*Self Direction in Science*

It is important that students are allowed to create and generate their own thoughts and ideas, but there has to be perimeters and guidelines. Students must develop a certain level of mastery in the subject area before they can create. There are certain assignments that students do have a choice to create and explore, but then there are some that I have instructed them to do with particular expectations. I just did a project called "My Trip as a Drip" where students could create a project of any type, to demonstrate the water cycle. I found in my assessments that they learned a lot, because they were able to create and explore on their own.