MKA Eighth Graders Complete Independent Research Science Projects
Along with the first overnight trip to Fairview Lake, the 7th grade Shakespeare performance or attending the year’s first Teen Center, completing the 8th grade independent research Science Projects are a rite of passage at the MKA Middle School.
Part of the science curriculum for over fifteen years, this year’s projects departed from the more recent guidelines of environmental testing within prescribed parameters, and returned to the original format of enabling students to select and design their own experiments based on their interests. What has changed over time, however, is the ubiquitous access to technology, not only in terms of student laptops, but also to the school’s extensive databases, supported by instruction and guidance in research skills from the campus librarians, and the benefits of online calendaring to help students keep their projects on track.
Whether the topic was measuring how germs spread in school, the amount of carbon dioxide produced when sugar, yeast and hot water combine or the effect air pressure has on a marshmallow’s volume, students adhered to the same principles of experimental design: formulating an experimental question, identifying an independent variable, a dependent variable and a hypothesis; outlining their experimental design (set up, materials, etc.) and recording and analyzing data comparisons to test their hypothesis.
Students spend ten weeks working on their experiments and the experience culminates with a formal presentation in front of parents, teachers and other students that concludes with taking questions from the audience, as well as from a panel of Middle School science teachers.
“By allowing students to design their own projects,” explains department co-chair Penny Weissman, “they take ownership of their learning because they are genuinely interested in the topics that they chose.”