Sunday, January 15, 2012

Sixth grade Science - Scientific Method

Sixth Grade Science - Scientific method

Sixth graders will need to understand the scientific method. What is the scientific method, you ask? Well, it is a tool to help students recognize, understand, and solve a problem. It is a method to help answer questions in an organized fashion. Often at this grade level the basic steps are: recognizing a problem or issue, asking how the problem can be solved, researching to see how others may have solved that problem or similar problems, suggesting a possible solution to the problem, laying out a method by which to test that solution, collecting data, and organizing that data into a form that helps the student and others understand the outcome of the experiment. You might also see the scientific method described as a way of setting up an experiment. Much like graphing in math, the scientific method is a way for sixth graders to learn to think critically, and enhance their problem solving abilities, without overwhelming them with too much information. The ability to think critically, and to problem solve will be used in many other subject besides math and science. A good foundation in the understanding of the scientific method will help your sixth grader excel as she encounters more advanced material.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Sixth grade Math - Graphing and data collection

Sixth Grade Math - graphing and data collection

On the surface graphing doesn’t really seem like something that is very important to teach, but graphing has implications beyond just math and so its importance carries across subjects. Part of understanding graphs and graphing has to do with data collection and organization. Whether the data collected is science, or number of people voting for a political candidate, the ability to organize that data into an easily understandable form is essential. Students should learn to construct several different forms of displaying data such as leaf graphs, bar graphs, pie graphs, charts, and tables. Being able to organize and graph data enhances a student’s problem solving abilities, and the ability to recognize connections. Being able to make those connections is important in being able to understand higher math and science. If you have a math visual learner, it may make more sense by using graphs since that will appeal to the way visual learns organize and record information in their heads. An example of this might be that fractions are much easier for visual learners to understand if they can view pie graphs to understand the relationships of parts to a whole. Don’t hesitate to spend a little extra time on graphs and graphing. Your student will enjoy benefits that go beyond just math.