SCIENTIFIC THINKING in K-12 Introducing SCIENTIFIC THINKING in K-12 “I’ve only got 15 minutes” This file is downloadable at www.tinyurl.com/KiC15Min v1.2

David Goade (@dcgoade) writes: I'll be speaking to my daughter's 5th grade class in a few weeks. I'll have about 15 minutes followed by Q&A. Probably not enough time to do the Kata in the Classroom (KiC) exercise. Any suggestions?

Ideas: With only 15 minutes, something like the following two points might be the most important to get across. This is a good start into the topic of scientific thinking. 1) Our brain naturally tends to jump to conclusions, which sometimes leads us into making errors. So… we should test any idea we have, no matter how certain we feel about it. You can make this point in an interactive way by using two or three optical-illusion type slides. 2) When something ends up being different than we originally thought or expected, it’s useful because it helps us adjust our thinking and reach our goal! This is the basic idea behind scientific thinking. To help make these points you can use the following slides. Create and add your own slides too. Share this file with teachers, post it online, etc. You could conclude with a discussion around a question like, “What are some ways we can test our ideas?” (Maybe write that question on the board.) Examples: - Conduct an experiment. What is an experiment? - Ask someone else to try it. - Look for different viewpoints. After this session you can offer to come back and do the fun, hands-on 1-hour Kata in the Classroom exercise

Start on the next slide

PLEASE READ OUT LOUD WHAT YOU SEE IUMRING TQ GQNGIUSIQNS

Notice how our brain quickly feels quite certain, but it may be an error IUMRING TQ GQNGIUSIQNS

OUR BRAIN NATURALLY JUMPS TO CONCLUSIONS Based on the information it gets from our eyes, ears, etc. to Jumping Conclusions OUR BRAIN FILLS IN THE BLANKS (automatically) The brain quickly and unconsciously (to us) jumps to conclusions. This helps protect us from danges, but it also causes us to make errors. Current Knowledge Threshold

QUICKLY JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS HELPS US GET THROUGH THE DAY SAFELY Fast decisions Better safe than sorry • We need that protective jump-to-conclusions mechanism, but it also causes problems. But … sometimes we’re wrong about things

WHAT DOES YOUR BRAIN SEE HERE?

WHAT DOES YOUR BRAIN SEE HERE?

It’s just some white paint! • The legs look shiny, but actually there’s just some lines of white paint on them, that’s all. She bumped up against the wet paint on a cabinet she was painting white. The legs are not shiny. It’s just some white paint!

"Let's try it and see" TO AVOID ERRORS, USE SCIENTIFIC THINKING! 3 1 2

Continuously testing, learning and adjusting gets you to your goal

What are some ways we can test ideas?

Everyone can do scientific thinking, but it takes some practice!