Science through Drama
One of
the major challenges for a scientist is the popularization and communication of research
results to audiences that are not necessarily familiar with the theories, methods, and
terminology s/he uses. Probably the main question a
scientist must answer is why her/his
research is important to our society? The challenge becomes even more
important (…and difficult) when the ‘why’ question
comes from the mouth
of children.
On Friday, June 7th I had the great pleasure to address the above challenge by organizing the ‘Science
through drama’ workshop at the beautiful Chabot Elementary, Oakland-CA in the framework of my Marie Curie project’s outreach
activities.
The workshop aimed to highlight the value and charm of
research to Elementary School children (Kindergarten and
3rd Graders) through drama techniques and games. ‘Science through Drama’ was designed to
show the children what scientific research means, (especially in the field of
sustainable cities and transportation), what requires and why it is important
to our society. The activity for the 3rd Graders was structured around
three main questions, with answers being approached through an experiential
interactive way including lectures, games and drama techniques:
1.
What is scientific research and why we need it?
Introduction to the world of scientific
research, highlighting the value of childish curiosity and how this can be
translated into funny or groundbreaking research questions.
2. How
can we apply scientific method step-by-step?
Demonstration of the basic steps of
scientific method by means of an experiential and collaborative game (Sweet
Science).
3. Going deeper into a contemporary research field: Why research
about cities & transportation is important?
Discussion, playing and learning about
an important field of contemporary research, which is directly related with
children’s everyday life: cities and transportation. This part was developed in
four subsequent, interrelated activities using drama techniques (Everyone who…,
Pantomime, Role on the wall, Form a question…and be the next researcher)
The K-class workshop was organized
around a painting activity. The children were asked to imagine and
collectively draw a new joyful and colorful model for the Rockridge BART
station in Oakland, CA.
The 'Science through
Drama' activity was
indeed a beautiful and valuable experience, which would not have
been possible without the help of my partner Georgia Savva,
Drama Teacher and Dr. Deborah McKoy, Executive Director and founder of the UC
Berkeley Center for Cities and Schools at the
Institute of Urban & Regional Development. I hope I achieved the main goal set at the beginning of the project: to highlight the value and charm of research
to Elementary School children. On my part, not only I enjoyed a day full of
colors, laughs, discussions with children, but also confirmed in
practice how important 'chilidish
curiosity' is for truly ground-breaking ideas to come up.
I also received some
very fresh thoughts for the redevelopment of
Transit Stations (main colors pink or green instead of grey and brown, ground
level trampolines, pools of chocolate, playgrounds, and many more...!).
Looking forward to performing ‘Science
through Drama’ in the Netherlands during the second year of my project…!
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| Some highlights from the 'Science through Drama' workshops at Chabot Elementary. Up: K-class drawing the new model for the Rockridge BART station, Middle-left: with all K-class and Deborah McKoy, Middle-right: a little sticker all children received at the end of the activities, Bottom-left: with 3rd-graders holding Skittles bags from the 2nd part of our workshop (Sweet Science), Bottom-right: man-figure with stickers describing situations (e.g. heavy traffic, parks in the city, walking & cycling) that children like or do not like (in and outside the man-figure respectively). |
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| The cover page of the "Science through Drama" workshop manual. |
