DS6 loves to do experiments. How do you do experiments with your kids? Do you do a kit? Do you try to assemble everything yourself? Is there a website you use? I always feel like I can do a much better job with him, but I am not sure how to go about it.

My DD9 also loves to do experiments. We enjoy this website:

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiments

I found a few clearance books re: science fair projects using household materials when she was about five. We used them for years. They were a great jumping off point for additional variable manipulation and data collection, since the bare bones of the experimental design was already laid out for us.

Be aware, though, that this works best with parents that know a LOT of the theory behind why certain things work (and why some of the experiments/demos do NOT work as they are 'supposed' to). We had a lot of flexibility in improving design and improvising materials.

We sometimes use experiments and ideas from http://www.science-sparks.com/

My kid loves to experiment -- so, sometimes he comes up with his own experiments. Sometimes, they work as expected. Most times, they produce very different results. LOL.

Our local library has been a great resource for us - science fairs are so big in schools that the library has a large collection of kids' science experiment books all grouped together in one place, and we've used those as a jumping off point for one of my science-kids. She likes to look through the books for ideas. My other science kid (my EG ds).. came up with his own experiments and ideas as a young kid and didn't care about getting ideas from anyone else

FWIW, I'm a scientist and so is my dh. Most of the early elementary level science experiments my dd has looked through have come with good explanations of the concepts behind the experiment and the simple experiments are to a certain extent easily reproducible so you don't have to overly-worry about them not working. If you're moving on into more complex ideas I'll second HK's advice - it helps to have someone working with your child (parent or other person) who understands the science concepts being tested. OTOH, I think that simply being enough of a scientist to realize not every experiment "works" (and that most actually "fail" - ie don't prove the original hypothesis), but every experiment, no matter how it works out, is giving you data that means *something* - that plus a little bit of patience, is really what's important. If you run into something you don't understand, you can always seek out someone to help you figure it out at that point.

Have fun!

polarbear

Our sons are the same age. My DS has found the kits to be fun, as they usually contain all of the materials needed. We stared out with small kits, and have ended up buying some rather large ones with a lot of experiments.

We liked these kits -DS7 was a magic school bus fan so we did these from 3 up, they come with the esoteric stuff and then ask you to provide common household items. But what's liked best was that the booklet asked interesting questions and walked the kids through the scientific method. We kept our own lab book and used their approach to do it. Worked very nicely.

Magic school bus kits

DeHe

Just a quick question??
Kids no matter what age come up with experiments all an their own?? Ask your child what he/she is interested in... And why?? And you will get a great... Unique... Science experiment all on your own!!! Just use the books for general science experiments format ...... Forget what other kids have done ..... Kids have the best imaginations out there..... Let them question and explore the world as they see fit.... And the science will follow

My kids are very interested in birding (this is a family interest). If your child is interested, there is a lot out there for kids--events, nest watch/feeder watch in the yard, etc, a lot of it with an explicitly scientific bent. Look up the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. DD has an account on eBird, a site where you enter bird observations. Some amazing citizen science has come out of eBird. There are many other citizen science projects your child can participate in--there is one where you plant sunflowers and observe the bees that come. Again, you are actually contributing to valuable science when yout ake part in these. I know this isn't a "mix things together and see them foam" kind of thing, but I find my kids learn a lot about the scientific process and scientific thinking from this stuff. I'm not such a fan of the "make it go boom" style of science teaching because there often isn't much theory behind it. We have and love Snap Circuits, but I don't know that the kids are really processing the concepts.

Frogwatch is another of those programs-- it was shut down/moved/on hiatus for a while, but then I noticed that I was getting the e-mails again, so I think it may have switched homes.


I think that the whiz-flash-bang science DOES require a lot more effort on the part of a parent/adult in order for it to actually convey meaning.

We always approach that kind of thing with a "multiple trials" and "reproducibility/appropriate controls" standpoint. My DD had learned the importance of controls and variable isolation before she even knew the technical terms for them (at about five).

It's completely internalized at this point. Her first question when she sees something cool/interesting is "huh... wonder if that's reproducible?" and then it goes from there. She's got better instincts for experimental design than many graduate students I've worked with, and I think that the early exposure to proper experimental design with the inclusion of controls is the reason why.

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