Designing an experiment is not easy. Deciding on variables, determining a control, figuring out a way to quantify results – these are just the beginning of the advanced skills that must be learned over time. In most instances, expecting a fourth grader (or a fourth grader’s parent!) to be able to do this is unrealistic. The teachers we worked with on our science guides (and our sons’ teachers) usually provide a variety of resources from which students can get their experiment ideas. They send the kids home with a list of starter ideas, post links on their webpages, and set aside carts of science project books at the library. Our guides are another resource.

They provide a skeleton – a blueprint – of the scientific process, so the student has some guidance on where to start. In our experiences with our boys and our friends, and from the stories we hear from teachers, kids and parents often get so bogged down in the process of creating a science project, that by the time they get around to the fun of experimentation, they are discouraged, rushed, and just ready to get it over with. Our guides are designed to give students and parents a good experience with science, so that they learn to love science as the fascinating subject that it is.