Shifting From Activitymania

Activitymania is an approach to teaching elementary science that involves a collection of prepackaged kits. These activities are hands-on but are often disconnected from one another. Inquiry allows students to move the lesson to the next step based on their ideas and interests. Inquiry also allows the students to ask questions, where as activitymania wants you to disreguard any data that does not fit. Activitymania also has a specific assessment that is looking for one correct answer. The switch from activitymania to inquiry does not mean you have to throw out the kits, instead asks teachers to clearly define goals and the relationships to students' lives. Once those goals are defined it is essential to link them to supporting activities. These supporting activities can be used to engage students, skill development, an idea for modification or extension, provide students with common experiences, and as a method for students to demonstrate their understanding of concepts and related scientific ideas.

"Inquiry cannot be prepackaged as it takes different directions according to students' interests and questions related to the concept being studied" (Activitymania Science and Children). Inquiry allows the teacher to teach the lessons and concepts needed but in a way that is more engaging to the student. Just like we read in the Sweater article I think it is extremely important to take the lesson where the students are showing interest. It wont do the students any good to learn from a kit and have their questions disreguarded. Moving on with the lesson without touching on students' curiosity is a disservice to them.

In my science classroom I hope to touch on all the curriculum standards that I need to for my district but in a way that makes learning science engaging. I want to allow my students to take the lesson to the next step with their own thinkings. It is crucial to connect lessons, such as magnets mentioned in the article, to the students lives. Why is this topic important to my students? I know it was much easier for me to get into a lesson if I knew why I was learning such a thing. Engaging my students in science through inquiry is something I hope to include in my classroom.