Science Strat for Students

Conducting Science with Students

The following methods take different approaches to assisting educators in conducting science with students. In some methods, students collect data and analyze it following a series of guided questions. In another, students are made aware of how they can conduct science outside the classroom. Whichever method is used, students learn how scientific knowledge is gained and learn to interpret data.

Indoor Labs - Indoor labs are a staple of K-12 education. This teaching strategy encourages cooperation in small groups and participation in doing science. This resource gives tips for making individuals accountable during group work, making handouts, and structuring lab time.

Field Labs- Field labs are engaging to students because they can experience the science that they have been taught in the classroom. This resource has information on safety and how to choose field locations on your school grounds.

Process of Science- Teaching the process of science means taking the aspects of how science is conducted and making these ideas explicit for students, allowing them to discover how scientific knowledge is gained.

Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning- In this approach, groups of students work together through data and questions to discover a scientific concept.

Guided Discovery Problems- Guided Discovery Problems lead students through a progression of questions with supporting diagrams from simple to complex to build student's understanding of a concept as they discover it themselves.

Campus Based Learning- Campus-based projects can provide hands-on, real-world projects that can be accomplished without a field trip budget or transportation by using buildings and grounds as teaching tools.

Teaching with Data- Data can be observations, raw data, or processed data and can be collected by or presented to students. Several examples of how data can be used and sources for finding data to present to students are included.

Teaching Students to Write Quantitatively - This resource teaches students how to use and interpret data in their writing. Assignments are presented that utilize a variety of formats ranging from formal essays to informal reports and posters.