Hands-On Science

Dow has a long-standing commitment to education that can be traced back to the company’s founder, Herbert H. Dow, who dedicated his life to innovating and learning. It is through The Dow Chemical Company Foundation, begun in the 1930s, that Dow’s commitment to education continues today.

The impact science makes on the world is manifest everyday to every Dow employee through Dow’s mission statement: To constantly improve what is essential to human progress by mastering science and technology. In order to ensure that the next generation of scientists, engineers and inventors can compete in the ever-advancing sciences, Dow is fostering children’s natural curiosity and independence to encourage an interest in science education.

Dow adopted the Hands-On Science Program initiated by the National Science Resources Center (NSRC) in 1987. The Hands-On Science Program aims to increase students’ interest in and enjoyment of the sciences. Specifically designed hands-on kits encourage students from kindergarten through eighth grade to experience science through experimentation, observation, and analysis.

The NSRC developed the model for implementing the program in local communities and also developed science modules for grades K-8. The hands-on modules contain materials for a six-to-eight-week project in the fields of botany, geology, biology, physics and chemistry. Lessons begin in kindergarten with modules about weather patterns and the properties of liquids and solids, increasing in complexity as students advance. Second graders learn about life cycles by monitoring the growth of plants under different variables, such as light and water. In the fourth grade, students experiment with electrical circuits or analyze rocks to formulate ideas about their origin and history. By the fifth and sixth grades, students learn about food chemistry, ecosystems, and magnets and motors. In seventh and eighth grade, students learn about catastrophic events, properties of matter, and human body systems.

Students If you would like to know more about implementing the Hands-On Science Program in your community, please feel free to contact the National Science Resources Center.