Bring out the Fun in Learning with Science Kits
With the advent of the 21-st century has come the realisation that the traditional methods of learning such as board and chalk are rather insufficient in equipping the children with the knowledge necessary for traversing this complex and competitive world. While classroom teaching is important, real-world knowledge that is gained through practical experiences hold a lot of importance in the growth and development of the child.
Current teaching-learning methods in the classroom are largely restricted to the one-sided flow of information which in many cases becomes boring and even complex for the students to grasp. Such methods of learning often create a disconnect between what the child has learnt and the real-world applications of it. Understanding a theory or a concept is not the same as being able to apply it in one’s daily life. This is something that a lot of teachers forget to put their emphasis on.
What is Science Kit?
A science kit is an educational tool that can act as a supplement to the traditional science classroom. You can think of it as a mini science lab of sorts that would aid in the holistic development of the student through a hands-on approach. These kits come with various materials, lab equipment, manuals etc. that would help the student learn and explore science by themselves.
Advantages of Science Kits
- Allows much better understanding of the concepts for the students
- It is an experimental form of learning, and the students work through trial and error, learning through their mistakes.
- Ensures that learning is not boring and monotonous.
- Ensures better retention of concepts in the student’s mind.
- Creates lifelong learners by sparking the spirit of inquiry in children and making them want to learn more and explore.
- Improves a child’s manual dexterity and helps them develop a keen eye for detail.
- Makes sure that learning is not merely restricted to the classroom, and that students can even perform the activities in the comfort of their homes.
With the recognition that children need to be engaged in the learning process, Next Education has created the Next Explorer Science Kits to foster the innate curiosity of the child. Learning through a hands-on model is a fool-proof method that guarantees the clarity of the concept to the child. What might take a child ten times of revision would be etched in their minds through one single demonstration.
The science experiment kit for each grade has been created keeping in mind the unique needs of the child at every stage of their brain development. Each kit comes along with 10+ activities with at least 4-5 interlinking concepts which would make the real-life connect easier. Such a method, crafted specially to ensure that important skills such as experimentation, observation, problem-solving, language development and risk mitigation are inculcated in the child, also guarantees increased engagement and retention.
In addition, each science kit also comes with a product key that will unlock exclusive activity videos available on the NextCurriculum mobile app (Google Playstore) to help the children further learn through visualisation.
Science Kit (Class 5)
Science Explorer (Grade 5) is a science kit for students (10 years old) in the third grade. It consists of activity materials and an instruction manual detailing step-by-step procedures for executing different activities. Before each activity, detailed explanations of the safety measures that the students need to take while conducting the experiments are provided in the manual. The activities are often followed by a list of questions that the student needs to answer based on their observations. In addition, the manual also provides real-life examples for each principle. The manual also comes with interesting facts to make each activity interesting, as well as an ‘Explore More’ section to let the students investigate and study more by themselves.
The activities include:
Skeletal system: This activity aims to help the students learn about the various parts of the skeletal system as well as name the various joints. Children have to arrange the parts of the skeleton provided with the kit on the metal board.
Air Powered Car: The activity is conducted to teach the children that air exerts pressure. With the help of the parts provided in the kit, the students have to assemble the car and blow air into the straw on the car connected the balloon.
India Map: This activity helps the students to identify the various Indian states on the map. In addition, the map also teaches the students to use a political map. The kit provides, the outline of the Indian map, on which the students are instructed to mark the various states by using the stamps of the state that have been provided. At the end of the activity, the student will have an Indian map with all the various states marked out.
Recycle: Activities to teach kids the importance of recycling by helping them make their own recycled paper. The activity involves the student making pulp from used paper and spreading it over a mesh, after adding food colour to it. Once the excess water is removed, the paper is kept in the sunlight to dry.
Volcano Model: The activity helps the students to understand how a volcanic eruption occurs with the help of a volcano model. With the help of clay as well as plastic glass, the students are instructed to construct a model of the volcano that is made to erupt with the aid of citric acid and baking soda.
Physical and Chemical Changes: The activity tests the student’s knowledge of the various states of matter. It helps the students to differentiate between physical and chemical changes. The kit provides a number of activities including creation of the salt solution, rusting of iron etc. asking the students to observe and classify the various reactions into the different categories.
Through generating enthusiasm and interest in science, the Next Explorer Kits work towards making science fun and enjoyable, rather than scary and difficult. With the help of our detailed manuals, the students can easily build the various models, learning by themselves. In addition, the instruction videos available on the Next Curriculum app also ensures that the students will always have visual aids to always assist them in case of roadblocks.
With the changing times, the methods of learning and teaching also need to change and adapt. The advent of teaching assistance tools such as science experiment kits also makes the life of a teacher and parent easy. With the aid of the equipment in the kit, the teacher can easily demonstrate the concept in class, saving her the time and energy wasted in delivering monotonous lectures that do not guarantee a complete understanding of the concept to the listener.
