YEARS 7–12 IDEAS FOR THE CLASSROOM
Year 7 Practical Skills for Inquiry Learning – Part 3
By Dr Jennifer Jones
The activities described in Part 3 of the Year 7 Practical Skills
follow from those described in the previous two editions of SEN
2019. The students have been undertaking activities which aim
to build both their practical and thinking skills, in addition to
increasing their overall confidence and competence at working
in the laboratory. Again, we will be expecting their expertise to
have increased, so we will not go back to square one with our
instructions, but we will be on the lookout for instances where
students may need a gentle reminder of what they have already
learned!
is important for deep understanding that students come to this
realisation by themselves. While we have at the back of our
minds that we want students to be able to decide whether a
‘fair test’ is necessary and, if so, how to make sure the test(s)
are ‘fair’, as well as whether the tests and observations provide
real evidence that allows them to draw valid conclusions, it
is important that we give them no instructions other than a
statement of the problem they are to solve.
• Since the chemicals used are harmless and no heat is
necessary, the safety precautions are minimal. You may
choose to remind students about care when using glass
apparatus.
Since it is our aim to be able to use an inquiry-based (and
therefore student-centred) approach with the students, it is
important that we get them to articulate what they are doing/have
done; why they have chosen to do this; what they have observed/
found out and what conclusions they have drawn – are they able
to answer the question posed? The two experiments given below
both begin with simple fun activities and then ask the students
to experiment to find out what is causing the reactions which
gives rise to the ‘fun’. In order to be able to come up with the
answers the students will, in effect, have to use ‘scientific method’
approaches, although we will not formalise this in any way at
this stage. They have also used this previously in the second
part of the ‘Baggie Science’ experiment from Part 1. Patterns will
emerge across the groups and these will be very important at a
later stage when we do introduce this.
• At this stage, early in Year 7, students will not want to sit down
and plan how they will do the task and indeed may not yet be
able to do so. They are more likely to want to dive straight into
the practical, so let them! The teacher’s role is to circulate, offer
support, keep things under control and ask questions which
encourage the students to think about and explain what they
are doing and why. It is important not to give them any direct
instructions as to how to go about the task, except for the odd
group which may have no clue how to start. Remember, we
are trying to develop independent thinking skills, group work
skills …. not “How to do what the teacher says” skills!
Again the teaching/learning approach is student-centred so that
the students are doing the ‘meaning making’ and are developing
the practical and thinking skills needed for inquiry-based learning.
Teaching strategies used in the previous activities will be useful
here too.
5. Sherbet Fizz!
• This is a fun activity which can be used early in Year 7 to
help students build their understanding of how to investigate
a problem scientifically. It can be used to further develop
their thinking skills, practical/manipulative skills, co-operative
group skills and to encourage their creativity as they work out
‘what gives sherbet the fizz’.
• While the aim is to build towards using and appreciating the
need for using, the ‘scientific method’ in some experiments, it
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SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 68 NO 3