"I like to do science." Gaia says often.
"What do you mean, hon?" I asked, "What's 'doing science'?"
"Experiments! Where you change the colour of something."
This led to a discussion about what science is, what purpose it serves and how we go about 'doing science' for ourselves. But academics are not what Gaia craves, she'd already told us it was about colour, it was about the spectacle, she's after the performance art side of science.
Eale came across an at-home science experiment he thought Gaia might find fun. And I found a printable outlining the major terms and the process involved in "doing science" for future conversations.
Gaia and Dad's scientific investigation of fires' need for oxygen.
THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS
Choose a problem: Does fire need oxygen to live, like we do?
Research your problem: (this part involve pre-reading and researching the ideas. In this case Dad did that and came home with the experiment...Gaia just wants to do the experiments, not waste her precious free spirited/8 year old time with research).
Develop a hypothesis: Fire needs oxygen to continue burning
Design an experiment: 3 identically sized candles lit, 3 different sized glass cups placed over a candle. Observe to see how long each candle stays lit.
Test your hypothesis: See photos below
Organise your data: 8 year old likes to organise her data with an oral presentation to anyone who will listen :) She observed that the candle under the largest glass burned longest, candle under the smallest glass burnt out fastest.
Draw conclusions: the more oxygen available to the candle flame, the longer it will stay lit. Fire needs oxygen.
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