Anytime you create a fun, challenging and hands-on assignment for your students to use in class, or as a homework assignment, you are creating an awesome and highly effective learning experience. You can be sure the kids will love a classroom activity or homework assignment that is not lecture, books and paperwork! Including one day science fair projects in you teaching tool box really and truly helps create a positive, healthy, well-rounded classroom where you can feel learning ooze from the walls.
Here are five reasons why I love this kind of teaching tool:
1) I love one day science fair projects because they break up the boring pencil and paper routine.
Reason: You do not want students to get turned off about your subject because it is all books and paperwork. Students that come home with a pile of books, and all of them require basically the same thing, read and answer questions, does not instill a love of learning in most kids. Having hands-on projects gives them something to look forward to and builds excitement.
2) I love these one day science fair projects because they are short and sweet, with easy to follow directions.
Reason: You want to keep the attention of the students, and long drawn out complicated projects sometime lose their appeal. Having shorter, easy to follow projects that can be completed in one classroom period or in one evening as homework ends up being a nice neat package with a higher probability of success.
3) I love one day science fair projects because they encourage independent work habits.
Reason: In this instant world, kids expect things to be handed to them, and expect answers to instantly appear. A project where they must do something first, have a process to follow and gather the results themselves, and draw their own conclusions, will help build patience and independence, both great work habits to acquire.
4) I love one day science fair projects because they are perfect thing for parents to have access to on those nights their child comes home and tells them they have an experiment due tomorrow.
Reason: Having access to quality science projects that can be downloaded immediately, and have complete, easy to follow directions, with built in spreadsheets for data entry that can be transformed into cool charts, will save the night for both parent and child!
5) I love one day science fair projects because they are hands-on, active, and multisensory, which is one of the best approaches to teaching ever.
Reason: Whether you call it motor memory, or hands on learning, or multisensory, what you are doing is bringing together, seeing, hearing, and doing into one learning experience. The memory of the lesson learned will be much stronger than if they were just to read it in a book.
“It is no good knowing about the taste of strawberries out of a book.” (Aldous Huxley) reflects the theme behind multisensory approach to teaching. Teachers that create an active, hands-on learning environment will create lessons that will be remembered forever. Science teachers who use one day science fair projects regularly will may end up helping to create independent thinkers that actually like science.
Here is a link to a great digital resource for simple, easy to follow 24 hour science projects, weekend projects and demonstration projects. Often these digital products cost less than what you would pay for a pizza.
One Day Science Fair Projects – Step by Step Blueprints for Students and Parents – http://24hourscienceprojects.blogspot.com
Find some great Middle School Science Projects too! http://24hourscienceprojects.blogspot.com
My name is Sue Gnagy Fegan and I used a structured, sequential multisensory teaching approach for the past 34 years. I saw first hand the benefits of engaging students in productive, hands on activities to make learning more meaningful and more fun.