My daughter likes to watch Sid the Science Kid on PBS. I am impressed with the way the show is structured to teach children the scientific method. In each show Sid makes a brief observation that he formulates into a question. For example, in one show he is rushing to clean his room and he finds he is breathing hard so he asks "Where does the air go?" He always does a survey in which he asks his classmates what they think and he talks about the results. Then, the teacher does "Rug time" where she teaches a lesson on the topic and they all go to the "Super Fab Lab" to do experiments. After they experiment, they draw observations in their journals. The kids all go out to play and reenact the concepts they learned. When Sid's grandmother drives him home, she tells Sid a story about what she did in her youth that is related to that science concept. Then, before Sid goes to bed, he comes up with a Super Duper New Idea that applies the concept into a device that people can use.
The show has many of the steps in Bloom's Taxonomy. The Super Duper Big idea is the synthesis part, the Super Fab Lab is the comprehension and analysis part, the playtime is the application part because they frequently solve problems at playtime, and the Circle time is the comprehension part.
Parts of the scientific method are there to: observe something (breathing hard), come up with a question(where does the air go), gather data(the Sid survey), test the hypothesis (Super Fab Lab), record the data( Journaling).
Dinosaur Train on PBS also teaches science. Usually one of the little dinosaurs has a question and the mother takes them on the train to meet other dinosaurs who can answer it. The little dinosaur Buddy always says "I have a hypothesis..." and the hypothesis is tested by gathering information from interviews with other dinosaurs. The show discusses lots of different dinosaur species, what features they have, and what those features are used for.
It is amazing to consider the sophisticated concepts that are being taught in shows intended for children that are two years and up.
No comments:
Post a Comment