Preparing a Science Investigatory Project

On September 3, I was invited by our Science Laboratory High School to speak about science investigatory project preparation. I just came from a Leadership Camp so I did not have much time to prepare plus I was struggling with my voice.

I noticed these days that when I am being invited to speak about something and was given only few days to prepare, I did not mind making a script anymore but I was speaking my heart, I was speaking from experience and I felt I was making a connection with my listeners. My technique was to empathize as to where my listeners are coming from.

For example, in the SIP talk, I made an outline of how would I do it. My purpose was to make SIP preparation a not so very scientific task; to make them believe that simple and ordinary kids can come up with an extraordinary project. Then I would introduce proposal writing, investigation, research report writing and the exhibit/display board. And after that I will end my talk almost they way I began it.

Guys, I received a very long applause (lols)! It made me smile to think that why is it that if I prepared so much, read so much and discussed the technicalities so much I didn't receive such applause.

Here is what I did. I show them a picture of Isaac Newton and the falling apple and below it was written: "Millions saw the apple fall but only Isaac Newton was the first to ask why." Then I showed them a news clip from GMA 7's Unang Hirit by Igan about the janitor fish problem in Marikina River. Then, I related to them the story of Emong (Raymund Joseph Amurao), "A Fishy Story: Emong and the Janitor Fish". And how such serendipitous discovery of fish oil turn into a bio-diesel that brought him to intenational INTEL competition. Then I introduced them to Joseph Farman and his discovery of the Ozone Hole.

After all these, I asked them what an SIP means. Responses were overwhelming. I made the concept so simple by presenting real life situations convincing them that science investigation is a part of everyday living. Then I presented them the framework of how scientists think and reason: Inductive. And how it was used by Newton, Emong and Farman to explain reality.

I told them that when I was a beginning teacher at Grace Christian, I knew nothing about SIP and that grounded the fact that I really empathized with their feelings and needs. I related to them how I learned SIP. Along the way, I gave actual experiences with my SIP advisees from wacky titles to out-of-this-world problems. I was spontaneous mixing all the English, tagalog and asi languages all throughout my talk. I showed them models and examples.

After I was done with the technicalities of SIP preparation I ended my three-hour presentation with this:

"There are still so many different ‘apples’ falling around; There are still so many ‘janitor fishes’ in our community that pose potential danger and problems. BE THE FIRST TO ASK WHY AND THINK OF WHAT CAN BE DONE OUT OF THEM!"

With that, I might have met their expectations. Their applause was a real music to my ears and a confidence booster! Thanks PROBERS for having me.