Family Science Night

This article describes a Family Science Night conducted by preservice teachers in conjunction with an elementary school, the students and their parents. It is a great way for preservice tea... See More

This article describes a Family Science Night conducted by preservice teachers in conjunction with an elementary school, the students and their parents. It is a great way for preservice teachers to practice their teaching skills and a great way for parents to be involved with their kids in science fun. The article provides a list of the activities done by families and also an extensive list of resources from which to get activity ideas.

Getting families involved with science learning

This article describes one way to set up a Family Science Night. I hold Family Science Nights regularly and the directions presented here are accurate. The only thing I would add is to invol... See More

This article describes one way to set up a Family Science Night. I hold Family Science Nights regularly and the directions presented here are accurate. The only thing I would add is to involve someone from the community who does science for a living and allow them 15-20 minutes to explain what they do and how they use science in their and similar careers. The author has pre-service teachers help with organization. I use my middle school students and other use high school students from science clubs. Any way you do it, Family Science Nights give parents a chance to spend a fun learning evening with their children and provide a way for teachers to show parents how to encourage students to learn science outside of school. If your elementary or middle school does not hold Family Science Nights, I recommend you consider it!