AT HOME with Science!

Are you among the many parents or know of parents who now have young kids at home, distance learning during the pandemic? According to UNESCO over 1.5 billion students around the world have been affected by school closures. In most cases the transition has been sudden, and having to adjust to this, can create additional practical, technical and emotional challenges for many. Unprecedented times like these call for the entire community of stakeholders to come together and be creative to keep children curious and learning.

On hand

With distance learning, it is imperative that we find fun and creative ways for our kids to experience more hands-on, interactive learning opportunities at home. With our long history of supporting STEM education, 3M is committed to doing its part to support and create quality, distance learning content for communities everywhere. We believe you don’t have to be in a classroom or lab to practice and think about science. That’s why today, we are launching Science at Home.

Here you will find short videos of easy-to-follow, at-home science experiments with common household items that also reinforce core scientific principles. The experiments are conducted by real-life 3M scientists, like me, and some of my peers. Educators are free to use this content in their digital classrooms. And parents and kids can do the experiments safely at home together. Students who are engaged in hands-on learning are much more likely to remember what they were taught. For subjects like science, the process of inquiry and hands-on experimentation can be key.

Hands down

The scientific method has long stood the test of time as being a great way to encourage kids to tinker, and, think about why or how things work. In fact, what we call the scientific method today comes from psychological studies of children over a hundred years ago! As this article reveals, studying children’s mental development gave psychologists a model of thinking. They saw their research methods, rooted in scientific thinking, in the minds of the children they studied.

This method not only allows them to ask questions, hypothesize and find ways to answer their question, it can also help link what happens in the lab to the realm of ordinary life. I have often talked about my own experiences with science encouragement at home with my children. In each case it was a question raised by them that eventually led to a project. Whether it was, ‘BREAD Dough D.O.E. (Design of Experiments)’, a simple project on understanding the science of bread-making or ‘Greening under the Evergreens’, an effort to raise the pH of pine-needle laden soil under the backyard Evergreen trees - the scientific thought-process took hold, and it was the narrative and connection to the problem that inspired and motivated them.

Hands on

The best part is that the scientific method of thinking is open to all regardless of comfort with science or scientific information. Children are intuitive and follow this methodology naturally. Hands-on experiences can spur curiosity in children, which is so critical to their growth and success. We need to encourage their innate curiosity and wonder. Now, more than ever, AT HOME! The steps are simple:

A sk a question to articulate the problem statement

T opical research for general understanding to plan experiment

H ypothesize and predict what will happen, and why

O bserve and record any data, repeat as needed

M ake conclusions after analyzing data and interpreting the results

E xplain conclusions and suggestions to explore the topic further

If distance learning is part of our new normal, we want to be there to support families, teachers and students as we all chart new paths together, so that science and society benefits from all the many new ideas that will flow from the next generation.

Check out our Science at Home videos with your kids and encourage questioning and discussion.

Look forward to hearing about your experiences with being at home with science!