How To Get High-Schoolers Involved In Real Science?

Wellington Grey writes "I'm a physics teacher and have been wondering what ways it's possible to get students to participate in or donate to real science projects. I encourage my students to help out with things like Galaxy Zoo (which has just released a new version) and to get them to install BOINC on their personal computers. Do Slashdotters out there have any other suggestions that would be appropriate for the 11-18 age range? Extra credit if you can think of a way that I can track their progress so that I can give them extra credit."

Slashdot says

[Anonymous Coward]

Take pictures of space!

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/18/1645216

Try successful cases

[casals]

Have you tried to show them successful stories like this one [slashdot.org]? High schoolers are more prone to do something that a) has good chances to success and b) has very good chances to make them look good. Show them enough successful projects like "hey, how cool is that, uh?", and you probably will be able to gather even the not-that-geeks.

Wait, what?

[Reality Master 101]

You want to get students interested in "real science", then as your examples you cite some computer programs? And they learn what from this?

When I was in school, the best science was *always* some sort of physical demonstration. I still remember being in physics class where we calculated the speed that a ball ought to go down a ramp, fly through the air and hit a spot on some paper. I marked an "X", and sure enough, the ball landed on the X (within experimental error).

I also remember being fascinated at my local science museum at a big box with pegs and a bell curve painted on the glass. Every few minutes balls would fall randomly through the pegs, yet fall into the bell curve. [of course, in recent years they got rid of all the cool stuff in favor of "corporate demonstrations" that totally suck, but that's another subject]

Then there were the chemistry experiments... and field trips to the park... you get the idea.

Make science real by making it something physical that students can see/touch/smell.

Gee.. How long have you been a physics teacher?

[ewenix]

I know I've been out of school for a while, but I believe what you're looking for is called a SCIENCE FAIR.

How?

[frank_adrian314159]

Let them blow up stuff. Really. They still may not like science afterward, but they'll have fun and it will weed out the stupid.

Re:Explain the science behind "miracles"?

[Anonymous Coward]

What the hell is it with some people always trying to put down Christianity. We get it you're an atheist. Shut up already you're not contributing to anything (article/discussion/your own argument).

The people who make comments that offend you fall into two categories: Those who enjoy seeing you (over)react, and those who believe that they are contributing to the discussion by being funny or insightful.

Your hypersensitivity only feeds trolls. Yelling at people to shut up makes you look like one. Cursing in every sentence almost guarantees that the post you are responding to is funnier and more insightful then the content you are responding to, no matter how unfunny or insightful it actually is.

Safe science is gay

[AliasMarlowe]

Let them use proper explosives, and let them make their own thermites, black powder or napalms. They'll develop an aptitude for chemistry (and perhaps an appreciation of medicine).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermite [wikipedia.org]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder [wikipedia.org]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napalm [wikipedia.org]
Let them play with a decently-sized ballista, trebuchet, or onager. They'll learn all about dynamics and ballistics, wind resistance, action-reaction (the onager kicks a bit), and the delivery of kinetic energy via projectile.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballista [wikipedia.org]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebuchet [wikipedia.org]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onager_(siege_weapon) [wikipedia.org]
However, if they combine the explosives with the projectiles, their neighbours will study the law.
[Yes, I had a dangerously mis-spent childhood, and turned into a chemical engineer]

Re:Slashdot says

[NeutronCowboy]

While this is modded funny and comes from an AC, I'd seriously put this out there as an option.

Here's why:
1) It's cheap.
2) It requires little time.
3) It requires little handywork - no time spent soldering minuscule circuitry or machining micrometer spec aluminum.
4) It's results are almost immediate.
5) It produces very cool data.
6) It touches a lot of different areas: atmospheric physics, electronics, photography, telemetry. All of which can be understood by anybody who's been outside and played with some electronics and software.

Re:Safe science is gay

[nitroamos]

Perhaps ironically since now i do computation, what made the most difference in my life as far as getting me interested in science was:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anarchist_Cookbook [wikipedia.org]

which i could find online. i didn't care about hacking phones or whatever. but i used this to help me understand all the chemicals i could get my hands on at the local drug stores. fortunately, i couldn't hurt myself too much, since where I lived it is illegal to sell nitric acid to people without a license or something. however, i was able to get my hands on or make two highly exciting substances:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_carbide [wikipedia.org]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_triiodide [wikipedia.org]
sodium metal

Re:Safe science is gay

[joh6nn]

i would seriously appreciate it if you could find a different pejorative.

Re:Safe science is gay

[ILuvRamen]

I second that one! I specifically took what I learned in chemistry and did this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMITFo66qWg [youtube.com] and no, the grass still hasn't grown back lol

Put Them In Charge

[DynaSoar]

Organize a working lab for them. They are to decide (within your specified field) what they find interesting and want to learn about. An example from my work, someone noted that the doors on the local Walmart had IN and OUT signs, that some people tended to ignore those, and that the IN and OUT were on opposite sides on the opposite ends of the building. They wanted to know why the sides were different, and depending on the answer, seeing if that answer had anything to do with the first.

Make them responsible for the project by making yourself simply the most knowledgeable member of the lab team. Allow them every source they can think of, including any other teachers or yourself, because when people do real science they're not restricted to the one authority supervising them.

When they pick what to study, help them develop the methodology/design. Describe why you chose one in terms they can understand.

Set them collecting their data, tell them how best to analyze it, and let them go. Provide them with a template of how you want them to produce their results (APA paper format or a poster template).

Let them make their own mistakes and try to correct them. If they ask for help, give it, because you're a lab member too.

I've done this with undergrad labs, including one with 3 high school students among the 8 members. Two went to international conferences, two others got published. They were always done by a 1 hour per week, 16 week lab course, plus the necessary extra time of working in the lab.

Oh, and let them tell you what their part will be. Some are not good at the science, but may be good at the writing. Let them write it up. The point is not to get each to accomplish some pre-determined hoop jumping, but to get the lab as an organization to produce one good result, just like other real labs do.