to show that they are the same. Climb on the chair and drop them at the same time. What to talk about: Why one piece of paper fell faster than the other (pressure, tension). For young children to understand the answers to these questions they must be able to test them by exploration and manipulation. Learning about science is hands on. Experiments with Animals What you will teach: Matching. Baby animals look like their parents. Materials: Scissors, glue, posterboard, magazines. What you do: Find pictures of animals and their babies. Cut the pictures out. Glue the picture of the adult and the baby on the posterboard. Cut the paper in a zig-zag down the middle to make a puzzle piece. Scramble the pictures up and then have the children match the pieces back together. What to talk about: Animals, babies and matching. Experiments with Plants What you will teach: Plants grow in a sequence. Materials: Pictures showing the development of a plant from a seed. A small glass jar, lima beans, cotton and water. What you do: Allow the child to arrange the pictures in the order that they think growth will occur. Put cotton in the bottom of the glass jar. Put two beans between the cotton and the glass and two on top of the glass. Dampen the cotton. Watch the lima bean sprout. What to talk about: Growth. Learning about science should be fun for the child and the adult. A positive environment fosters learning. Experiments with Water What you will teach: Some objects float in water and some do not. Materials: A shallow pan, eight different small objects, a picture of an object floating and an object sinking. What you do: Fill the pan with water. Ask the children which ones will float. Have the children try it out and sort them accordingly. What to talk about: Floating and sinking. The differences in the objects. Materials Needed: The materials are all around us. -rocks - soap - milk cartons - mirrors - string - tape References: Bubbles, Rainbows and Worms by Sam Ed Brown Mr. Wizard’s Supermarket Science by Don Herbert Chem 292, Chemistry Outreach Fall 2000 Dr. David A. Boyles and Dr. M. Steven McDowell