Turning on Teenagers to Science through Scientific Inquiry
Problem: Turning on teenagers to scientific thinking and problem solving.
My first year of teaching teenagers—what a blast! And I’m not just talking about the rockets my
rocket scientists launched, but finding the keys that launch these rockets, that turn science on, and make it
work. Although teaching deaf and hard of hearing teens is a challenge in itself, with the hormones raging
and the moods flaring, to be able to turn them on to science concepts and scientific vocabulary is an even
greater challenge. From my 24 years of teaching experience, I have found that the new and newer or tried
and true best practices I remember having used, call for a awakening—a real experience, the light bulb
coming on, the point of discovery. Therein lies the challenge of turning teens on to science—finding the
right keys.
Solution: Make it real.
My first turn-on to science was my ninth-grade general science course with Mr. B. in junior high
school. Now this school was rather large with a large teacher/pupil ratio. Also we didn’t have a science
lab, just the classroom. That didn’t stop Mr. B. How I sat mesmerized by his science demonstrations as he
called volunteers to help out with the daily demo. What a joy! I have carried that joy with me for many
years as I have tried to give my kids that same feeling as they discover that this is what it’s all about—
figuring out why and how things happen. I want my students to know that there is so much more for them
to learn and experience, and each new discovery adds another bright spot to their growing body of
knowledge. I realize all kids don’t watch spiders or follow ant trails or sit on a special rock surrounded by
violets, savoring each moment, but we can hope. We as teachers can bring the spiders or the ants or rocks
to them or vice versa and watch reactions.
Vocabulary words and difficult reading passages call for creativity since there is usually a wide
variety of reading levels in each deaf/hard of hearing class. We have to somehow make the words blossom
into meaning. Luckily, I love to draw. Though I’m no Picasso (or maybe I’d better say Renoir), my arm
just runs wild on that board. My drawings aren’t very dignified—all the better. I don’t mind, in fact, I
relish the idea that kids will laugh, as long as they get the message, the meaning, and connect my amateur
drawings with the big idea! It also helps to be a clown as well as an artist. Act it out, laugh about it, move
around, have fun! Hands-on, minds-on, learning by doing, experiential learning, mediated learning, best
practices—all for one outcome—discovery.
Discovery will happen if you carefully plan for it to happen. Have a bank of ideas from which to
draw to motivate students, either willing or non-willing, to become scientists. Use scientific terms daily
with students to make the words real instead of a list from the textbook. One form of reality is to expose
your students to current science happenings around the world, whether it is a disease quarantined, treated,
and researched; a dinosaur bone just discovered; or a rocket being sent to collect information from an
asteroid. I inform my students, not only for interest, but to develop in them a natural, life-long love of
learning about science, life, and how things work around them. I offer newspapers to my students and ask
them to find out what happened and report to me about current scientific investigations.
In order to have students become independent about performing experiments, they must have
specified skills that we as teachers must work to develop in them. I like to stir up creative juices with
“What would happen if…?” questions or “How can we find out?” or “How can we find a solution to that
problem?” In order to carry their interest forward, they need science process skills of observing,
classifying, predicting, measuring, working with variables, inferring, collecting and representing data,
making models, finding results, drawing conclusions, and communicating. I like to teach these skills first
and slowly, scaffolding them, so students can experience each skill and add to their process knowledge as
they grow. They will begin to realize the importance of science process skills as they are used to
investigate, explore, perform experiments, solve problems, and find answers through scientific inquiry.
I think one of the techniques a teacher must develop to help students learn through inquiry is to
step back, keep a watchful eye, and let students discover. This can be a hard task because we want to teach,
talk, tell, lecture—what we do best? Sometimes we need to muzzle ourselves for the sake of learning. Just
as we would investigate stocks or mutual funds before making an investment, students need the time and
space to make investigations. Inquiry includes motivation, curiosity, wanting to find out, asking questions,
and working with the science process skills mentioned above. After presenting an item of motivation, I like
to ask questions such as “What do you think it is? What is it used for? What do you already know about
it? Can you take that knowledge and make a prediction about it? What do you want to find out? What
materials will you need? Can you set up an experiment to show how to find answers?” I try to guide their
inferences toward the goal of the lesson or experiment and help with subtle clues. My task is to be the
facilitator of their activities and to guide students through the scientific learning process.
Impact: Understanding happens.
Though my middle school students are on varying levels of learning and academic achievement,
all can be successful at their own levels. All students did research on the Internet and from their school
libraries to find information about science topics for projects or reports. The less academically inclined
delighted in building something for a project or experiment. Learning became something fun. One of my
less academically inclined students made a pressure fountain using a picture as a guide, appropriate
materials, and his desire to put something together. He seemed to feel much satisfaction when it worked
and learned about air pressure, too. A pair of male students built a working arm, showing muscle
contraction. They had a better understanding of their musculo-skeletal system as they exhibited pride in
their model and communicated with their classmates about how arms work. Two female students saw how
density works with less dense oil paints, mixed with paint thinner, floating on more dense water. They
made beautifully colored designs by transferring the floating paint to the paper. They experienced art and
science together. Two other female students delighted in seeing how transpiration works as colored water
dyed their carnations blue and red. Another student was happy to explain that the periscope she made
works by reflection of light. All my students enjoyed hands-on activities, projects, and experiments this
year. They enjoyed getting down and dirty in science lab. I hope they will never forget it. To watch those
smiles and chuckles, the surprised laughter, the “Ah!” moment when discovery happens, is music to this
teacher’s soul.