What is a great way to teach The Scientific Method to a 2nd and 3rd grader?

[Mogster]

I really want my dc to have a good grasp on this, and so far, I have not found a solid way to teach this. Any ideas would be appreciated :-)

[Sophia]

http://www.amazon.com/How-Think-Like-Scientist-Scientific/dp/0690045654

hope that works.

[stephanie]

I really want my dc to have a good grasp on this, and so far, I have not found a solid way to teach this. Any ideas would be appreciated :-)

For my dc we just did an experiment and identified each step. I wrote the steps down on our board, and as we did each step I wrote in the results. They came together and decided to do an experiment to see if rye grass seeds would spread in a container even when there were no seeds planted in that particular spot. We picked rye grass b/c they start growing so quickly. We charted daily growth on our chart and always referred back to our board to identify the step of the scientific method we were in. We often do little experiments and I always have them refer to the scientific method. After that, my dc were going around forming little hypothesis of their own, and doing their own experiments. That hammered it in for us. I hope that helps you a bit.

[Trivium Academy]

We like this book too. :)

[Lorna]

'The Well-Trained Mind' gives good guidance on this. We also liked the Janice Van Cleave books for science. They are laid out simply using the Scientific Method. They are also wonderful experiments perfect for your children's ages and upwards. The '.....For Every Kid' series uses this approach.

[kristavws]

:iagree: with Stephanie. I think this is best taught in the context of actual experiments. Prior to conducting our first experiment, I went over (briefly) the scientific method with my son, and had him write the steps down in his science journal. Whenever we do experiments, we always refer back to the scientific method. My boys (4 and 7) both love science, so science occurs daily here, and experiments often! Sometimes experiments occur without my knowledge - the best to date, was when my 4-year flushed C3PO down the toilet to see where he would go. If I recall correctly, I think his hypothesis was the ocean.....

What really cemented the steps for my older son though was participating in an actual science fair (the home school group I am part of had a science fair day). My brother had purchased an electricity project kit for my son for Christmas, so he decided on the topic Will All Metals Conduct Electricity? We went through all the steps, and created a board for the fair - it was really a great experience! At the fair, each of the kids participating did a short presentation of what their experiment was about. Then, the kids all got to walk around and look at all the projects. Highly recommended.

Krista

[Ali in OR]

We also used the How to Think Like a Scientist book and really enjoyed it. But I think the kids would really internalize it if we actually employed the method a bit more! Do experiments, but make sure you are asking/answering a particular question. Have the steps of the scientific method written down and purposefully go through each one. If we did this for all of the experiments we do (and we haven't done any for awhile), the kids would start to think this way automatically. My ideal would be for them to come up with questions for us to explore and design more experiments ourselves, but this hasn't happened yet. For me, coming up with the questions to explore is the hardest part!

[Nan in Mass]

I did something similar. I myself read the first few pages of Creepy Crawlers and the Scientific Method, which has a great explaination of the scientific method. I then explained it to my children and we did a few examples together. Since then, they've done many, many experiments on their own. Krista, wait until your 4yo is older! C3PO will get blown up in various scientific ways. This is a dangerous thing to teach children, because it gives them permission to learn things on their own via experimentation, and their imaginations can come up with some pretty wild things that they would like to know. CCATSM explained that science classes mostly teach scientific principals and how to use measuring instruments and then do activities to demonstrate those scientific principals, not true experiments. This is why the whole scientific method thing is confusing.
HTH
-Nan

[ArwenA]

I'm another person who has How to Think Like a Scientist and like it. We also do each step when we do an experiment. I find that when dc is being like a scientist they really understand.

[oliveview]

The first song in the Lyrical Life Science General Science curriculum is a great song on scientific method. My 4 year old can sing it. Even though she can't apply it, she can sing the whole process. You might want to use something like that as a supplement while you teach the "nuts and bolts".