Hands On Science

Fourth grade had their first Hands-On Science session last Friday.  HOS is a program sponsored by the PTA and run by parent volunteers.  Each session will focus on a topic related to important science concepts and topics.  After a brief presentation by the parent leader, students break into small groups (4 or 5 kids per volunteer) and explore the concept further through activities and experiments.  This hands-on time helps students explore topics first-hand, and the goal is that by experiencing science this way, students will gain in-depth understanding and retention of the material.

For the first topic, we reinforced what the students have been learning about the scientific method in class by posing a series of questions and hypothesis about craters.  First we discussed how impact craters are formed and  where they can be found, and we stressed some of the differences between the earth, moon, and sun.  We also brought in some current events by talking about a NASA mission underway right now that is studying craters and other features of a distant asteroid.  Students then got into their groups and made their own craters by dropping various objects into a tray of flour topped with cocoa powder.  They were encouraged to follow the scientific method by posing a question, stating a hypothesis, then conducting an experiement – e.g., “I wonder whether the tennis ball or the golf ball will make a deeper crater?”  They practiced their measurement skills by measuring features of the craters they formed, then recorded their results in their science journals and formed conclusions.  All the students were really into the experiments and enjoyed the session.  At least two kids said that it was “the best day ever!”

Here are some links if you or your kids would like to learn more about craters and space:

**new images of the moon from the Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter (LRO) - http://www.space.com/12037-nasa-moon-mission-lunar-reconnaissance-orbiter.html

** NASA’s Dawn Mission – launched when the kids were in kindergarten, the ship is currently orbiting the asteroid Vesta and transmitting amazing images daily --  http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/main/index.html

**explore asteroid imact craters on Earth -- http://geology.com/meteor-impact-craters.shtml

**Wikipedia entry on Craters – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_crater

If you would like to volunteer to help at future Hands-On Science sessions, please contact Amanda Bush at ambush@swbell.net.

Laura Williamson