by Elizabeth Ross Hubbell

“Asking questions is a very good way to find out about something.”
– Kermit the Frog

Teachers often find themselves frustrated with trying to find high-quality resources and activities that help their students have multiple exposures to concepts and get feedback on their understanding. In addition, they sometimes express how difficult it is to find engaging activities that their 21st century learners want to do.

PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! provide a wide array of resources to help teachers and parents access inquiry activities and games. These allow for multiple exposures to concepts, opportunities for sense-making, and chances to address preconceptions. In isolation, Web resources and TV shows are unlikely to provide sufficient learning opportunities for most children to grasp difficult concepts, but they do provide excellent springboards for educators and parents to use in order to engage young learners in inquiry around key concepts.

In 1987, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics produced “A Private Universe,” a video documentary funded by the Annenberg Foundation that examines why even our brightest students have misunderstandings about basic science concepts. The famous opening scene shows Harvard graduates attempting to explain why the Earth experiences the seasons and having difficulty doing so. (In the students’ defense, this was filmed on graduation day. I don’t know about you, but I can’t say that my graduation day was a day when the Earth’s revolution around the sun was first and foremost in my mind.) The video goes on to show how K-12 students maintain misconceptions or incomplete understanding even after a week-long study of a concept.

How is it possible that students can hold on to science misconceptions even after an intensive study? One answer comes from Looking Inside the Classroom: A Study of K-12 Mathematics and Science Education in the United States, from Horizon Research, Inc. This study looked at the nature and quality of current K-12 science and mathematics instruction. Observers rated lessons based on design, implementation, content, and classroom culture. What they found was startling. At the elementary level, which had the best overall ratings, only 17% of the observed lessons were rated as high-quality lessons. Twenty-eight percent were rated medium quality, while a whopping 54% were given the lowest rankings. In the low-ranking classrooms, science and mathematics lessons lacked intellectual rigor, did not include high level questions to help students develop conceptual understanding, and neglected to provide opportunities for sense-making by the students. In other words, most students were given only superficial exposure to content rather than opportunities to address their preconceptions and create accurate understanding. As the aforementioned video portrays, very young learners develop incomplete or erroneous understandings that can last into adulthood if they are not given opportunities to further explore and reconstruct their understanding.

In 2005, Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) created Designing Effective Science Lessons (soon to be renamed Designing Effective Science Instruction), an instructional framework designed to help teachers develop lessons that address those missing components found in the Horizon study. High-quality lessons include high-quality Content, opportunities for Understanding, and an Environment conducive to learning for all students (CUE). High-quality content involves portraying science as a dynamic, ever-changing body of knowledge rather than “right-answer” subject matter. High-quality content also demands that teachers have a good understanding of their discipline and know how to trim extraneous content. For student understanding, teachers need to ask probing questions, provide adequate time for sense-making, offer multiple opportunities for collaboration, allow for multiple exposures to concepts, use formative assessment, and address preconceptions. Finally, the framework addresses how to create an environment conducive to learning, one that provides access for all learners, gives opportunities for students to evaluate their understanding, and create engaging activities to help students explore concepts.

PBS KIDS has a number of TV shows and related Web resources that help to engage pre-kindergarten children in thinking scientifically and to tap into children’s natural curiosity.

• Curious George explores the world around him by taking things apart, examining puzzling phenomena, and problem-solving. The Web site targets kids ages four and five with the goal of inspiring children to explore science, engineering, and math in the world around them.
• George Shrinks is about the adventures of a three-inch high boy who enjoys solving problems. Topics such as biology, botany, entomology, and ecology are addressed. The Web site includes lesson plans and activities to continue the learning.
• It’s a Big Big World depicts the adventures of friends who live in a tree in a rainforest. The Web site allows very young learners to explore life in the rainforest.

Elementary age students have a wide variety of choices on PBS KIDS GO! that help them to engage in the wonder of science, understand key concepts, and see science as a dynamic body of knowledge that is continually being examined and updated by scientists. What I really like about these resources, is that they show scientists as adventurous, fun-loving investigators, rather than stiff people in lab coats as students sometimes think.

• Backyard Jungle is a free, kid-friendly website where children can load photos, drawings, and descriptions about the natural surroundings where they live, their “backyard.” The Web site includes science games and lesson plans around environmental education.
• Design Squad is focused on engineering education for kids 9-12, emphasizing team work and problem solving. Many kids are unclear how the technology they use in their daily lives works. This show and the Web site help students to increase their knowledge of engineering and the design process, improve the public image of engineering, and encourage exploration.
• Dragonfly TV includes inquiry investigation activities developed with the National Science Teachers Association. With many pop-culture characteristics, the show is designed to appeal to today’s diverse, media-savvy learners. The Web site includes games, activities, videos demonstrating what kids are doing on the show, and a science journal to download.
• EekoWorld (Environmental Education for Kids Online) is designed to help children ages 6-9 learn about the important role they can play in taking care of the earth. EekoWorld features an engaging and interactive format that invites children to explore, experiment, and collaborate as they learn about conservation and the environment.
• Fetch! is part game show, part reality TV, and part spoof. The show features kids using science to overcome challenges assigned to them by an animated host named Ruff Ruffman. On the Web site, students can play games that relate to the challenges seen on TV.
• Kratts’ Creatures features Martin and Chris Kratt, real-life brothers who are crazy about animals and the natural world. The Web site is an extension of the TV show, allowing students to explore the environments of their favorite wild animals.
• The ZOOM Web site, a spin-off from the original 1970s show, has a plethora of activities for kids to explore chemistry, force and motion, and other science concepts. One of my favorites is Kitchen Chemistry: The Virtual Kitchen in which students try to mix the right concoction to launch a cork rocket.

This Labor Day, PBS will add to its Early Childhood list of programs as they unveil Sid the Science Kid, the Jim Henson Company’s first series for PBS KIDS, which features a practical in-school science curriculum and uses music and humor to celebrate children’s natural curiosity about science in everyday life. Sid observes the world around him and asks LOTS of questions. He and his friends use comedy to promote exploration, discovery and science readiness among preschoolers.

When the full Web site launches this Labor Day, it will include three discovery zones: the Super Fab Lab, the playground, and Sid’s family kitchen. Each zone will offer four science games that together encompass all of the series’ curricular themes. The site also features a child-friendly video player that lets kids view show clips, including songs and real-world investigations, as well as a printable Fun Book with coloring pages and other engaging offline activities designed to inspire children to practice and internalize scientific discovery. For example, the Collection Jar Game is a fun science activity where children find and store a collection of objects that they “find” on the Web site. These objects, which include rocks, bugs, leaves, seashells and other items, can be emptied onto a playground workspace where kids can use scientific tools such as a magnifying glass, magnet, or ruler to inspect their objects.

Below, I’ve listed other sites that help students grapple with science concepts by giving them opportunities to have the concepts explained, to familiarize themselves with key vocabulary, and to interact with virtual science manipulatives.

• Whelmer’s: McREL’s Accessible Science Series: These hands-on science activities are based on Steve Jacobs’ Whelmers. They include a number of science activities designed to engage a variety of students. Titles include Air Cannon, Dancing Penny, and Fire Sandwich.
• BrainPOP: This subscription-based resource has short Flash videos on a wide variety of subjects including science and technology. The videos demonstrate the concepts with fun animation and highlight new vocabulary terms. After watching the video, students can take a brief quiz and e-mail the results to their teacher or review and retake the quiz as many times as they need to do so.
• BrainPOP, Jr.: Like BrainPOP, this resource includes videos and games about a wide variety of subjects, but is intended for children in kindergarten through third grade.
• ExploreLearning: ExploreLearning allows students to use virtual manipulatives, called “Gizmos,” to explore science and mathematics concepts. After going through a guided tutorial using the Gizmos, the students take a short quiz. Their answers are assessed and they receive detailed feedback.
• Hunkin’s Experiments:
  This resource uses cartoons to show a wide variety of experiments that students can do to explore concepts.
• Web Weather for Kids: From the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, this resource includes activities that allow students to explore weather phenomena such as fog, tornadoes, and convection currents.
• Bug Catcher: This interactive resource from the Museum Victoria in Australia helps students learn how different “bugs” are classified as insects, arachnids, and other classes.
• Edheads: With these interactives, students can conduct a virtual hip replacement, learn about simple machines, and explore weather concepts.

What other sites are out there that provide opportunities for your students to have multiple exposures to concepts, address preconceptions, engage in inquiry activities, and familiarize themselves with basic science vocabulary? I invite your comments, suggestions, and questions below.

References

• Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Science Education Department, Science Media Group (Producer). (1987). A private universe. [Educational Video].
• Tuomi, J., Tweed, A., & Hein, H. (2005). Designing effective science lessons. Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.
• Weiss, I., Pasley, J., Smith, S., Banilower, E., & Heck, D. (2003). Looking inside the classroom: A study of K-12 mathematics and science education in the United States. Chapel Hill, NC: Horizon Research, Inc.