Chapter 12
Science Demonstrations Melanie J. Cravey
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Department of Marine Sciences, Texas A & M University at Galveston, Galveston, TX 77553
Nalco Chemical Company and Texas A&M U n i v e r s i t y at Galveston have cooperated on the assembly of science demonstrations to present at elementary schools. The emphasis is on the three s t a t e s of matter, changes of state and the three dimensional nature of molecules. While geared for the third grade l e v e l , these demos are a p p r e c i a t e d by students and their teachers even i n t o h i g h s c h o o l . Why this age level was chosen and how the program is managed are d i s c u s s e d . An o u t l i n e of the p r e s e n t a t i o n is p r o v i d e d and some suggestions f o r other ways to b r i n g science to the community. Appendix I is a list of some additional sources of demonstration ideas.
The joy of d i s c o v e r y i s an intense a c t i v i t y f o r c h i l d r e n . They want to touch and t r y a l l manner of new thins . Thus, i t i s an i d e a l time to introduce them t o science and i t s endless wonders. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , the t y p i c a l classroom p r e s e n t a t i o n contains dry f a c t s to memorize and n e g l e c t s the d i s c o v e r y approach. Somehow the fun aspects of science must be brought back to the classroom. But we a r e n ' t doing anyone any favors i f we don't t i e the excitement of "handson" science with the fundamentals of "how and why?". Hopefully by now a l l the members of the American Chemical Society and others i n the s c i e n t i f i c community have gotten the word t h a t there are not enough science and engineering students coming down the e d u c a t i o n a l p i k e to f i l l the need f o r the next 15 y e a r s , WE must convince more young people to make science or engineering a career g o a l , and (ideally) simultaneously a f f e c t the a t t i t u d e s of students, t h e i r p a r e n t s , teachers and community f a v o r a b l y toward s c i e n c e . But what age students should we t a r g e t ? 1
0097-6156/92/0478-0111$06.00/0 © 1992 American Chemical Society
In Partnerships in Chemical Research and Education; McEvoy, J.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992.
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How do we get s t a r t e d ? What do we say and do? How do we f i n d other people t o help? In t h i s paper the above questions are addressed, our program i s o u t l i n e d and other sources of m a t e r i a l s and ideas are d i s c u s s e d . Texas A&M U n i v e r s i t y at Galveston and Nalco Chemical Company i n Sugar Land c o o p e r a t i v e l y developed a program e s p e c i a l l y f o r t h i r d graders. (It i s s u i t a b l e , however, for p r e s e n t a t i o n t o many ages simply by adding experiments and i n c r e a s i n g the t e c h n i c a l l e v e l of explanations f o r the v a r i o u s phenomena shown).
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Choosing a Target Audience In order t o choose a t a r g e t audience the program goals must be decided. Two obvious goals are: (1) t o persuade more students t o choose science or engineering as a career and (2) t o f a v o r a b l y impress the p u b l i c with science as b e n e f i c i a l t o both i n d i v i d u a l s and s o c i e t y . I t seems q u i t e l i k e l y t h a t i f we make the second goal primary (make science p o p u l a r ) , the other goal (become a s c i e n t i s t ) w i l l n a t u r a l l y r e s u l t (more people w i l l want t o be a s s o c i a t e d with i t ) . R e a l i s t i c a l l y one might consider the source of funds and add a capitalistic goal, ie. sponsoring o r g a n i z a t i o n s want to enhance t h e i r image and r e c r u i t f u t u r e employees or students. But i f i n f a c t science becomes more popular then the sponsors (groups of s c i e n t i s t s doing science) w i l l a l s o . Thus the o r i g i n a l goals are s t i l l s u f f i c i e n t . The added b e n e f i t may be name r e c o g n i t i o n f o r small schools or companies, or those which do not s e l l d i r e c t l y to the p u b l i c . To make science and engineering popular r e q u i r e s two components: p e r s i s t e n c e and c r e d i b i l i t y . There are two reasons f o r p e r s i s t e n c e . F i r s t , the news media tends t o focus upon negative events and keep t h a t i n the p u b l i c mind. To counteract t h a t we must c o n t i n u a l l y b r i n g the b e n e f i t s of science i n t o p u b l i c view. Secondly, s t u d i e s have shown t h a t students make d e c i s i o n s i n j u n i o r high that w i l l u l t i m a t e l y determine t h e i r preparedness f o r science or engineering. To be s u c c e s s f u l i n c o l l e g e they need three years of science and math i n high school, which assumes a strong j u n i o r high background. Thus t a r g e t i n g a program only at high school students i s probably too l a t e for some. The reasons to s t a r t i n elementary school are primarily psychological. Kids are c u r i o u s , have no preconceived ideas about the subject and t h e i r a t t i t u d e s are s t i l l q u i t e f l e x i b l e . A l s o most teachers are happy t o i n c l u d e s p e c i a l programs and t h e i r schedules are e a s i e r to interrupt than in higher grades. Simple, safe demonstrations are a v a i l a b l e which e a s i l y f i t i n t o the elementary science curriculum. C r e d i b i l i t y i s c r u c i a l t o the improvement of the p u b l i c view of s c i e n c e . Honesty about hazards and a s i n c e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n f o r c e the demonstrators to make
In Partnerships in Chemical Research and Education; McEvoy, J.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1992.
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Science Demonstrations
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