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How To Get High-Schoolers Involved In Real Science?
Wellington Grey writes "I'm a physics teacher and have been wondering what ways it's possible to get students to participate in or donate to real science projects. I encourage my students to help out with things like Galaxy Zoo (which has just released a new version) and to get them to install BOINC on their personal computers. Do Slashdotters out there have any other suggestions that would be appropriate for the 11-18 age range? Extra credit if you can think of a way that I can track their progress so that I can give them extra credit."
I'm a physics student, and I got my *teachers* involved in real science last year in my senior year of high school :P The school was smack-dab next to a prominent research university, so all we had to do was ask. A professor even hired me...as a physicist...in high school! Professors are always willing to do cool stuff for kids to show off what they do - send a few emails around and see if you get any bites! ^_^
My physics teacher (who was awesome) did an experiment where we hung a bowling ball from the ceiling, then he sat in a chair, pulled the bowling ball back to his face, and let it go. This was to prove that as it swung, the ball lost energy and would not hit him in the nose when it swung back. We videotaped it and though the bowling ball obeyed the laws of physics and did not hit him, the look on his face was priceless.
Anyway, I think the computer-related stuff is alright, but I agree that physical stuff has more impact and will stick in their feeble young minds longer.
My grandmother used anecdotal evidence all the time, and she lived to be 120 years old.
Nope. When I was in school, I liked science, but most kids hated doing science fair projects. I wanted to do projects that were interesting, like show how something worked. But the school imposed the rule that every project had to be based on the idea of answering some question.
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
I did a rocketry project one year in physics and found out later that my teacher included it in his curriculum every year thereafter.
When I was in high school, there was some kind of pilot program that I participated in where we helped do actual scientific research.
Now I have no idea how they set it up or whether our work was ever actually taken seriously by anyone, since I was just a student at the time. I didn't have insight into that sort of thing. But the setup was that the teacher was put in touch with an organization that did research regarding weather patterns. We were given access to collect remote data from various weather stations, and even helped set up a few weather stations ourselves.
So at the beginning of the year, the organization and the teacher worked out some projects which involved a fair amount of grunt work and not a lot of expertise (i.e. something a group of students might have some hope of doing) but that might possibly be helpful to the organization (at least supposedly). We were given a few options of different questions we might pursue, and then started collecting data under the supervision of the teacher, who I believe was something of a meteorologist to begin with.
After a semester or year, whichever it was, we tried to pull together everything we'd done all year, analyze the data, and come up with a report to send to this organization, attempting to answer the question they asked us to research.
Looking back, I would be very surprised if our work was at all useful to anyone. In fact, I have no doubt that the report very quickly found its way into the circular file, though they may have kept some of the data we collected for their own purposes. But at the time, that really didn't matter. It was kind of thrilling anyway.
I don't think it was thrilling because of the science itself. Weather was far less interesting to me than something like relativity or quantum mechanics. What was thrilling about it was:
Adam Savage (from Mythbusters), wrote an article in Popular Mechanics a few months ago talking about science the US education system.
One of the best physics demonstrations is to hang a block of wood from a string and shoot it with a .22, then measure how far the block swings. Sadly, this can't be done in schools anymore.
Let us not become the evil that we deplore.
There is an outreach "master class" scheme involving the LHC where your students can get their hands on data (simulated at the moment but real eventually!). While the tools are simplified compared to what we actually use for an analysis you do get to look at and study real data. You could try talking to CERN to find out if this is available in whatever part of the world you are. We also have a video conference scheme which I've taken part in before where someone from your local university will come and visit and set up a video conference with other people at CERN to discuss the LHC and the physics we do.
There are also various cosmic ray projects that your school can get involved in. If you are in Alberta then your local one is ALTA which is run by a colleague of mine. There are others in various parts of the world as well. These link together multiple schools in a region to build a large air shower array.
Then there's the other end of the spectrum. Check out some of the old-guard museums in Europe some time. Newer ones have friendlier exhibits, but some of them are WAY hardcore, or at least they were not too long ago. In the mid 90s I was in Vienna at the ripe old age of 12. We went to a big fancy museum (I want to say the National Museum, or it could have been Natural History... I don't recall, I was 12). They had some newer exhibits that they tended to usher people towards, which I recall having perusal-friendly displays. Then they had enormous rooms where just things were on display, labeled. Like minerals. Big room, probably 10,000 square feet (maybe overestimating... 12 years old, remember), with nothing but individually labeled minerals. Not what they're for, not where they're found, just minerals and their names. That's... interesting... I guess... if you're into that. What's in the next room? ANOTHER big room, probably 10,000 square feet, with nothing but individually labeled minerals. I want to say there was a third, but my memory is hazy. Similar rooms existed for other things too, IIRC.
Hardcore.
-- I prefer the term "karma escort."
Just because they are explosives doesn't mean that it's unsafe. In high school, our science club went around to the elementary schools to show off different science principles. A lot of them involved explosions and fire. Examples include: blowing up hydrogen gas balloons, exploding paint-can methane candles, showing gas densities by pouring methanol gas down a ramp onto fire, blowing up corn starch, etc. We wouldn't have been able to do all of those if we didn't keep it under control and keep it safe.
Also, other demonstrations that definitely capture kids' attentions are: bed of nails, breaking cinder blocks with your chest and a sledgehammer, tesla coil in one hand and a fluorescent bulb in another, cornstarch and water goop, playing with dry ice.
True. Story. We made thermite in physics class and blew up a microwave. Also, we're building a sustainable heating economy for the entire state, and have done the research to back our proposals (some of which have already resulted in legislation).
As an engineer, I can selfishly say that at that age you don't was to teach them science, you want to teach them engineering. You want them to take a small piece of science and do something physical and visual. Something they can touch. something they can make or change, and then see how they're changes affect it. But the key difference between that and a lab exercise, is that you have to let them play.
Another suggestion, let them make things. I recommend checking out something like RepRap. For $500 have the kids build a rapid prototyping machine, let them make parts, try different build materials, show them how it ticks. Here's a 1-page description of the RepRap concept (fully GPL i believe) http://reprap.org/pub/Main/WebHome/one-page.pdf Another similar project is Fab@Home, but that will run you $2-3000.
When I was in school you had to choose a question as well (circa 2000). My friend and I did a project on whether it would be possible to create a Connect 4 program that was unbeatable. Turns out it is possible but I over-estimated my coding abilities and looking back on it now it was horribly written software but I did learn about hash tables, minimax, alpha-beta pruning and a bunch of other stuff I might never have looked at.
We made it to State science fair and then International Science fair out in California. The County paid for the entry fee and my amazing Biology teacher who had a doctorate in Genetics and encouraged us all the way paid for our plane tickets with her frequent flier miles (I think she went into teaching because she loved it). My parents only had to cover partial hotel costs and food costs. I was in the IB program and the Science fair happened to be at the same time as IB testing so I was forced to take two IB tests in between rounds of judging and it didn't go so well.
Sinbad was the host of the science fair and even did about 45 minutes of stand-up, it was God awful. I met a lot of really smart people, one kid made a glove that translated sign language to text. We brought large chess boards and clocks to challenge people to speed games, it was a lot of fun. My senior year I had learned a lot more and did a much better project but the County wouldn't pay the entry fees for us so we only made it to state.
Si Hoc Legere Scis Nimium Eruditionis Habes
I'm with you on that one. I find that there is absolutely nothing joyous or happy about safe science.