Interactive Science | Science Christmas Show

Christmastime is here. So on the last day before Christmas break, instead of throwing a puzzle at your students or putting on a video, why not celebrate by turning one of the most chaotic days of the school year into one of the most memorable? The Science Christmas Show combines the magic of Christmas with the magic of Science. Have fun with this- think of it as your gift to your students. Most of the demonstrations that follow were chosen because they could be colored red and green in some way. Knowing that’s all a demo needs to qualify, you might even come up with some of your own to include. Good luck, and merry Christmas!

Reaching Everyone

When you stop and think about it, teaching is quite scary. You’re standing in front of 30 young people. Some are having a good day, others bad. You have varying attention spans to deal with (thanks in part to video games, television, and cell phones). There are high and low achievers- a future ivy league student could be sitting next to a soon-to-be dropout. This realization is sobering and it reminds us who we serve and how awesome our task is. And your task is to come up with a lesson that will be meaningful to each and every one of these students. Wow! (Don’t think about this too long because it will turn your attitude negative, and you’ll convince yourself that you can’t teach them all).

So how in the world can you make “Plate Tectonics” or “DNA” meaningful to everyone? We think you should begin by putting a good demonstration in their hands, which will pull them all in. The percent of students who enjoy doing the demonstrations themselves is about the same as those who enjoy getting presents at Christmas. That leaves a door open for you to follow with a discussion to “hang” ideas and concepts all over that demonstration just like you were hanging ornaments on a Christmas tree.

All Fun?

Being interactive is important, but we want to do more than just entertain your students. The neat thing is that after experiencing a good demonstration, students actually crave a good explanation. That’s why our teacher notes strongly emphasize you being mentally prepared. You should never walk into your classroom not having a clue what you’re doing that day. If that’s your habit, you might occasionally have a good day of learning, but you and your students are missing out on many more.

Step 1, then, is going in with knowing what you’re doing. And step 2 then would be deciding what kinds of things you’ll say during the lesson. If you seldom give thought to your words before a lesson, try it and see what happens. Many of our lessons include an example back-and-forth dialogue between the teacher and students (based on actual words said when the lesson was presented) and other reminders about getting your mind ready. Everyone wants to be part of a great lesson, but often it’s the unseen work and mental preparation that make it successful.