KBlog 30 :Unleashing Creativity: Tips for Helping Students Birth Innovative Ideas: 2. Obscure and Odd Books

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The Challenge:

No matter what the project or experiment is, it is important to offer students the guided opportunities to take ownership of a self-generated idea.  Ownership includes hatching the idea, planning, executing and presenting a final product. The educator’s job is to guide students and help them realize that all their questions have validity and with hard work and patience it is possible to find ideas and methods that connect to student interests that keep them motivated.

A Solution:

Here is an example that illustrates a solution. One of my students had, since her childhood, a fascination with soap bubbles. She did searches to find articles about soap films and bubbles and found her project idea based on the Scientific American magazine article as seen below, “Fun with Flat Fluids.”  Based on her soap film project she became a National Intel Science Talent Search Finalist (Now called Regeneron). While she was working, I found books about soap films. I added those books to my collection of material on odd and obscure topics (ice cream science, invention books, fleas, inexpensive experiments etc.). My library has been a repository for students to peruse and find unique, fun and interesting project ideas. I recommend that you keep your eye out for those odd books and articles.

Resources:

Fun With Fluids - https://www.jstor.org/stable/26058714