The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the most popular way to get kids interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics is hands-on work and play. In time for summer, The Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana offer workshops at their interactive space, called Journey World, to teach girls about science, math, engineering, the environment and nature.Journey World offers 45 workshops, camps and overnight programs for young people including the Eco-Lab, where a mock cave, campground, prairie and lake ecosystem teach kids to figure out the consequences of a fire, a flood, an algae bloom and other simulated surprises. The situations are presented in complex ways, such as detailing the devastation that wildfires cause alongside information about such fires’ beneficial effects on certain wilderness areas, said local Girl Scouts CEO Maria Wynne. Students at all-day events explore 30 types of scientific careers and work in teams on projects such as creating animal habitats that use solar and wind technologies.
Do you think people learn better by hands on work?