ScienceQuest: Advice Forum

Set Up Teams

Q: How do I find a good coach?

A: Coaches can be parents, college students, members of the community, board members, local business people, or others. Be creative. The most important qualification is that they are excited to work with kids on science and technology - not that they already know about these subjects. They need to be able to commit to the full length of the project and respect the excitement that the youth will have for learning. Ask them to fill out the Coach Application and then talk to them about why they want to join ScienceQuest. If they are not the right person for the team, offer them another volunteer position in your center.

Q: What sort of kids makes the best participants?

A: Teams should be between 2 and 5 young people between the ages of 10 and 14. We have found that ALL kids make great team members and have something to contribute and something to gain from participation. We ask that kids with disabilities be able to join teams, and that coaches and team members make the team welcoming for everyone. If a perspective team members do not have a topic of interest, don't worry. The first stage of working with a team is to find out what is interesting to them.

Q: What do I do if I have a group bigger than five?

A: You may find yourself working with more kids for a number of reasons-a fellow coach didn't show up, more kids came than expected, you over calculated how many kids you can handle. So what do you do?

Working with larger groups takes more preparation and forethought. Getting the kids to work in smaller groups on their own projects is your first goal. Outline different activities for each group of kids, giving some more individual attention and then alternating. One group may be typing something, another may be searching the web, while another group practices interview questions in preparation for the up-coming field trip. Groups can report to each other about what they learned and accomplished during the session.

Q: Everybody tells me to 'be prepared before the team starts.' What does that mean specifically?

A: Here is a checklist of common things to think about:

How and where will kids save their data? The teams may save their research on one computer hard drive, on a network server, or zip, cd, or floppy disks.
How many computers will be available for my team? Do I have enough computers for my entire team, or will I need to strategize around computer use?
What will I do on the first day? Do I have a get-to-know-you game to play? A first immersion activity? What materials do I need? If I plan on using the Internet, do I have a back-up activity in case the Internet is down?
Read the complete checklist for "Set Up a Team."

| Set Up Teams | Phase 1: Immerse in Science | Phase 2: Make a Plan |
| Phase 3: Investigate! | Phase 4: Build a Web Site |

Phase 1: Immerse in Science

Q: How do I get kids to find a passionate question?

A: This is often the first and biggest challenge facing SQ teams. The first stage in the I-search process provides the tools needed for finding the passionate question: do experiments, take field trips, talk to experts, read information. Be sure the kids do hands-on activities as well as look on the Internet. When they express interest in a topic, ask them questions to focus their interest:

How does it work?
Why does that happen?
Do you know other examples of this?
What else would you like to know about this?

The questions will vary depending on the area of interest. Find a way to record what the kids say on the computer with photos or documents with photos.

Q: What do I do when kids don't show up?

A: Building relationships with the kids is key to keeping them coming and learning. Remember that you have to compete against many other interests! First, be on time yourself, be prepared, and show your own interest in and commitment to them. Second, give the kids a call the day before, reminding them of the SQ time. Third, provide a snack that the kids like!
If kids begin to skip despite your preventative measures, then you can talk directly to the kid and talk to your center director to figure out what is going on. Deal with each situation individually. Is there a way that whatever the kid prefers to do can become a SQ project? Does he or she have too many other obligations this semester?

Q: Everybody tells me to 'be prepared before each session.' What does that mean specifically?

A: Here is a common checklist of things to prepare:

What stage are we at in the I-Search process? Are we ready to move on?
What is my goal for today's session? How do I plan to meet that goal?
Have I called all the kids to remind them to come?
Do I have a plan to fill the entire time? A strategy if the kids seem to be bored? An alternative to the Internet in case it is not working?

Q: My group already knows their topic. Do we still need to waste time in
Phase 1: Immerse in Science?

A: Great! Your team has interests that they already are excited about. You still need to spend some time doing immersion activities so that team members can solidify their interests and so that they can begin to discover their questions within their topic.

Q: I read the sample activities from ScienceQuest, but I am not sure how to facilitate them.

A: Facilitation does not need to be complicated. You can choose three activities that you think the kids will like, and introduce them one at a time. Explain what it is, and then instruct them in each step. Watch what they do easily and what is more difficult. For most activities invite them to do the main steps, and let them know that you will help if they need help. When you are finished, talk about what they noticed, what they did that was new or different, and to list questions they have about what they experienced. One coach had three science-oriented toys: magnets, a yo-yo, and a prism. She gave one to each child and invited them to learn about it and share what they learned with the others after 4 minutes.

Even a field trip does not have to be fancy. One coach took advantage of a nice winter day to walk around the block. Each kid drew pictures and took notes about any animal they saw or detected (footprints, droppings, etc). Back in the computer lab, they talked about what they saw, and wrote down questions and observations.
If you have other questions, you can call your site coordinator for assistance or the ScienceQuest help desk.

Q: What do I do when the kids on my team can't agree on a topic?

A: While we would love every SQ team to do a joint project on a single topic, sometimes the interests are too divergent and the kids' interest is too strong to let go. Celebrate their passion-it's great that they have an idea they don't want to let go of. Then, work together to find a unifying theme. If there is no unifying theme, build an eclectic web site! Try to do a field trip that addresses each interest and have the kids agree to participate in all field trips to learn about each others' topic.

Q: Our Internet service is slow and unreliable. What should I do?

A: Slow Internet service is a pain, and there is no way around the need for you to be more creative and perhaps invest a little more time. Focus your time in two areas: first, if you have outside access to better Internet service, do some surfing yourself and find the URLs that you want the kids to use. Then they can go directly to the site and save some searching time. Second, with some creative planning you can develop a rich array of experiences for the team, including local field trips and bringing in table-top experiments the kids can do. If you are close to the web site building stage, the kids can design the pages without being on the Internet at all.

Q: How do I know if we are finished with Phase 1: Immerse in Science?

A: Phase one is immersion in activities and finding a passionate question. If the team has ventured out of the lab for at least one formal or informal field trip, done at least two hands-on activities, documented the activities you have done and the team has agreed on a question, then you are done!

Read entire checklist for Phase 1: Immerse in Science.

Phase 2: Make a Plan

Q: Where else can we find information aside from the Internet?

A: Even though you are in a computer center, you have lots of resources to choose from! Most centers are near a library, or you can find books and videos and bring them back. Getting out of the lab to the local park, a business or a museum can add enormous inspiration to team's work. The Internet itself includes lots of ways to find information: reading, looking at pictures, listening to audio or watching video, playing games and taking quizzes or even emailing scientists or experts in other locations.

Make certain to include something from each category: Read, Watch, Ask, and Do.

Q: Is asking the team to "look on the Internet" specific enough for our plan?

A: Probably not. You might want to ask each team member to find one specific site that looks like it will be a good source. Take a few minutes and give a mini-lesson on directories such as Yahooligans.com (a search engine and directory for kids) or HotBot.com. As the coach, you might want to supplement these sources with others that you find on your own. Challenge team members to find sites that will inspire them to participate in activities in the "Read, Watch, Ask and Do" categories.

Q: How do I know if we are done with Phase 2: Make a Plan?

A: In this phase, your team will make a plan for finding answers to your passionate questions. If all team members know how they will contribute to researching their questions, identified sources in the "Read, Watch, Ask and Do" categories, and copied their plans into journals, then your team is ready to move on!

Read entire checklist for Phase 2: Make a Plan.

Phase 3: Investigate!

Q: What do I do if the kids do not have basic typing or other computer skills?

A: Kids learn how to navigate the Internet by experimenting. No matter how tempting it is to maneuver the mouse yourself to save time, let the kids do it. Send them on a 'scavenger hunt' where they have to find specific information on the web (that you have already located).

Kids also learn typing through practice. You can help them set up Yahoo email accounts, and send them emails with questions about the project.

Schedule plenty of time for the kids to type information. If possible, encourage your team to use an Alpha Smart keyboard on field trips so that team members only have to type information once. Once your team returns to the computer center, you can download the information directly into the computer. Make certain that your team doesn't save all the typing for the end of the project -- type the research a little bit at a time. That will also help you get a sense of their skills and what they need to work on.

Q: Field trips are hard to arrange.

A: Field trips do not have to be far away or fancy expeditions. Take advantage of the resources that are close at hand: local parks, businesses, health clinics or the library. For larger trips, ask some parents to help chaperone and make arrangements and make it a special event once the team has some good questions they are researching.

Q: My kids seem to hate writing anything and constantly complain about it being too much like school. What can I do?

A: Writing is an important skill to learn to enjoy, but there are other ways of documenting what the team is learning: Ask one child to interview another on videotape (have the questions written down first), draw pictures or make collages about what they are learning and provide caption explanations, create a scrap book with memorabilia from the various experiences the team has had. Sometimes it helps a child to dictate to another person and then continue solo. One team also created a bi-lingual web site when one team member was shy about his English. Everyone learned about lions in two languages!

Q: Our Internet service is slow and unreliable. What should I do?

A: Slow Internet service is a pain, and there is no way around the need for you to be creative when Internet connection is unreliable. Focus your time in two areas: first, if you have outside access to better Internet service, do some surfing yourself and find the web addresses that you want the kids to use. Then they can go directly to the site and save some searching time. Second, you'll need to spend more time doing creative planning, including local field trips and bringing in experiments the kids can do without Internet access. If you are close to the web site building stage, the kids can design the pages without being on the Internet at all.

Q: What if the kids don't really understand the information they are gathering?

A: When looking in books or online, it is easy to find information that is too technical or written in difficult language. However, even information that is age-appropriate needs time to become understood and integrated into the team member's mind. Coaches can help by suggesting categories of information that teams should research, or helping teams diagram their research in mind maps, Venn diagrams, or charts comparing related information. This research can be documented in teams' journals along with other notes from discussions.

Q: What if the team is cutting and pasting all their information from professional sites?

A: Getting kids to value their own words and ways of explaining things can be a challenge. Sometimes, the kids don't believe that their own words will be interesting ("someone else said it so much better"). Sometimes, it is easier for the kids to cut and paste the content. Think of this as an early lesson in avoiding plagiarism. At each step of the project, have the kids write down what they have learned in their own words. This can take the form of a 'ScienceQuest log' where they record what they have done at the end of every ScienceQuest session. Then when they are ready to build the web site, the information is already in their own words. If possible, have them write the log directly on the computer.

Ensuring that they have a real question that they are passionate about means that they have incorporated research from a number of different interesting sources.

Q: How do I know if we are done with Phase 3: Investigate?

A: This phase is gathering and integrating information in preparation for presenting it in a web site. If you have talked about how all the information fits together, revisited your plan to make sure that all ideas were covered, gathered information from the Reading, Watching, Asking and Doing categories, and the team had kept the journal updated, then you are ready to move on. Oh, and do you feel that you have a satisfying answer?

Read entire checklist for Phase 3: Investigate!

Phase 4: Build a Web Site

Q: What if I don't know enough about web design?

A: This is the first web site the kids will be making, so their sites will be fairly simple. Set goals with the kids for what they want to do-set up links, choose creative background designs, insert photos, build four pages with information. That is a worthy goal for a first web site.

The ScienceQuest training shows coaches that basic web site creation on Netscape Navigator (for example) is easy and similar to creating a Word Document! We have hand-outs that can help you get started. As well, you might want to review guides on creating a ThinkQuest account and designing a site on Netscape Composer. Don't forget to begin your web design process early - perhaps in week four. Even though you don't have all your information, you can start designing the front page, inserting photos, etc. You can also contact your site coordinator or the ScienceQuest staff for more help.

Q: Help! We only have two more sessions and we have not started our web page yet!

A: Ooops. Leave at least three sessions for just the web page. You can also be creating content for the web site as you go along (pictures of activities, journal logs on the computer, etc). That leaves just the design and building for the end.

You can create a modified web site: each team member creates one page about their greatest interest in the project and themselves, and then the group creates a main page and the links to the personal sections. If it is easier to make a PowerPoint or word document for the information and then upload it as a PDF, the ScienceQuest staff can help with that.

If you only have two sessions and too much information to create a web site, you might want to create an engaging bulletin board with all the information this time and pace the activities better next time!

Q: How do we upload our finished site?

A: ScienceQuest sites are hosted by ThinkQuest, and they have lots of information on their site about how to create a username, team account and then upload. There are also handouts that we have to help with this process that we can send to you. [add specific link]

Q: How do we know if we are done with Phase 4: Build the Web site?

Check to see if you have completed some of the following:

Set up a team account on ThinkQuest and upload the site
Make sure the web site has information about the team and its members, graphics, original text, engaging and original style
Check all the links
Review the ScienceQuest checklist for web sites for clarity and accessibility
Double check there are no more typos

Read entire checklist for Phase 4: Build a Web Site.