Sharing Good Practice
THE ART OF SCIENCE
BY RUSSELL GRIGG
affects other countries, or something
that should be taken seriously because
it is causing more extreme weather
patterns.
I
n 2012 a major row broke out
between
a
leading
London
gallery and museum over whether
Leonardo da Vinci was the greatest
artist or scientist the world has known.
Both were right.
to describe motion and acceleration
and so he used their interest in cars
especially Land Cruisers. Mike says:
‘Common objects, such as various
machines and expressions of forces
and so forth, are less of a challenge
to draw but are, nonetheless, vital for
communicating what we are exploring’.
Mike takes his inspiration not only
from students’ interests but also his
own. He has recently read the semi-
autobiography of Richard Feynman,
who was one of the greatest physicists
of all time. Feynman became famous
for his
diagrams which visually
describe the mathematics underlying
the behaviour of subatomic particles.
Mike’s classroom walls are organic,
alive with sketches by himself and his
students. They remain until the walls
are repainted each year, which offers
Mike and his class a new blank canvass
and the cycle can begin anew.
One teacher who has drawn inspiration
from Da Vinci is Mike O’Donnell, who
teaches science in Al Qudra Cycle 3
school in Abu Dhabi. Mike’s artistic
talents developed when he worked as a
courtroom sketch artist back in Ireland
before taking up a teaching post in the
United Arab Emirates in 2013.
Mike uses his skills to convey scientific
concepts,
laws
and
principles,
including those of great scientists such
as Newton, Boyle and Bernoulli. He
was recently challenged by students
For readers who may not be as
artistically talented as Mike, there is no
reason to despair. Many teachers use
Concept Cartoons which represent
scientific ideas and perspectives in
a simple, visual way. They typically
hinge around a situation which elicits
different viewpoints. For example,
climate change might be viewed
as a natural event which we cannot
do anything about, something to
be welcomed in providing warmer
weather, a phenomenon that only
The students discuss each idea
and then consider how they might
investigate the situation to see
which viewpoint is most acceptable,
although there is not always a definitive
answer. Where possible, students then
pursue their inquiries, summarise their
learning and reflect on how their views
may have changed in the process.
Condensation, recycling and gravity
are popular subjects for concept
cartoons. Students can also create
their own concept cartoons, perhaps
based on a scientific question they
pose to classmates to answer.
A recent study by John Hopkins
School of Education (Hardiman et
al., 2019) shows that incorporating
sketching and other art activities
into science lessons helps students,
especially ‘low achievers’, to retain
knowledge and enhances their
thinking and vocabulary. Mike’s
philosophy is to use the language of
art to strike up ‘conversations’ with his
students. ‘As I see it, the process of
encountering, exploring, and coming
to understandings of the world and
creating our meanings is a rich and
varied palette.’
References
Richard Feynman (1992) Surely You’re
Joking Mr. Feynman: Adventures of a
Curious Character, Vintage, New York).
Mariale Hardiman et al (2019), ‘The effects of
arts-integrated instruction on memory for
science content’ Trends in Neuroscience
and Education, pages 25-32, available
online.
There are lots of Concept Cartoons online.
Examples suitable for primary schools are
available at: https://pstt.org.uk/resources/
cpd-units/concept-cartoons. For older
students, see the samples provided by
Millgate House Education, available at:
h t t p : // w w w . s c h o o l s c i e n c e . c o . u k /
conceptcartoonsset2
Special Thanks : Mike O’Donnell teaches
Grades 6-9 science at Al Ta’awun Cycle 3
school in Abu Dhabi.
Dr Russell Grigg is an Education Inspector for the Ministry of Education and
works in the School Development and Improvement Unit. He has written widely
on education.
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