Igniting Curiosity with Effective High School Lab Techniques

Ever found yourself scratching your head, wondering how to make high school science labs both engaging and educational? That's where I come in. I'm Doc, here to share my secret sauce for spicing up lab sessions, whether your students are mixing chemicals at their kitchen tables or clicking through simulations online. Guaranteed, by the end of our chat, you'll be equipped with strategies to create lab experiences that are not just fun, but also deeply enriching for every learner.

In our latest episode, we tackle the challenge of setting clear learning objectives and providing crisp instructions, which are key to a successful lab, regardless of the setting. As your trusty guide, I'll walk you through how to prepare for those unexpected 'wow' moments and use them to stoke curiosity and deepen understanding. We'll discuss the art of questioning—how the right inquiries can tie a single lab activity to grander scientific principles and real-world applications. So, whether you're a parent trying to survive homeschooling or a teacher looking for fresh ideas, this episode is your go-to guide. – we're decoding it all, making science labs less of a head-scratcher and more of a "got it!" moment.  Join me in Episode 3 for a no-nonsense talk on making science labs a breeze at home. Because the real magic of science lies in understanding the why behind the wow!

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome back to teaching high school science, where today, I am diving to our second episode of three for our lab series. So last episode, I dived into the pros and cons of both at home and virtual labs. Now today, I'm going to discuss those common strategies that you can use across both labs to ensure that your students are getting what they need out of the lab so, as they are having fun and as they are engaged, they are understanding what we need them to understand from those experiences. So let's dive in. Welcome to teaching high school science. I'm your host, doc, a former biochemist, turned high school science teacher and private tutor. Whether you're homeschooling your team through high school science or teaching online, join me as I share tips and strategies I've learned over the years for at home and online labs and activities, breaking down complex concepts and structuring learning in a way that makes sense.

Speaker 1: 0:58

Now let's dive into today's topics. Now, regardless of whether you're using an at home or virtual lab, there are common strategies that you should use across both types to make sure that your students are getting the most out the lab, they're starting off on the right foot and that you are effectively implementing the lab for them to learn what you want them to learn, to observe what you want them to observe, and not be so caught up in how I do this, what I need to do and all of that stuff where it overshadows the concepts. So one is to have clearly defined learning objectives. What that means is that you, as the person facilitating the lab, you must know why the lab is being done here at this point, at this part of the curriculum, and what it is you expect them to get out of it. So this does not mean that you have to tell them what they must learn beforehand, but it does mean that you need to have a clear understanding of the concepts you are focusing on so that you can effectively guide them with questions and be prepared for any of those unexpected results or observations. So this leads to another common strategy, and that is clear instructions.

Speaker 1: 2:15

Even if it's open inquiry, where students can develop their own labs, they're going to be looking at you like well, what am I supposed to do with these materials, as you just said in front of me? So if there are no parameters and you just want them to explore, then let them know that. Let them know that these are materials to design your own experiment. But if there are parameters no matter the degree of the parameters then provide them with clear, step by step instructions. And a great way to do this is to model the lab before handed it over to them, and this is where you walk them through, using the controls and the supplies For one.

Speaker 1: 2:52

Modeling it or going through the lab before you use it with your learner will help you with that first one of being prepared for any unexpected results, the little nuances or tweaks that you have to do to make the results come out the way you need them to come out, and knowing how to guide your students through them. Now, one of the common misconceptions is that but if I model it, I'm showing them what is going to happen, and that's going to take away from the R moment? Not at all. In fact, the more R that they see when you do it, they're going to want to recreate it themselves. And if you're anything like me with DIY projects, you know that is not always as easy as it looks when you're watching someone else do it. These hiccups, these stumbling blocks as you're going along the way are in themselves, magic moments for asking questions, for probing and asking why and speaking of questioning.

Speaker 1: 3:50

Most labs can connect to multiple concepts, so it's going to be important to help students connect their experience to the concept and then connect the concept to others. This is where our questioning techniques comes into play. So whether your students are at home or engaged in a virtual lab is essential to draw out what they understand. For example, after students perform an at home microbial growth experiment, you may ask questions like what conditions do you think promote microbial growth? Or how might this experiment relate to real world scenarios? And on the virtual lab side, let's say you're doing an enzyme simulation, you may ask questions like well, what factors affect enzyme activity and how do these factors affect it? So you're encouraging students to actually articulate their understanding and when they do that, they're listening to themselves and they can hear those areas where they may want to go back to the investigation to take another peek. And you get to hear their current level of understanding, prepare for any misconceptions, that they may have, any gaps in knowledge and then guide them through maybe another test or a different resource.

Speaker 1: 5:03

Now, after all of this, you have clear understandings of what you want them to get out the lab. You've provided clear instructions. They've gone through it. You've had them articulate what they've learned, what they've experienced. You've asked questions.

Speaker 1: 5:17

Now we want to make sure that we complete a step that is often overlooked we tend to go right into the next concept without debriefing and reflecting. Now these are two different things. A debrief is where you discuss the findings, your observations, any aha moments. This helps them to bring together all of the experiences that they've had and then make those connections to the concepts. Again, another great place to check for those misunderstandings, to check for those gaps in knowledge or where they may have attached an understanding to a concept they weren't supposed to attach it to. Now, the reflection is where they take a step back. They look at what went well, what did not go well, what they've learned, what could be done differently, and then they set goals to what they may want to go back and look at what they may want to change for next time, what they may want to review more on, and this is a great time to make plans for that extension or further exploration of the concepts, especially making those connections to other concepts and principles.

Speaker 1: 6:26

So, wrapping up today's episode, remember that at home labs and virtual labs are not exclusive to each other. You want to understand how to use them, and you want to incorporate both of them if you can, but if you can, each one offers your student a great way to gain a deeper understanding of the concepts. Next, let's dive into some actual, at home and virtual labs. There are so many of them that this show will not be able to go through all of them, but you will have a nice chunk of them. Let me know if you have any questions, ideas or other experiences that you'd like to share. Head on over to my podcast page, which you can access by visiting my website at thesciencementorcom. Then select podcast from the menu and subscribe now to the teaching high school science podcast for your regular dose of motivation and, just in time, science ideas, and together let's make high school science a journey of exploration and achievement. Until next time, remember, curiosity leads to endless possibilities.