FAMILY SCIENCE SATURDAY: SCIENCE EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY BUILDING

Family Science Saturday is a program developed by the PTA of Dawes Elementary School in Evanston, Illinois to involve K-5 children and their families in the experience of science. It is a simple, inexpensive program, easily instituted in other settings. A Family Science Saturday consists of two 45-minute workshop periods, separated by juice-and-cookie time. A PTA planning committee identifies parents and others in the community who could present a workshop on some aspect of science, and students, who are accompanied by a parent, are assigned to two of their three or four top choices, determined by pre-registration. Key to the workshops are hands-on activities in which students explore the topic. Workshop presenters need not be scientists: a physician might present a health-related workshop; an Audubon volunteer might do one involving bird-watching; an accountant might present math games. At Dawes, a sheriff’s officer set up a crime scene and talked about forensic science, and a contractor presented "Building the Dawes Dream House." A teacher who had been supervising the school’s prairie garden gave one on prairie ecosystems (putting the participants to work as well), and a parent whose children owned pet rats brought in a maze (and the rats) and spoke on animal learning. As a geologist, I have done workshops on volcanoes, earthquakes, soils, and evolution, as well as two entitled "Are You Psychic or Just Lucky?" and " Superstition Bash," focusing on critical thinking skills. Family Science Saturdays are viewed by the children as a treat, and by the parents as community-builders because of parental involvement in organizing, presenting and attending workshops.