敢于挑战你的老师，问一个好问题

      我在我的科学课上经常鼓励学生问问题。当然，问问题不难，而问好的问题则是一项技能，一个艺术。在科学课上，学生想要发展这个技能，首先要不断地观察、思考，这是问好问题的基础。这些问题可能来自于你读过的一本书，看过的一个节目，也或者是生活中的一件小事，一个小物。请保持你对世界的好奇，有一天，那颗神奇的苹果也会掉在你的头上。

      好的问题会产生更多的问题，一个特别好的问题甚至可能迫使你不断地去研究和提出更多地问题，从而帮助你找到答案！没有人知道一切，即使是最好的科学家有时也会犯错误，所以学生要发展健康的怀疑论。不要害怕伸出你的手，不要害怕挑战你的老师，也不要害怕被批评。记住你的问题，大胆地提出来，这是你良好的科学态度的体现！毕竟，对于你被批评，提出问题，寻找证据来帮助我们解决自然和宇宙的奥秘才是科学所关心的！

 
科学需要美丽的“错误”

        吃一堑，长一智。不犯错误，我们就无法学习任何东西。科学实验的成功往往建立在无数次的失败和错误之上。学习最好的方法之一就是在犯错时，找出原因，然后思考下一次怎样做的更好。一些最伟大的科学发现和发明一开始是由于犯错而阴差阳错实现的。 

      亚历山大·弗莱明青霉素（盘尼西林）的发现是一个美丽的错误。他在培养皿中培养细菌，由于他没有好好地清洗他的实验室，一些生长在面包上的孢子从一种模具进入他的一个实验盘。通过观察和实验，他和他的朋友把发霉的果汁变成青霉素，也就是第一种抗生素（抗菌素）。

       请想象一下，在没有抗生素之前的日子里，你可很容易死于拔牙，甚至是手上的一个小小划痕，一旦被感染也会立即致命。青霉素和其他抗生素自发明以来，已经拯救了数百万人的生命。它是怎样产生的？因为错误！因为从错误中寻找对的东西！真正的“错误”不是你犯错误，而是你不能从错误中思考，不能从错误中学习。所以学生在课堂上要勇敢，不要害怕错误。

 

      “错误”本身并没有“错”。相反，在科学这一领域中，“错”会导致很多“对”的东西产生，会促使奇迹的出现和学生的成长！所谓“失败乃成功之母”，无外乎如此。

科学是一个破与立的过程

      去年我教6年级学生关于植物的结构和功能。其中有一堂课学习花的组成部分及其作用。在课程结束时，我让学生说说自己上完课的看法，并且定下规则，必须使用“我原本以为，而我现在认为”这一结构。学生争先恐后地举手回答他们从课堂上学到的科学事实。“过去我认为植物不是雄性的就是雌性的，现在我认为一部分植物既可以是雄性的也可以是雌性的”；“我曾经认为花瓣有颜色是没有原因的，但现在我认为他们之所以五颜六色是为了吸引昆虫或其他传粉者“。更令我觉得感动的是，一个原本一直很安静，不太参与课堂的女孩，竟然举起手来说：“我以前认为鲜花只是单纯的美丽，但现在我知道花的每一部分和它们的作用，我想他们真的很有趣，甚至更美丽。”我非常高兴，她在我的课上欣赏到植物奇妙的设计和精彩的运动，并激发了她对自然的兴趣。谁知道呢？也许在未来她会成为一个植物学家或农学家！

科学是一种重要的语言

       我总是告诉我的学生，在学习生涯中，他们应该至少掌握三种语言：中文，英语和科学。英语科学这一科目的学习最重要的是术语词汇的掌握，这是他们打开科学语言大门的一把关键钥匙。教师要经常给学生提供词汇表，或要求学生在书后面写下自己觉得困难的科学词，然后去请教老师。这些都是为了帮助学生更好的学习科学语言。当学生拿到词汇表时，教师应该督促并帮助他们不断地去“remember”，并且不断地去”test“。

      毕竟课上的知识总是有限，所以我让我的学生自己去开发自己的词汇表，让学生多观看一些有趣的英文科学电视节目或阅读有趣的英文科学书，并及时做新词的笔记。这将帮助学生沉浸在棘手的科学技术语言里。课外信息的多方摄取，让学生在教室里可以更加自信。

 

 我是中英文分割线

 

---

 

I'm Gianpaolo Dentico, the coordinator middle school science at Xiwai. Science is not only a fascinating subject, but is also a very important one, essential for perusing careers in fields as different as medicine, engineering, agriculture or pharmaceuticals- all of which are booming industries in China. However, science can also be very challenging, especially to students who are learning in their second language.  Even if you don’t want to study science to a very high level, it is vital in developing key transferable skills in critical thinking, problem solving and precise communication, which have great value in every industry and will even help you make better choices in your personal life.

I always tell my students that they will be fluent in three languages by the end of their time at Xiwai: Chinese, English and Science. My top tip for today's academic corner, about how students can best learn at Xiwai is to make sure that you are always a step ahead when it comes to learning scientific language. Teachers provide vocabulary sheets, or ask you to write down difficult science words in the back of your books. You should remember to always test yourself on this vocabulary and make sure you understand it. If not, you should go and find your science teacher who can explain what the difficult words mean.  Another way you can develop your scientific vocabulary is to watch interesting science TV shows and read fun science books in English, making notes of new words. This will help you immerse yourself in tricky scientific and technical language and become more confident in the classroom.  I have listed some fantastic books to read and TV shows that you will want to stay awake all night watching at the end of this message.

Finally, asking good questions is a skill and an art that you need to develop if you want to study any subject abroad, and is especially important if you want to study science.  Be curious about the world around you and question everything.  Ask questions not only about what you are learning in class, but also about what you have read in books, watched on TV, or even things that you have observed happening in nature. The best questions always lead to more questions, and a particularly good question might even force your teacher to spend time after school researching and asking questions of their own to help you find out the answer! Nobody knows everything, and even the best scientists in the word sometimes make mistakes, so its important to develop a healthy sense of scepticism (怀疑论).  Don’t be afraid to put your hand up and challenge your teacher, ask them how they know that are right about something, or explain your own opinion or ideas about a topic.  Students are sometimes scared to do this because they think it will annoy us, but actually we will be impressed by your good scientific attitude!  After all, being sceptical about what you are told, asking questions, and searching for evidence to help us solve the mysteries of nature and the universe is what science is all about! 

Books（书单）  

Most of these books are more suitable for grade 6-8. Some may also be suitable for grade 9.  Please find out more about the book and check it is suitable for your English level before buying it! 

1. National Geographic Kids Everything Rocks and Minerals: Dazzling gems of photos and info that will rock your world

2. Eye to Eye: How Animals See The World 

3. Professor Astro Cat's Frontiers of Space 

 

4. Head to Toe Science: Over 40 Eye-Popping, Spine-Tingling, Heart-Pounding Activities That Teach Kids about the Human Body

5. Information Graphics: Space

6. Mad About Monkeys

7. Mistakes That Worked: 40 Familiar Inventions & How They Came to Be

8. Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World (Julia Rothman)

9. The New Way Things Work   

 10. Botanicum (Welcome to the Museum)

11. Animalium (Welcome to the Museum)

12. The Animal Book: A Collection of the Fastest, Fiercest, Toughest, 13.Cleverest, Shyest―and Most Surprising Animals on Earth 

14. The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science: 64 Daring Experiments for Young Scientists

15. The Book of Potentially Catastrophic Science: 50 Experiments for Daring Young Scientists

16.Backyard Ballistics: Build Potato Cannons, Paper Match Rockets, Cincinnati Fire Kites, Tennis Ball Mortars, and More Dynamite Devices

The Animal Book (DK)

Bang! How We Came to Be

Big Questions from Little People: And Simple Answers from Great Minds

Dinosaur! (DK)

Horrible Science Series -  There are about 30 books in this series, probably best for high ability grade 6 and grade 7 students.

Documentary TV programs specialised for younger children/ lower level English

BBC Deadly 60

BBC Inside Life

Documentaries/documentary series – Suitable for all

BBC Planet Earth 

BBC Planet Earth II

BBC Africa (2013)

BBC Frozen Planet

BBC The Hunt

BBC Life Story (2014)

BBC Shark (2015)

March of the Penguins

 

Suitable for older children/ children with a higher level of English

BBC Wonders of the Solar System

BBC Wonders of the Universe

BBC Wonders of Life

BBC Human Universe

BBC Forces of Nature

An Inconvenient Truth

Cosmos:  A Space time Odyssey (2014)

  科学本就是一个“不断发现新的、不断比较旧的”的过程。Mr Dentico的科学课上，学生经常会有一种“amazing”的感觉。旧有的浅薄、无知被彻底打碎，学生知道的新知识越来越多！这样精彩有趣的科学课，这样可爱有魅力的老师，学生能不喜欢吗？