One of the many rich workshops I attended at the NSTA Portland Area Conference was the Family Science Day Session presented by the Foundation for Family Science. The specific goals of Family Science include:

To get parents more involved in their children’s science education by encouraging:

• participation in informal learning activities which supplement children’s formal school science experiences.
• parental interest and involvement with school science curriculum.
• families to do science activities at home using inexpensive and readily available materials.
• adults and children to be partners in learning.

After the presentation, families who have participated in Family Science events joined us and demonstrated the Family Science activities. Here’s one father and his children exploring what happens when air is blown under a folded index card. They talked about what they thought would happen, then tried it and talked about why. Then they graciously allowed this participant to try it.

All around the room children were eager to show conference attendees how to do and learn from the activities, such as this one about vibration and sound where after stretching a rubber band around a mug (across the opening) you hold the bottom of the mug against your ear and pluck the rubber band.
After trying this with your class, ask your children “What would you do to the rubber bands if you wanted to change their sounds?”
Then think about how you can get families involved … maybe with a Family Science Event.
Peggy