Our Approach
We also began incorporating arts and crafts into our curriculum, and wanting to spread the merits of these innovative pedagogies with more NGOS, I conducted research at the Brij Bhushan Lal Public school in Bareilly. You can access this paper, which was published in the Journal of Teacher Education and Curriculum studies, by the Science Publishing Group.
The idea for this kit initially developed when the weekly science classes I was teaching at an NGO moved to the online setting during the pandemic. The students were demotivated and unengaged during lessons, and my friends and I knew we needed to improve our pedagogy. We came across research on combining storytelling and science lessons, and although skeptical, decided to give it a shot. The results were astonishing - the childrens’ participation, academic scores and interest in science all improved significantly. Here is a TEDx talk my co-teachers and I delivered, explaining the merits of theater within Science in more detail.
Kiara Kits has a blend of traditional pedagogy, storytelling, and hands-on experimentation.
Storytelling
A story written in the form of a poem with a young girl scientist Kiara and her robotic dog Dosa. Children follow along with the story and build instruments alongside.
Traditional Pedagogy
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Peppered throughout the story, are different symbols such as 'wonder questions' and ‘Did you know?'. When children's encounter a symbol, they can flip to the Explorer Journal and complete the interactive activity, conduct a supporting scientific experiment or learn more about the concept of sound.
Hands-on building
Sustainable materials and instructions to build 5 unique musical machines are included in the box. Children can also use these materials to experiment and create their own machines. Through this, the scientific process, including observe, hypothesize, experiment and analyze are introduced (in the booklet and the scientific process chart included)
Our kit
Our kit includes:
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Materials to create 5 musical machines
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Kiara Kits storybook and explorer journal
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Women in STEM stickers
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Teacher manual
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Scientific process chart
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Future Engineer certificate
