Science and the scientific method

An episode of the BNR Binar children’s podcast “We, the Children” („Ние, Децата”), in which three sixth-graders explain what the scientific method actually means and what it looks like when teenagers run their own project on bear conservation in Bulgaria together with the Sci-High Foundation.

In this episode of “We, the Children” we talk about science and the scientific method.

In studio:

• Yoana, Nadezhda and Rozali — sixth-graders, authors of the project “Without Endangered Bears” („Без застрашени мечки”).
• Gergina Karaslavova — homeroom teacher at 27 SU “Acad. G. Karaslavov” in Sofia’s Lyulin district and the team’s mentor.
• Sci-High framing — how the project sits inside the foundation’s work with student science clubs.

Topics in the episode:

• What “scientific method” means to a sixth-grader — and why the gap between reading about bears and collecting data on bears is larger than it sounds.
• How a hypothesis with no obvious answer is born — and how the authors decided to test it.
• The role of the mentor-teacher and the Sci-High mentor network in the weekly walk from question to measurement.
• What stays with a child after six months on a single project — patience, failed experiments, the public defence.

The episode was produced by Maria Boyadzhieva and Angelina Grozeva, edited by Boryana Bozhilova.