I am on the fence about science projects. My kids were only required to do a science project in 6th grade, other than that it was optional. My son's 6th grade one wasn't altogether successful and he didn't want to try again. Partly because he choose a topic that was hard to define and thus hard to test and get real results. I think they can be interesting and fun for some kinds of kids. My problem with them is this type of project requires so much parental help.
But the science project I HATED was in 8th grade. (It was just a class project) My son's 8th grade science teacher (whom I disliked) decided her students should do a YEAR LONG science project. I kid you not. Once a month one small part of the project was due. She figured that this would be easier on the kids and parents. What it did instead for my son was made a project that given 2-3 weeks he would have had fun with into something torturous. I have no idea who she thought this schedule would be better for.
I had at least the presence of mind to realized it was only a minor part of the grade and to have him choose something very straightforward. (He studied pendulums) But he got bad grades because he was constantly forgetting that that months assignments was due, it wasn't always the same date. He did most of the work on the project one evening in March, but the paper on the project wasn't due till June. He did get an A on the paper he turned in, but because he missed so many of the early deadlines. This was more an assignment on his classroom listening skills, and long term project management than learning any science.
Last edited by bluemagic; 01/19/15 03:25 PM.
