Re: A. Einstein and science-fairs

[Richard Tarara <rtarara@SAINTMARYS.EDU>]

----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Edmiston <edmiston@BLUFFTON.EDU>
> I think there is little science content in a stain remover project
> UNLESS the student tries to find out why xyz is better than abc.  Was
> one a degreaser but the other was an enzyme?  Hmm, what's a degreaser?
>  What's an enzyme?  What's in spaghetti sauce?  Or another line of
> reasoning...Does it make a difference what kind of fabric is used?  If
> so, why do some fabrics bind the stain more.  Is this a natural versus
> synthetic thing?  How are synthetic fibers different than natural
> fibers?
>
> The projects I see are always heavy on process and essentially nothing
> on science content.  This year I will see at least three stain remover
> projects.  I will ask each student why xyz worked better than abc, and
> each student will shrug his/her shoulders.  But I hope that when
> someone asks Jessica why her amplifier has two big transistors rather
> than one, that she can give some sort of explanation of push-pull
> amplifiers and why it's important.  If they ask her what the
> transformer does, I hope she can tell them.  If she is asked why the
> transistors are bolted to this big hunk of metal with fins, I hope she
> can tell them.
But do you really expect a 4th or 5th grade student to be able to explore
and understand these answers?  They CAN design and do the experiment.  With
a really well designed experiment the student can be encouraged to expand it
for 'next year's' project by exploring the whys.  I would certainly not
underestimate the value of the process, especially for the younger students.
I say this having struggled through labs today with my Freshman/Sophomore
'liberal arts' class where they had the hardest time grasping the concept
that we wanted to hold the mass of a system constant while we varied the
applied force and measured the acceleration.  When it was suggested that
THEN we fix the force and vary the mass, well.......;-(

I personally think the students get much more from this type of project than
they do from the 'Test a variety of materials with a magnet and classify
objects as to whether the are attracted to the magnet or not.'  Every fair
sees a half-dozen of these projects with 1 out of 20 students having any
sense about the 'whys'.

Rick