She stated that she wants to go on a nature walk and wants to identify the various flowers along the trail. I thought to myself, "I don't have time for this." She stood there grinning saying, "It will be so much fun for us to look at plants and then find them in the book." After seeing this excitement how could I say no. Plus, this is a way to supplement her education. Science education is quite lacking in the United States.
Here is West Virginia's average scores for grade 8 http://nationsreportcard.gov/science_2011/g8_state.asp
West Virginia scored 149. The national average was 151. This was based on a points scale 0-300.
Grade for WV = 49.7%
National Average = 50.3%
Can we say FAIL?
Let's get back to where I was going with this... I began asking questions.
Question 1- What do we need to know to be able to identify flowers?
Answer- The color of the flower.
Question 2- Do all white flowers look the same?
Answer- No.
Question 3- Why not?
Answer- The have different shapes of petals. Oh, and they have a different amount of petals.
Question 4- Is that all?
Answer (after thinking a bit)- They aren't all the same height and the stems and leaves are different.
Using critical thinking skills (a few open ended questions on my part) we determined what types of things we needed to look for when identifying wildflowers. I feel we are prepared to go on a hike now. We have our wildflowers book, notebook and pencil and a lust for learning.
I feel that if the test scores are going to improve in science that something needs to be done in the educational system. I'm not sure of the answer. Maybe not teaching to pass a test would help. Maybe they need to do more hands on projects. Maybe they need to incorporate more technology.
I do not have the answer but apparently neither do those in charge. Until then, I have no problem supplementing my child's education. At least I know she is learning something. It may not be needed to pass a test but she is developing other skills (critical thinking) and learning about something she is interested in.
Tonight, we hike!
