How to Learn Kinesthetic Science
Kinesthetic methods of learning are those where you participate in an activity or re-create a process rather than listen to a lecture or read a book about something. It's a hands-on style and particularly fit for most science topics. Kinesthesis means to experience through the sense of touch or body movements. Lab experiments often play a significant role in learning science so kinesthetic learning played a role even before people understood it as a learning technique. The activities used vary depending on the branch of science of science you wish to explore.
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Things You'll Need
- Cardboard
- Cutting tools
- Ruler
- Paint (if desired)
- Beans
- Paper towel
- Paper cup
- Soil
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Litmus paper
- Magnets
- Pop can
- Water
- Stove
- Pan
- Tongs
Instructions
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Demonstrate Science
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Construct the sun and planets to learn about astronomy. The size of the sun and the distance from the Earth creates space constraints but if you make Earth one inch in diameter, you know you can fit 109 of them across the diameter of the sun, so it would be 109 inches in diameter. Create the other planets in proportion to the size of the earth and calculate a scale to show the distance with student's holding the individual planets. (Hint: it takes almost 109 sun diameters to create the distance between the earth and the sun!)
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Participate in kinesthetic botany by growing plants. Learn how seeds turn into plants by placing two beans between two moist paper towels. Keep the towels damp for several days and then check on your seed. You should see a small stem emerging from the seed. Plant one into soil you placed in a paper cup and open the other up to see the plant forming inside it. Keep the planted bean moist and in a few days, you'll see a stem emerge from the soil. Allow it to continue growing and you'll notice it blossoms then produces pods that have more seeds.
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Create a bubbling volcano and learn about chemical reactions. In a small paper cup, mix three teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda -- baking soda -- and three teaspoons of white vinegar. You should see it bubble like crazy. That is a chemical reaction between acids and bases. You can create a non-acidic vitamin C the same way. Simply mash a vitamin C tablet, measure it and add 1/3 that amount of baking soda. Then add water and watch the bubbles. The bubbling neutralizes the acid in the vitamin C. Hint: You can test the pH levels before and after with litmus paper.
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Investigate physics by using strong magnets. Simply hold a magnet in each hand with the poles facing and you can feel the force that confirms the presence of Newton's third law of repulsion.
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Collapse a can for a lesson on air pressure. Put water into a pan. Also put a tablespoon of water in an empty soft drink can. Put the soft drink can in the water with the open side up. When the water begins to boil, you'll notice steam arising from the can. After 30 seconds of boiling, shut off the stove and use a set of tongs to invert the can in the water. It collapses almost immediately. That's because of air pressure.
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References
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