Summer Slide Science: Conduct Research, Design an Experiment, Share Your Results

This course is designed for small communities of learners and is a hybrid of individualized tutoring and traditional instruction covering middle school science content. Each section has no more than six learners which provide a foundation for strong relationships, social-emotional learning, and truly individualized instruction during this critical developmental period. These classes are specifically designed for the inclusion of neurodivergent learners including dyslexia-friendly font, explicit executive functioning skills instruction, and support for AAC users.
In this course students will learn the steps of the scientific method, including key elements of experiment design, and the parts of a scientific article through practice and self-directed project work. Students will generate their own hypothesis, design an experiment considering both reliability and validity, and share their results writing a traditional five part article and a power point presentation. 
Week 1:  We will introduce both the scientific method and the scientific article by looking at examples. 
Week 2: We will explore what makes a question scientific. Students will generate their own question and learn how to use and cite sources to develop a hypothesis and introduction for their article. 
Week 3: We will explore the key ideas of experiment design including reliability and validity. Students will design their experiment, begin their experiment, and write the methods section of their article. 
Week 4: We will explore results. We will look at examples and discuss the different ways scientists use graphs to visualize data and explain their results. 
Week 5: Students will focus on the discussion and conclusion section thinking about the importance and implications of an experiment. 
Week 6: We will discuss the goals and purpose of an abstract. Students will create an abstract and revise their work. 
Week 7: Presenting your work. Students will learn about the different ways scientists share their research results (posters, presentations, and papers). Students will learn tips and strategies for creating an effective presentation and begin working on a presentation outline. 
Week 8: Students will put the finishing touches on their presentation and share in a student showcase.