Sharing Good Practice
Five keys to developing scientific understanding in very young students
By Gianna Ulyatt students why things happen and how things work .
Science is an essential part of everyday life . It is important for teachers to guide students towards nurturing the skills they need to become young scientists . Very young science students must be encouraged to show high levels of curiosity . They should want to find out how things in the world work and why things happen . Through scientific enquiry , they learn basic physics , chemistry and biology . They examine objects carefully , observe changes , ask questions and realise that the answers may not always be what they expect . Whilst students learn about different plants , animals and locations throughout the world , through a range of quality non-fiction books , true understanding begins when they have first-hand practical experiences . Teaching should provide many firsthand practical opportunities for experimentation , peer collaboration and subsequent scientific discussion .
Successful teaching has on-going enquiry built in to the everyday activities . Teachers must encourage worthwhile talk and link findings and ideas from the students to the real world . The water tray , for example , can be used to find out which materials are waterproof and which fabrics are suitable for different weather
conditions . Young students can experiment with objects of different shape , size and weight , to work out why some objects float and others sink . By running cars over plastic , paper , metal and rubber surfaces , students can discover about friction and realise why tyres are made of rubber and why road surfaces are made of different materials near intersections and traffic lights . Running vehicles of different weights down a ramp and measuring , which go further , can elicit much discussion about forces . They learn about gravity with dry sand , water , tubes and other relevant resources .
The construction area can be used to find out which three-dimensional shapes are best for forming the foundations of high-rise apartment buildings . Providing opportunities for practical , supported investigation accelerates understanding . Sowing fast growing seeds , for example , and placing them in four different situations , such as near a window , in the fridge , covered completely in black paper , without water will help students truly understand the essentials for healthy plant growth . Growing peas or beans and pollinating the flowers teaches them how seeds develop . These everyday activities supported by appropriate questioning , teach
When students are familiar with investigative work supported by the teacher , opportunities should be provided to investigate , explore and collaborate in very small groups of three or four , where each student has a specific role to play . Serious scientific questions need to be raised such as , why water evaporates , do all seeds in fruit look alike , what happens when you mix salt or sugar or flour or corn flour in water ? Teachers must provide appropriate resources and equipment to assist students in planning and recording their scientific project . As a group , they must predict what they think will happen , plan how they will carry out the investigation , gather evidence , record information and provide simple data . Finally , they need to relate their findings to other groups in the class . Students will therefore learn from each other .
Through this kind of activity , the school has budding scientists !
Checklist
1 . Take every opportunity to encourage students to be curious and ask questions .
2 . Role model simple investigations so students are familiar with the processes .
3 . Plan scientific activities with small groups on a regular basis .
4 . Have equipment and resources readily available for scientific enquiry .
5 . Support students through their investigations , and as they feed back their findings to the class group .
References
Taking science to school : Learning and teaching science in grades K-8 . by Duschl , Richard A .; Schweingruber , Heidi A .; & Shouse , Andrew W . ( Eds .). ( 2007 ).
Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage ( 2014 )
Class Time
| | May - Jun 2017 |
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