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This year at the beginning of the school year at open house before school started. My older son's (7th grade)science teacher had an experiment set up at the front of the room. The parents were given an assignment to identify the independent and dependent variables of the experiment (plus there were other questions). My husband wouldn't do it because he spent 4 years as a science teacher and made me do it. I found that there wasn't a lot of information given in order to answer the questions so I just did my best and was probably over-thinking it. She never said how anyone did. She was just trying to assess how much help could be given at home by various parents. My son only asked for help twice in science and that was on earth quakes and fault lines once where the written material was very confusing compared to the way the questions were asked and one other time I sent him to ask his dad without finding out the topic.

I ordered this book to work on with DD9 during the summer. It might be a little simple for a gifted 9 year old (sigh, kicking myself) but I think it would be a great book for a gifted 5/6/7 year old.

It explains Scientific Observation very nicely and each experiment starts with a question and leaves room for the kids to log their results/findings.

I still plan on doing this with DD9, I think she will still enjoy it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580625576/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Kelly, is that book mostly stuff you actually have in the house or is it one of those elaborate, "go to a specialty drugtore and buy these 5 items and now spend 2 hours putting this together" books?

Are any of the things mentioned above good for what would be the 6th grade curriculum in the school?

DS10 will be skipping into 7th grade for next year, and science is the one thing that he had on the 5th grade level last year -- not due to aptitude, but due to scheduling difficulties -- and so missed 6th grade science. They gave him the books to read over the summer, but the one thing that the science teachers were concerned with was that he needs to catch up on the experiment stuff. 6th is where they start doing science fair projects. He did a fair amount of hypothesis/test/writeup stuff in 5th, but apparently there is more in 6th and on a more professional level with the science fair. I never did science fair, as they didn't have that when I was there. Is there anything that would be useful for me to know, or that would make it easier to cram that into him over the summer?

Science Fair topic search - this site is great for suggesting ideas that he can do, letting you search on interest areas, age, how much time to complete, etc. I would suggest picking one or two, and going through the whole process with him of doing the experiment, figuring out what the results mean, figuring out how to display them, and writing it up. You both may learn a lot.

I wouldn't think twice about trying to get him up to speed on Science Fair specifically - there is so much material available on Science Fair projects available at libraries as well as online, that when the time comes, he's going to have plenty of resources available to learn about how to write up his experiment, what expectations are etc. If you're really really wanting to do a write-up etc this summer, you can find good resources simply by googling "Science Fair + 6th grade" etc.

The only thing I'd do at all for experiments is ask if there are any specific experiments he would benefit from completing over the summer that tie specifically to the 6th grade curriculum that he missed - for example, if electronic circuits were studied, is there a lab that illustrates the concepts learned that would help him reinforce those concepts. Ask if there are labs that teach principles he'll be expected to be familiar with. And if you get nothing specific from the school, don't worry about it - if he reads about something he's interested in, have him think up his own experiment

polarbear

I was surprised by the good stuff in "the Boy's Own book" by William Clark. Beware cultural change regarding safety, though (Not allof it is science.)

Also, pulled some stuff together after watching "how stuff works "

next project: bioplastic


I strongly agree with looking stuff up as much as possible, kits and especially books seem to usually require heavy finessing. just built sail carts with a measurement error and no provision for hubcaps or shrouds. grrrrr.

Also, I'm finding yardwork failure useful this yr... we made aircraft from maple keys tape and sticks, dug out an accidental compost heap and played with water using bark shells that rotted off. this in the city, (I'm excassively proud)

(sorry, using on-screen kb)

We do kits together and a lot of "I wonder what if"

A few weeks back we did a PH test range on various soaps, bodywashes and toothpaste. then we tested them on our skin. we made a decision for our family based on the results. so much of fun!

I really really want to sign up for www.superchargedscience.com within the next year or two though. then my two science geeks can have at it on their own and I can just read my book