Making the most of science
Seatoun School Y1-2 students Isabella Hay (left) and Evie Roper-Caldbeck check the growth of the hyacinth bulb they are growing in a glass with their classmates.
Science lessons flourish
Teachers at a primary school create exciting science lessons that are integrated with other learning areas
Curriculum integration is a key approach to teaching and learning at Seatoun School in Wellington, but there is also a desire to ensure that the integrity of science and other core subjects is not lost.
As part of the school’s ongoing curriculum review a whole-school focus on science was planned for 2008. Teachers had professional development and all children studied a unit called ‘Seatoun by the Sea’ that looked at the everyday science in their local environment.
Principal Peter Pointon says the year of intensive work improved teacher understanding of the new science curriculum, increased confidence in teaching science, and increased student understanding of what science is.
This year a wide range of science is going on across the school.
Senior students are preparing for their science fair projects. They learnt how to conduct a science investigation and about the importance of their investigation question.
Alongside that, the literacy focus for the term is learning the different forms of transactional writing required to present their investigation results.
One classroom activity involves the students learning how to use photography to document their investigations. They conducted an experiment looking at the solubility of different liquids and photographed the evidence.
Students say they particularly enjoy such experiments as they allow them to “see the science happening”.
In Jason Cowan’s Y3-4 class the students are studying how plants grow. They set up an experiment to see how much water, carbon dioxide and light were needed to grow their plants.
The unit focuses on investigating in science and links to literacy, numeracy and ICT, with children speaking, writing and presenting their findings and measuring the growth of their plants.
Student Connie Newton-Rencen says it is fun to bring dirt from the garden into the classroom and “get messy”.
In Ann Vandendungen’s Y1 class there is a science table in the corner with a copy of ‘Ready to Read’ red book This Leaf, and dozens of laminated leaves that Ann and the children have collected.
From follow-up readings from the school library, five-year-old William Lambie learned that chlorophyll comes out of a leaf when it falls off a tree and classmate Ava Coates says it falls into the soil and becomes a skeleton.
Evie Roper-Caldbeck and Isabella Hay are excited about the hyacinth bulb they are growing in a glass “which needs to grow in a dark cupboard”.
When Ann asks the children if they like science some are not too sure, but when prompted to recall growing swan plants in the classroom earlier in the year, they remember “being scientists” and watching their eggs turn into caterpillars, chrysalises, and finally, butterflies.
More ideas and resources
The Assessment Resource Banks (ARB) website includes a description of six different sorts of science investigations. See http://arb.nzcer.org.nz/supportmaterials/science/investigations.php
Investigations could use a statistical enquiry cycle to define the way we act and think during a statistical investigation. See www.censusatschool.org.nz/resources/statistical-investigation
Looking at your local environment? Students can be emotive about their area and capturing this by writing poems can extend their writing skills and sensory appreciation of the area. A poem from a School Journal such as ‘By the sea’ by Rebecca Klee, part 4, no. 3, 1995, can be used as a model for developing their own poems.
Displaying e-asTTle indicators and exemplars in the classroom to support students to self assess their writing skills is valuable.
http://e-asttle.tki.org.nz/technical_resources/teacher_resources#r5
School Journal article ‘Adrian Heke: Photographer’, part 3, no. 3, 2005, gives further ideas of how to plan and execute good photos.
Resources about the living world
Building Science Concepts books that look at plants include ‘Growing Plants Indoors’ (book 63), L1-2.
Science exemplars that look at plants include ‘Bushy Beans’ and ‘Is a tree a plant?’ The science exemplar ‘Monarch Butterflies’ describes the life cycle of living things as a continuous process. In L1 science exemplar ‘Leaves Sort-up’, a class uses a classifying and identifying type of investigation to arrange the leaves into groups according to clear criteria.
Students could look at the geometry of leaf shape, including symmetry, rotation and reflection. NZ Maths has a L1 unit of work called ‘Pattern Matching’ that could provide useful ideas: www.nzmaths.co.nz/node/177
‘Bean Climbing’, Figure it Out, Statistics, L3-4, p10-11 has ideas on measuring and recording plant growth.
A fact sheet on growing hyacinths in a glass: www.aorangi.co.nz/FactSheets/FactSheet1.htm
Effective examples of speaking, writing and presenting for English language learners can be found at Literacy Online: http://literacyonline.tki.org.nz
Magnetic lessons
Other Seatoun School students are reading about magnets and will experiment with some of their own in the next lesson. But they’ve learned something already – that “magnets stick to metal, but not glass or plastic”.
Making Sense of the Physical World, L1-4 has a chapter on Magnets and Magnetism, p83-104 including activities and investigations.
Building Science Concepts book 49 is about ‘Invisible Forces’, L3-4.
There is also a science exemplar called ‘Attractive Magnets’ about investigating the properties of magnets.
Sounding out students
Seatoun School teacher Marion Hair starts her science lesson on sound by asking students to listen for changes in the pitch and dynamics of this percussion instrument.
Year 5-6 students are making a durable musical instrument that can change in pitch and volume as they explore an integrated unit on sound.
Science is the host area, with students also looking at sound from a health, arts and technology perspective. It directly links to literacy with students reading and writing explanations of how we hear sound.
Teacher Marion Hair says a unit on sound was taught a few years ago, but there was more focus this year on the science of sound.
“We tried to have more emphasis on children finding out what it is they needed to know. We wanted to have a more hands-on approach and reflect the nature of science.”
The four classes undertook lesson rotations on how to explain changes in the pitch and dynamics of sound. Other rotations explored music and sound. Each teacher had a different instrument – wind, string, keyboard and percussion – for students to work with.
Marion’s lesson involved the students’ trying out various percussion instruments so it was noisy, but got the students very excited.
Resources:
‘Musical Cake Tins’ in School Journal, part 2, no. 4, 1996 gives starting ideas and exemplifies an explanation about sound.
Connected 1, (2004) features ‘The Winds of Tāwhirimātea’ and explores the causes and characteristics of sounds.
Connected 3, (2005) has an article ‘The Right Beat’ that explores the mathematics of musical beat and rhythm. Teachers’ notes for the Connected series are available at: www.tki.org.nz/r/technology/connected/index_e.php
Building Science Concepts has two books about sound – ‘Exploring Sound: Using Sound Makers and Musical Instruments’ (book 18) L1-2 and ‘Properties of Sound: How Sound Makers and Musical Instruments Work’ (book 19) L3-4.
www.tki.org.nz/r/science/curriculum/bsc/index_e.php
Making Better Sense of the Physical World L1-4, p23-34 has a chapter on sound, including a number of activities and investigations.
Science exemplars ‘Sounds amazing’ and ‘Sounds of a bottle organ’ can be found at: www.tki.org.nz/r/assessment/exemplars/sci/index_e.php
Supporting key competencies
All of the science taught at Seatoun School contributes to students’ attaining some or all of the key competencies identified in The New Zealand Curriculum. These examples in particular have helped students to develop their thinking, and use language, symbols and texts. Students working on science fair projects are learning to manage themselves, and to participate and contribute appropriately as group members.