Oreos and Scientific Thinking

The Science Fair is just around the corner! Hopefully everyone has completed all of their experimentation with the dispay board left to design and complete. I thought this would provide the perfect opportunity to reflect upon the Third and Fourth Graders earlier work with the Scientific Proecss and their work with the O.R.E.O. Project.

Developing a through understanding of the steps in the scientific process can take numerous experiences. The O.R.E.O. project provided third and fourth grade students with an opportunity to conduct an experiment created by Jennifer Wagner from JenuineTech project. We approched the project with a scientist's eyes, identifying the question being explored, generating a hypothesis, and following the procedure provided. A careful analysis of the process followed with students then being challenged to craft their own Oreo question. Learning to focus closely on what one variable would be tested and how it would be measured was challenging work. Take a look at the Oreo Experiments students designed and implemented on their own and check out their scientific thinking.