First class

For the first week, we learned about the scientific method.  The steps we discussed were:

• Observe Something That Interests You
• Ask a Question
• Do Background Research
• Construct a Hypothesis
• Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
• Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
• Communicate Your Results

The games we played about the scientific method were:

1. A detective game that had two parts.  Here is the page describing the scientific method and how this game demonstrates it.
1. Here is the first detective game.
2. Here is the second detective game.
3. These games showed that when you weren't sure what was going on, you observed the room, asked a question like "should I press this button?", had a guess about what might happen, tried it, noticed what happened or didn't happen, and made a conclusion about what was going on.  That's the scientific method, and we use it all the time in our daily lives.
2. A more advanced scientific method game (involves a lot of reading)

1. This is an interactive lab that teaches what the scientific method is, how scientists and others follow this method. The second part of the lab shows how the scientific method applies to the history of astronomy.

   This game starts with a detective story to illustrate the scientific method, then goes into each step of the method.  
2. It really is geared towards kids,  but the amount of reading involved means it would be great for confident readers to do on their own and for less confident readers to do with a parent.

Some kids also were able to play this game about laboratory devices.  It reviews the functions of various lab equipment, particularly equipment used by environmental scientists.