*Draft only* : article for comment only

by Joe Ireland.

Abstract:

This conversational article explores ways to enrich the primary science syllabus by using practical suggestions and clear explanations of Science Process Skill in Working Scientifically.  Process skills, such as remembering, writing, sorting and listening are an important part of any science curriculum.  But there are many more skills that add volumes to the primary science curriculum, such as questioning, observing, explaining, predicting, theorising, communicating, experimenting and much much more. Science is a pedagogically rich subject area that has a lot to contribute to the primary school curriculum. 

This conversational article is written to the primary school teacher looking for ideas to enrich their primary school science curriculum.  Science process skills, such as remembering, writing, sorting and listening are an important part of any science curriculum.  However, too often these few skills are all the science a class has!

There are many important science skills that greatly add to the learning outcomes of the school curriculum, such as questioning, observing, explaining, predicting, theorising, communicating, experimenting and much much more.  These process skills are a part of what it means to be “Working Scientifically”.  Science education has moved on quite a bit since these ‘process skills’ were the whole focus of what it meant to teach science, but they still play an important and vital contemporary role in science and in the science classroom today (Carin and Bass, 2001).

The Queensland science curriculum hosts an entire page of verbs associated with working scientifically (QSA, 1998, see appendix B).  By getting to know the skills that practicing scientists use, and seeing how they can be meaningfully employed in the primary science classroom, teachers can enrich and expand the repertoire of activities that make up ‘working scientifically’.  More importantly, they can help students become better creators and users of scientific knowledge in the classroom and their communities.

As you read the article, I would ask you to consider these science process skills and look for ways you can explicitly include them in your teaching.  You may be surprised at how much good learning you already encourage is considered ‘Working Scientifically’.

For example, consider the following scenario;

The teacher sets up a table and rolls a sealed tube forward along the table.  To her feigned surprise the tube rolls back towards her.  After the laughter subsides, the teacher asks: “Why did the tube do that?  Can anyone think of a reason?”

Questioning

In science, there is probably no skill more important, nor attitude more helpful, than to encourage your students to be askers of questions. Most science begins with a question.  Even those great discoveries that came about by accident did so only because someone eventually asked “What’s happening here?”
Modern science education owes much to the constructivist philosophy; that learning best occurs when students are guided to construct their own understanding, and not being ‘given’ the right answers by teachers (Fleer & Hardy, 2001).  What this can mean, among other things, is that students are always better motivated, and often learn more, when they are researching their own questions (Abruscato, 2001). Questions form a major, even key roll in real science, and have an important roll in school science (Harwood, 2004). Many modern curricular techniques are based on the teacher choosing and initiating interest in a topic, and then helping the children develop their own questions and ways of finding answers to those questions.  Teachers could design an entire unit of work around questions the students have brought up. (For example, see French, 2004 or Skamp, 1998). One useful idea that is never likely to grow old is to bring a unique object to class and have the children write all the questions they can about it.  Then you can discuss ways to find answers to the questions, or choose one to work on for a unit of work.

Sometimes, however, a student might propose a question which is untestable - perhaps it is beyond the scope of classroom equipment and talent (“Can we smash an atom in class?”) In this case, you can always visit those that do have the funding, or have a fundraiser yourself.  (However… while we all know primary schools are under funded in terms of science equipment anyway, most magnetrons are outside the budget of many nations…) However, you might be surprised at the cost effective and creative experiments you and the children can generate (except perhaps when smashing atoms).

The best science questions are ones that we can look to find the answer to, maybe through research or an experiment of some kind. Indeed, whether an idea is testable is one measure of whether it is considered scientific (Popper, 1972, and is one protest against the Intelligent Design theory).  Science questions might be “What foods do lobsters eat?”  “How do ants know when it’s daytime?”  “Why does it rain?”  Or even “Why is dirt brown?”  In our example, the teacher can encourage students to ask questions about the roller. “Why does it return?”  “Does it’s outside colour make a difference?”  “What happens if you shake it?” “Does the way or direction it is rolled it effect it?” And, of course, “Why did the roller return?“ 

It may seem a superfluous comment to encourage question asking when young students are so naturally curious, but sometimes we all need a reminder (and sometime, it’s been so discouraged in them that they just aren’t inclined to try any more).  When you are faced with questions you cannot answer, please avoid “It just is”.  Perhaps better answers might be “We can find out!”  “I don’t know, Yet.” Or more especially, “How can you find an answer to that question for yourself?”  Indeed, If there is one thing teachers can do to enrich their primary science curriculum it would be to encourage students to ask more questions and think of ways to find, and test, their own answers.

Questions lead us in certain directions to look for answers, and learning to ask questions, and finding ways to answer them, is possibly the very essence of science itself.  In the words of Dr Who (the Science fiction TV character, not the president of China) “Answers are easy, it’s asking the right questions that’s the trick.”

Observing

We are constantly observing the world through our senses of sight, taste, touch, smell and hearing.  Not only can students see the roller, they can pick it up and feel its curved edges, shake it and listen to the sound, and a whole lot more.  Carefully observing, and with equal care recording your observations, is an important skill in science.

However, science has a special purpose for observation; it is used only to say what you experienced, and not why it may have occurred.  Knowing the distinction here is a difficult skill for children and adults alike.  It requires suspending your explanation of what is happening: just say exactly what you saw/ heard/ felt etc, and not give any reason why things might behave as they do.  For instance, you enter a room and smell a rose, but that doesn’t mean there is a rose near by, only that you smelt one.  There could be many reasons why you smelt a rose: rose oil, perfume, hallucinations again etc.  Understanding the difference between observing and explaining an observation is a challenging task!

Developing observation through senses is a great learning activity, and one that children are arguably engaged in every day.  To enhance the experience, for example, teachers may set up a ‘senses centre’ with various activities for students to hear unique sounds, blindfolds to help feel unique objects (and ‘see’ them with their imaginations), and essential oils to smell unique smells. Indeed, whenever children pick up an object to explore its size, colour and shape they are observing (and perhaps that’s why everything ends up in a toddler’s mouth: taste, touch and smell all at once!)

Developing the skills to report observations is also an important skill in life and science.  Students could perhaps record and share their observations using pictures to show whether the day feels hot or cold, create collages to express textures, or use magazine cuts-outs to demonstrate what certain smells remind them of. 

In our example; the teacher rolled a cylindrical tube in one direction along a table and it rolled unexpectedly back.  What was observed?  The roller returned.  Observations do not contain explanations, such as the floor is on a slope and it made the tube roll, or the tube was scared and wanted to be back in your hand.  Say what, not why. The task of explaining why is the job of the next science skill.

You may be wondering why it is so important that students understand the skill of saying what they experienced, and not what it might mean or why it is so.  This is because students and teachers often confuse ideas or explanations with sensory experience.  They think they see a spider, so they decide it was a spider. But sensory illusions also help to illustrate that what we sense, and how we make sense of what we sense, are very different things. By making our observations separate from our explanations we realise our ideas are theories that can be tested.
 

Explaining (AKA ‘theorising’ or ‘Inference’)

Explanations are attempts to give reasons for the observations. All explanations have some merit, thought the most meritorious could be said to be based on their observations and not entirely on prior or intuitive beliefs[1]. Explaining helps the children explore the world with their minds as well as their senses, and is a key skill in science that might lead to the creation of theories.  To encourage creative explaining, you could encourage a brain storming of ideas and explanations whenever children bring you a question, or try a think / pair / share activity to get the explaining juices flowing (Candler, 1995).
In our example, students now make suggestions as to why the roller behaves as it does.  Perhaps it doesn’t like you.  Perhaps there is a little mouse inside running along.   Maybe it has something to do with magnets.  Children are very creative in their explanations, and creativity is one of the most important attributes of great scientists (and ‘more important than knowledge’ in a quote attributed to Albert Einstein).

I welcome responses and feedback to this article.  Especially other people’s successes, frustrations and stories with the ‘returning roller’. Please visit me at www.mrjoe.com.au

            Thankyou for reading my article – Joe.

 Appendix A: The Returning Roller – A lesson in science skills

Focus: 

This activity is designed to help students think about working scientifically.  Suggestions are included to explicitly and critically analyse their creation of scientific knowledge.

Learning Outcomes: 

Science and Society:
1.1 Students discuss their own thinking about natural phenomena.
D1.4 Students make generalisations from observations made during an investigation.
2.2 Students identify some ways scientists think and work.
 

Energy and Change:
D 1.4 “Students construct ideas about energy from playing with scientific toys.”
4.2 Students collect and present information about the transfer and transformation of energy (including potential and kinetic energy).
 

Preparation
Teachers should build a working model of the roller before fronting the class, and know how to make it work with some reliability.  DO NOT underestimate the importance of that last sentence.  There can be quite a trick to getting your roller to work reliably, and as all science teachers know, they must get their demonstrations to work for them before fronting a class with them.  There are few things more defeating to a science lesson than a demonstration that don’t work.

Lesson Ideas

Invitation

Teachers can roll the roller as the article indicates, and have students suggest reasons as to why it is returning. You can try using a ‘magic click’ telling them that the roller can ‘hear’ you and magically returns.  Have them think of ways to disprove your idea. (Roll it without clicking, have someone else click their fingers etc)

Point out that we are doing science by thinking of ideas and testing them.  This is what practicing scientists do in the community.  They may not have all the answers, but are looking for new things to learn just like your students in class today.

Exploration

Have your students practice observing by watching, listen to the roller as it is shaken, or feeling it in their hands.  You might like to invite one student up to closely examine it (without opening it) and share with the class what they are experiencing.  (If you have previously introduced the idea, this can be an opportunity to remind students how observing is different from explaining observations.)

Next students can be encouraged to generate explanations for the phenomenon of the ‘returning roller’, based on what they have observed.  Examples might be that the desk is on a slant, or that it has something to do with magnets and paperclips (or well trained ice).  Teachers can compliment student suggestions, and then ask them to generate ways to test their ideas just as practicing scientists do.  (Without opening the roller up).  Point out that this one way that scientists use to generate their understanding of how the world works.

Eventually, opening up the roller will be the best way to test student ideas.  Remind them that this is a good way to do science (opening things up to see what they are made of), but that you need to make sure we do so safely and responsibly.  Open it up to reveal the rock and rubber bands (curiously, I’ve noticed that many students ignore the rubber bands as important evidence). 

Have them now try and explain how and why it works.  You may like to let them pass it round and examine it. Listen to their ideas and theories of how it works.  Reward science thinking and terminology, after all science is all about thinking of ideas and then thinking of ways to test them. You might like to give them a day or two, or give upper primary students the chance to try and build their own rollers before giving them the ‘formal explanation’ of how it might work.

Concept introduction

How it works

            I often use this as an opportunity to show the need for imagination in science.  You need to imagine what is happening inside the roller while it is operating (unless you happen to have built a transparent one).

            What happens to the weight as the container is rolling around?  Is it turning as the container does (It is moving along with the container, but is it turning around as well?)  When it is closed, can you imagine it not turning as the container does? 

So as the container turns, the rock moves but does not turn. What would this do to the rubber band?  It causes the elastic band become twisted up.  This twisting resists the containers turning, building up an opposing force with every twist.  Eventually the rubber band begins to untwist by pushing the container in the opposite direction.  And presto!  The roller returns.

Why it works

            One idea scientists use to explain why the rock doesn’t turn as the container does is called “Inertia”.  This idea holds that objects stay in whatever state of motion they are in until a force acts on them: changing their direction, speed, or shape.  For example, the tendency of all matter to not want to move if it isn’t (try pushing a stalled car), or to keep moving forever if it is (the Space Shuttle keeps moving in space and only uses its rocket engines to change direction).

            So the inertia of the rock (the tendency of the rock to not turn unless it is pushed hard enough) \causes the rubber bands to become twisted as the roller turns around it.  All this twisting causes the rubber bands to become stretched out, and they are pulling more and more on the rock and on the container.  Eventually, in order to unstretch, they pull the container back, causing it to turn in the opposite direction. (Incidentally, they pull against the rock as well, but because of its inertia it does not spin around… usually).

Actually, both the rock and the container (and the rubber bands) have inertia, since they have mass, but the much heavier rock has much more inertia than the container, which is why the container rolls backwards and not the rock.

You can also try describing the returning roller in terms of the scientific concept of “Energy”.  The kinetic energy of the original motion is transformed into elastic potential energy in the rubber bands.  The tension in the rubber bands produce a force which begins to turn the container in the opposite direction, as the elastic potential energy is transformed back into kinetic energy, and the container rolls back again.

Concept Application

What other examples of inertia are there in your classroom?  Can you think evidence to support the idea ‘moving things keep moving unless acted on by a force’ when so many things in our daily lives slow down without constant pushing (cars, bikes, or toys, for instance)?  An idea called ‘friction’ can help here.

Can you think of ways to test the idea that “heavy things have more inertia than light things?”

How about “objects at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by a force.”  Can you disprove this idea by finding any instance of something that was not moving but now is, that was NOT acted on by a force of some kind?

How does inertia help us to explain why the earth does not fall down into the sun, but keeps moving around it?

Students can build their own rollers using materials they bring to class (A good example of the technology syllabus).  Can they make one larger than your demonstration?  How about a transparent roller?  Have them sketch out careful plans before beginning.

Finally, I have a conundrum for you: if the earth is turning completely around in only 24 hours, and it really is as big a ball as scientists say it is, then the people at the equator would be moving at around 1700 Kilometers per hour!  Surely they would be squashed flat, and the wind rushing past would rip everything to pieces!  Yet they can walk around the tropics as happy as can be without noticing a difference.  Can you give me an explanation for this? (Earth is turning!  Bah, Humbug!  It certainly doesn’t feel like it is turning to me!)

Assessment Ideas

You may like to assess students on the effectiveness of their returning rollers (ie, do they return), but this may be more appropriate as a hurdle requirement.

Summative: Have students make posters or oral presentations that explains how and why the roller works, using current scientific terminology. Be sure to reward them for any effort they put into understanding their explanations (not just repeating the teachers).

Formative: Students can prepare learning journals of how they learnt about how the roller works, and how their ideas have changed as they explored and thought about it.

Building the Returning Roller

Caution: 

When allowing students to construct their own rollers, safety concerns need to be taken into prior consideration.  Be wary of sharp knives and snappy rubber bands.  Also, students need to be persistent; the rollers can be fickle toys (relying on just the right density weight, thickness of rubber bands etc etc etc!)

Materials: 

·        A cylinder at least 10cm wide and 10 centimetres long… or thereabouts.  I find large postal rolls do just fine!  (And they come wind soft plastic ends as well).

·        A small, very heavy object: a nut from an aeroplane, a solid rock, etc.

·        Some strong elastic bands, but not too thick: 2mm will usually do.

·        Two paperclips.

·        Construction materials: sharp knife, tape, etc

·        Perhaps some decoration materials: paper, paints etc.

Building the roller

1.      Attach the elastic bands to the weight (being sure to leave enough slack to attach the bands to the cylinder walls next step).  Some creativity is required here.  You can wrap the elastic bands around the weight and secure the whole lot with a third elastic band. 

2.      Cut some small slits in the center of either end of the cylinder.  Thread the elastic bands through, and keep them there with the paper clips.  Your roller should now have a weight suspended by rubber bands inside a cylinder.  It is important that the weight does not touch the sides of the container. It is important that the paperclips are fixed to the container or the rubber bands will not transfer their spin properly.  (I use paper clips because the rubber bands sometimes need replacing, but you might find something that works better.)

3.      Decorate to your hearts content.  Well, nearly.  The roller works better with smooth, round walls: cupcake holders are not conducive to this effect.