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ERIC Number: EJ1114774
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Sep
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0036-8148
EISSN: N/A
Celebrating Science with the Community: An Approach to Science Fairs Intended to Create Learning Celebrations
Pittman, Jason
Science and Children, v54 n1 p46-51 Sep 2016
Learning celebrations are increasingly common in schools looking to put more emphasis on community and efficacy in place formulaic science fair projects. The celebration aspect is in the community's participation and interaction with the learners. Students are the main event, performing as they would in a school play or applying acquired knowledge and skill as they would in a soccer tournament. An authentic audience is essential. As often as possible, the audience should be wider than just the student's classmates. The inclusion of parents, science professionals, and consumers can dramatically elevate student articulation and reflection. Learning celebrations build important bonds not only between the students and their academic goals but with families and the community as well. In this article the author describes how he and his students designed their upcoming semester-long inquiry. Their content focus was Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes, and they spent much time developing questions and solving problems in their school gardens, including the creation of the school garden! During the discussion, students decided they would like to exhibit their learning by hosting a restaurant for one night. So, the class reached out to an organization capable of creating pop-up restaurants and co-created a science-learning celebration that included a five-course meal prepared and served by students and a gallery of exhibits that would be presented between each course. Although it took much time to prepare the students for this event, the author found it to be deeply memorable and it was the focus of their learning for the entire semester.
National Science Teachers Association. 1840 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201-3000. Tel: 800-722-6782; Fax: 703-243-3924; e-mail: membership@nsta.org; Web site: http://www.nsta.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California (San Jose)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A