Thinking, Investigating Thinking, Investigating and Creativity in and Creativity in
ScienceScience
Thinking, Investigating Thinking, Investigating and Creativity in and Creativity in
ScienceScience
Anne GoldsworthyAnne [email protected]@psas.wanadoo.co.uk
www.annegoldsworthy.co.ukwww.annegoldsworthy.co.uk 01633 45031601633 450316
Starter Activity –Vocabulary
• Get partner to put a label on your back (don’t look)
• Ask questions that can be answered with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’
• Only exchange one question with each person and then move on
• Find out what your label says
Using the labels game in KS 1
• Get everyone to talk about what would be good questions to ask
• Put a label on one child and ask the whole class to answer their questions
• Prepare labels and use pictures and words• Several children can wear the same label• Allow yes, no and I’ll find out.
Healthy Eating
• What would be a good meal to give your family to make them grow up healthy and strong?
• Kim’s game – 3 things on the tray – which food group is missing?
Floating and sinking
• T. Why do some things float and others sink?
• P. ‘Because some things are too heavy to float.’
• What would your next question be?
Making a list• Useful for KS 1 where they need to
extend their experience and become aware of more examples e.g. light sources, sound sources, plants, animals, things that use electricity etc.
Making the most of Making the most of Scientific EnquiryScientific Enquiry
• Be aware of different kinds of enquiry• Highlight skills and teach them• Add challenges to your investigations• Sometimes start at the end • Use story settings
Different ways of finding out about the
world• Carrying out a fair test, where we change one factor,
measure or observe the effect it has on something else whilst keeping all other factors the same e.g. which type of paper absorbs most water
• Carrying out a survey and looking for trends in populations e.g. do taller people jump higher
• Observing or measuring something over time e.g. how does a growing plant change; what happens to the temperature of hot water when we leave it in the classroom
Different ways of finding out about the world
• Problem Solving e.g. can I find a way to ….’ (separate salt and sand, make a bulb light)
• Classifying things according to characteristics (materials/mini-beasts) or according to behaviour (materials which do/do not allow light to pass through)
Surveys• Often arise in environmental work
and finding out about human characteristics
• Can lead to bar charts or simple scatter graphs
• To do a simple scatter graph you need to compare two sets of numerical data
Survey Do taller people have a wider reach?
Featured skills:
Measuring, considering & evaluating evidence
• Plan how to do the survey with the children
• Get them to take measurements• Plot results together• Ask them to work out what results tell
them and to interpret chart
Survey
Featured skills: Measuring, considering &
evaluating evidence • Plan how to do the survey with the
children• Get them to take measurements• Plot results together as a class• Ask them to work out what their results
tell them and how much trust they can have in their results
Do people with longer thigh bones have bigger knees?
120
130
140
150
160
120 130 140 150 160
Height (cm)
Reach
(cm
)
Typical scatter graph at KS2
Observing over timeBecome familiar with ice• Ice surprises • Ice shapes including ice hands• Pouring warm water onto blocks of ice
Then• Record changes in a large lump of ice
through the day
Featured skills: measuring, recording as bar chart, noticing patterns, making predictions based on evidence
Measuring Circumference and Melted Water
For children at about L 1 or 2• Wrap paper round ice but open to put on wall as a
column of bar chart• Build up centicubes to level of water and leave
columns under bar chartFor children at L 3 or above• Measure round ice with a tape measure - put results
on a scaled bar chart• Either measure height of water in container or
measure volume in ml and put results on a scaled bar chart
Observing over time
Problems with melting ice cubes
If doing the fair test to see where ice cubes melt fastest, don’t time them.
• Very difficult to judge moment of melting• Boring (very) to watch an ice cube melt• Not much difference between time to melt in
different places
Instead, use large ‘cubes’ e.g. yoghurt pot size• Put them in different places and leave to melt for
same length of time (1/2 hours)• Pour off melted water and compare/measure• Or do paper towel version.
Keep a caterpillar diary• Keep a diary of the development of the
caterpillar with words and pictures• Encourage close observation of the
caterpillars and the changes in the caterpillar
Featured skills: observing, measuring, recording, noticing patterns, making predictions based on evidence
• Measure the length of the caterpillars by cutting piece of wool/string to the same length and sticking on chart or measuring in mm
Mon Tue SatFriThuWed Sun Mon
mm
Watch out for spacing of the days of the week on horizontal axis
Extra Challenges• Ask children to say how much they can trust
their evidence• Get them say what was difficult to do• Measure change in mass of pot while
caterpillars are growing• Ask children to predict what graph would look
like (sketch)• Does prediction match results?
How hot the water
is
Volume of water
Number of stirs
Type of sugar
Size of the lumps
Number of spoonfuls
Type of liquid
Dissolving Sugar – Fair TestFeatured skills: Having ideas for investigation and setting up the fair test
We will change
We will measure or observe the effect it has on
We will keep these things the same to make it fair
How hot the water
is
Type of liquid
Number of spoonfuls
Size of the lumps
Time it takes
sugar to dissolve
Type of sugar
Number of stirs
Volume of water
We will change
We will measure or observe the effect it has on
We will keep these things the same to make it fair
Mrs Wobbly’s ProblemWorst Case Scenario
Jelly takes AGES to go into the water. I have to work until late into the night. This is what I do:
• Little bit of water• Add ice cubes• Put jelly in water in one lump• Give it one stir
Can you help me?
Featured skill: Having ideas for investigation
Volume of water
Size of the lumps of
jelly
Time it takes jelly to dissolve
Colour of jelly
Number of stirs
How hot the water
is
We will change
We will measure or observe the effect it has on
We will keep these things the same to make it fair
Fair Test
Question Does it tell you what to change?
Does it tell you what to measure or observe?
What size of parachute takes most time to fall?
Which fabric would be best for the farmer to wear?
How can I make an elastic band twang with a higher note?
What makes grass grow well?
No
Yes
Yes
Yes Yes
No
No
No
Analysing Questions
Using tables to plan• Bring in table of completed results• Put words and numbers on post-its• Get ‘table goblin’ to muddle them up• Talk about where things go on the table• Get children to prepare table before
they start investigating• Put headings on top of columns for
younger/less able
What we change What we measure
How hot the water
is
Time it takes jelly to dissolve
How hot the water is
How quickly the jelly goes into
the water
Harry HotWater
MaryMediumWater
CarlCoolWater
What we change
What we measure
Create conditions to get them talking
• Provide activities/real things/investigations to stimulate discussion and dialogue
• Encourage mutual support e.g. talk partners
• Be aware of your impact verbally - use non-judgemental comments, ask ‘what was your group discussing?’ not ‘what do you think?’
• Be aware of your impact non-verbally - drop eye contact, no hands up
Record in different Record in different waysways
• Use floor books
• Make up a song
• Do a mime
Ways to record• Do a mime (hands only if full
movement difficult)• Radio or TV interview• Children take photos or videos • Devise lesson for younger pupils• Posters and Floor Books• Devise a song
Floor Books• Large books with everyone’s work
displayed• Speech bubbles to show the main
comments made by teachers and children
• Contain photos, charts etc• Great evidence of what happened • Children love to re-read
HowPrepare large book with big pagesEither write down children's comments in book as they happen or note down for later useIf writing comments in speech bubbles, write the words first and put the bubble around it - the words never fit if you do it the other way!Ask the children to draw their faces to put beside their comments (or use digital camera and photos)Draw your own face and those of any adult that helps with science.Put the adults' questions/comments in speech bubbles tooTell the whole story of the enquiry adding in any tables, bar charts, pictures, photosAsk everyone to admire the finished product
Using songs to record• Make up a song in 5 minutes• Do it to the tune of a well known
nursery rhyme or pop song• Add in actions • For KS 1 children, work as a class• Make a poster ‘Our Song about …’• Keep for evidence
Posters• Use for recording about one concept or
one investigation• Groups have to record whole thing
between them• Time given for feedback • Questions go to anyone about
anything – may only write one part – have to know about it all – group responsibility
• Encourage good presentation – instant display!
Dried fruit and fizzy drink
• Observe what happens• Try to explain it• Make up a song• Do it to the tune of ….. (nursery
rhyme, well known pop song etc.)
• Ready to sing in 5 minutes• Add actions if you want
Where does soil come from?
• What are your ideas?• Now you will get some clues • You will need to make good
observations• You will need to think about what
your observations tell you
Where does soil come from? Clue 1 – Compost heaps
• What’s put in the compost?• How does the compost change?
(observe)• What makes it change? (have
ideas)
Compost 1st Year Compost 2nd Year
Where does soil come from?
Clue 2 – Pictures of a rock• What do you notice as you get
closer to the rock? (observe)• What might this tell you about
where soil comes from? (have ideas)
• You have some lumps of sugar in a pot• When I tell you, shake the pot • What can you see in the pot apart
from the lumps of sugar? (observe)• How did it get there? • What has this got do to with rocks and
soil? (have ideas)
Where does soil come from? Clue 3 – Shaking sugar
cubes
Where does soil come from? Clue 4 – Rubbing stones
• Watch the stones when we rub them.
• What do you notice? (observe)• What might this tell you about
where soil comes from? (have ideas)
Where does soil come from? Clue 5 – River bank soilWhat might rub stones
together?
Where does soil come from?
• Clue 1 – compost heaps, bags and pictures • Clue 2 – pictures of the big rock• Clue 3 – shaking the sugar cubes• Clue 4 – rubbing stones• Clue 5 – river bank
There may be more than one answer to the question.
Friction Fingers• Every surface is a little bit rough• What will happen when surfaces
try to slide over each other?• What will happen when surfaces
are smooth/rough?
Nib of ballpoint pen X 60
Adding Challenges to Investigations
• Think of a recent enquiry you have done• Can you think of an extra challenge to add at
the end of an investigation?
Example• We have been finding out how much water
comes through different soils in one minute. • Can you make a soil by mixing others together
that lets xx ml through in one minute? • Can you say how much water would come
through this soil (mixture of 2 previously tested soils) in one minute?
Sort into True, False, Not Sort into True, False, Not suresure
• The force of gravity pushes things down towards the centre of the earth
• If you stand on a concrete floor, the floor stays flat and stiff
• If a book and a feather are placed on a table, the table will push up differently on each object
• It doesn’t how much stuff is in an object, the size of the force between it and the earth (gravity) is always the same
Assessment using True-False Assessment using True-False statementsstatements
How did you feel when you responded to the True-False statements:
• individually• collaboratively
What would you want to do next as a learner?
What have you learnt about What have you learnt about gravity and forces?gravity and forces?
• Be prepared to say what you have learnt
• Be prepared to say what your partner has learnt
Splat Game – How to do itSplat Game – How to do it• Put words or pictures round the room• Give each group mini post-its to ‘splat’
with• Call out statement/question• Let groups discuss which word to splat• Groups select a ‘splatter’• On your command, all splatters get up
and stick post it on word or picture
Splat Game Splat Game How to make most of it to help How to make most of it to help
learninglearning• Do not give away right answer• Just comment on results e.g. ‘some of us
thought x, some of us thought y’ or ‘we all seem agreed on that one’
• Keep responses and show them again to children at the end of the topic/lesson
• Get children to change position of stickers if they want and to recognise what they have learnt
Space to be creative – Space to be creative – Y6Y6
• Make a light for the top of your model Christmas tree
• Find a way to make it flash on and off
• You will have a week to think about it and do it
• Be as inventive as you like
Space to be Creative Space to be Creative Y5Y5
What might it be like inside the elastic when it ..
• isn’t stretched• is stretched• breaks?