Whether you’re looking for afterschool programs or science fair ideas, finding parent-friendly resources for science can be a challenge. While the Academy doesn’t offer programs specifically for students, we often steer parents towards a set of trusted resources that can help them navigate homework, find enrichment programs, or track down science-focused family activities.
Scientific American launched Bring Science Home as a “go to” resource for hands on science at home. These activities are clearly described, easy on the wallet, and highlight key concepts for kids ages 6-12.
If you regularly do crafts, cook, or build stuff with your kids, you should feel comfortable doing these activities, especially if you don’t mind getting a bit messy.
Connect a Million Minds Connectory
Time Warner Cable and its partners have spent the past few years building a user-friendly, geographically diverse database of afterschool science, technology, engineering, and math activities. While the greatest number of postings are aimed at middle school students, they also have postings for a wider range of ages.
This is a great website for anyone looking for a summer, afterschool, or weekend program for their child. It is also a great resource for students, teachers, and parents who are looking to gain experience in science or math but aren’t ready for a lab placement or intense summer experience.
Science Buddies is a resource-rich page for parents and students with a focus on science fair projects. While fairly traditional, their project ideas and guides provide helpful guidance on how to plan and carry out a project and include tips on internet searches and safety. One of the unique features of the site is the “Ask an Expert” tab that promises the answer to your science question within 24 hours.
Science Training Directory for Teachers and Students
One of the most challenging tasks for parents who aren’t connected to the professional scientific world is to find research opportunities for their high school students. Teachers often struggle to find enough placements for their top students and parents are left on their own with little idea of where to start.
Our advice is to have your child identify areas that they want to research. Some good questions to ask are:
- Are there scientists whose work you really like?
- Are there particular social problems or issues that you’d like to look into?
- Have any recent news stories caught your eye?
Most kids have no idea what specific area they want to study, so this part can be hard. Having them identify something that caught their attention at least gives you and them a few search terms and a path to follow.
If you have trouble finding a specific area of interest, your child might not be ready for a research placement and you should check out summer, weekend, and afterschool opportunities in your area. A class at the zoo or Saturday program at the local Y can do wonders for helping students find an area of interest.
If you do find an area of interest, look for college faculty who study that particular area. Generally, professors are incredibly helpful in answering questions or directing you to the right person.
Another place to look is the Science Training Directory for Teachers and Students. It lists research programs by geographical area that work with high school kids preparing for science research activities.
Are you ever looking for a great, fun science activity for you and your kids? Look no further than Try Science, a collection of simple, hands-on, and perfect-for-home activities grouped by topic area. They also offer a parent guide which includes a discussion focused on the importance of science, tools to help you find a science center anywhere in the world, and resources for teachers.
One of our favorite activities is extracting your own DNA. Sounds challenging, right? Just follow the directions, and using household products, you’ll be looking at your own genetic stuff in no time.
The Young Naturalist Awards is a scientific contest designed for 7th through 12th graders that focuses on writing and the natural world. Students form a hypothesis, collect data, and document their findings in a first-person illustrated narrative.
The American Museum of Natural History provides teachers, students, and parents with detailed instructions about how to structure a project. In addition to instructions about project structure, their website also includes past essays that are both excellent resources for research and project ideas and great examples of scientific writing.
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