Recently, the ISTE Connects blog had a discussion How do you teach creativity? in response to the recent Newsweek article The Creativity Crisis. We often think of creativity in terms of the arts, but I had a great conversation with a colleague on what creativity would look like in science. I’m not sure we can teach or test creativity per se, but it would be an interesting discussion on how we can promote, encourage, model, guide, and recognize creative thinking in our science classrooms – new, different, or untraditional ways of problem solving, problem finding, inventing, innovating, and communicating.
In the article Encouraging Creativity in the Science Lab,the author shares some techniques she uses to get students to think outside of the box. She shows how to modify activities from cookbook procedures to more open-ended investigations. She also shares some misconceptions that students may have about creativity.
Another type of creativity is encouraging students to find connections between science and other subjects. The author of Supporting Right-Brained Thinking describes a project in which his students integrated history, writing, and genetics. He refers several times to Daniel Pink’s book A Whole New Mind (which would be an excellent choice for a book discussion group).

Speaking of creativity, the article What Microbe Are You? has activities to help students learn about the diversity of marine microbes, including a different take on dichotomous keys. The “What Microbe Are You?” quiz mimics a personality quiz to guide the user through a dichotomous key. (Based on my choices, I was matched with the diatom Elphidium crispum.) In the Connections section, you can get the entire key. SciLinks has additional websites on microbes and dichotomous keys.
Inquiry can be another type of creativity, and this issue has three articles related to inquiry in the physical sciences. Big Air describes a lesson in applying the concept of projectile motion to real-world situations. Fueling the Car of Tomorrow describes a curriculum unit that addresses problem solving in science and technology, along with a link to the materials. The Art of Electron Spinning describes a classroom project that connects students with concepts and research in nanotechnology topics. SciLinks can provide background information and additional suggestions for projectiles and nanotechnology.
Creativity in the science classroom also involves some risk-taking on the part of students and teachers—moving beyond the comfort zone of traditional expectations and predictable outcomes. Students may need modeling and guidelines to foster and focus their creativity. But fostering creativity does not mean ignoring safety issues in the classroom!
Check out the Connections for this issue. Even if the article does not quite fit with your lesson agenda, this resource has ideas for handouts, background information sheets, data sheets, rubrics, etc.