How to teach math and science without scaring kids

It’s no breaking headline that the U.S. is falling behind in math and science to its global competitors. Despite the fact that the U.S. is the wealthiest nation in the world, Asia overwhelmingly fills the first five slots in an international comparison of math and science scores, while the U.S. rests comfortably at number 11. In an increasingly technologically-driven world, this data leads to one clear implication: the U.S. in jeopardy of losing its, thus far, unchallenged position as the leading global economic giant. Time Magazine has recently reported on policymakers’ and educators’ ongoing push for the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) program at schools, in an effort to expose and attract students to the engineering field. So what are some practical steps that parents, educators, and administrators could take to encourage students toward math and science without trembling, or even mildly perspiring? Here are some practical tips: Encourage students to apply math and science to practical, everyday life, especially at a young age. Get children into the habit of seeing math and science skills as aides to understanding and manipulating the world. As a parent, take your child shopping and ask him/her to calculate the final cost of an item during a “20 percent off” sale, claiming you’re not sure if you have enough money to purchase it. You can even do something as simple as taking a morning stroll and asking questions about your observations, such as, “Why do you think the grass is wet on some mornings when it hasn’t rained?” Children will not only feel helpful and excited at the practicality of math and science, but they will learn to become analytical and feel confident that they can understand and tackle these subjects. Make them feel like Sherlock Holmes. Keep students challenged, empowered, and engaged by treating math and science like puzzles. Children enjoy playing (and winning) games, reading and watching detective stories, and generally solving fun problems, so why should math and science make them feel any differently? Math and science should be analytical and exciting. Teachers, empower students to use their problem-solving tools by presenting the curriculum in a procedural, objective, and analytical manner. Model how to use various strategies and facts, and demonstrate how math and science are inter- and intraconnected. Introduce the STEM program to your school. Engineering lessons are available through the National Center for Technological Literacy (“Engineering is Elementary”). Administrators should carve out a specific amount of time each week or month to designate to classroom engineering projects. Although it is true that every school year is an intricate web of delicate scheduling compromises, administrators should be encouraged to consider making space for STEM (for example, cancelling specials one week for a school-wide day of engineering). In addition, schools should invite professional engineers, mathematicians, scientists to speak at assemblies or visit classrooms in order to expose students to real-life insight into the works of the field (these may even give kids new role models). Lastly, keep students challenged, do not bore or underestimate them. Apply the golden rule to this one: just like adults, many children will perform to the level of expectation set for them. Keep them challenged—they’ll thank you for it. http://www.examiner.com/article/how-to-teach-math-and-science-without-scaring-kids http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/ http://mathforum.org/dr.math/ Vetenskapens värld Vårt nya universum del 2