Science in a Van

On Tuesday, the whole school was treated to a science stunt, then different age groups came back to the hall for science demonstrations.   This was our first time having Science in a Van come to visit.  

I was impressed with the very natural incorporation of NoS and capabilities in the show as well as the fun that was injected throughout.  I'm sure many kids will be trying out different bubble mixtures at home as a result!

The show was relatively expensive which got me to thinking how we could maximise the visit.  Teachers need to watch the show with their PD lenses on and follow up with learning in class.  If we treated these shows more like the Life Education trips we would really get bang for our buck!

On a related note, I did see today that "Lab in a box" has recently received MBIE funding to construct and transport a lab in a container that will be delivered to rural schools.  Along with House of Science, it seems that a lot of effort is going toward getting science in schools.

Te Kowhai School visit

Yesterday, three STLPs and I went to Te Kowhai school to visit Juliet (an ex fellow) and her class in their MLE.  

Juliet team teaches a class of 60 ish with another teacher. The day we visited the girls were in class working on Science stations and the boys were elsewhere preparing for their assembly that they were running.

My initial impressions were: the hum of activity, the engagement of the children and the interesting activities they were doing.  One group was observing and contrasting skulls (real ones on display) another group were watching a skull video on the class TV and then had a follow up activity to complete. 

My initial questions were:
How is the work monitored?
When are deliberate acts of teaching done?
How are priority learners catered for?

Dredged material sampling

On Wednesday I was lucky enough to join scientists from the CMFS who are taking samples prior, during and after the Port of Tauranga dredging project which will widen and deepen shipping channels.

Port of Tauranga dredging project 

We sampled at two places, and divers went down 18-20m to collect sediment.

This will then be sieved and analysed for animal matter and also trace metals.

Orca in Tauranga harbour entrance

While out sediment sampling today we kept coming across Orca!

House of Science PD

I have attended 2 sessions this term aimed at teachers of Y5-8 and teachers of Y0-4.

Chris had a great technique in the first session in which she got us to brainstorm all we knew about light. Lots of vocabulary came up such as the electromagnetic spectrum, refraction, prisms etc.  Chris preceded to tell us that this was all Y12 physics!  There was an almost audible sigh of relief and relaxing of shoulders in the room!

We discussed her mystery box and the mystery pottles in her NoS kit.

Some time spent discussing the speed of light versus sound and experiments in which you can pop a balloon at the far end of the field.  More information from Suzy's world

We explored with laser lights/mirrors and a coin in the bottom of a cup to discover the properties of light such as it can move in a straight line and that changes in speed cause the light to change direction (refraction).

A related activity on the science learning hub is about floundering and the best way to line up your spear.  I thought these would be fantastic interactive activities for our upcoming science expo.

Primary Science Week 2015

2015 is the International Year of Light.  

Many schools and organisations around the country have been celebrating with light lessons in class and PD for teachers.

John Marsh of Tauranga Intermediate School has hosted workshops all week. Tuesday's session was based on the Science Capabilities and a website he has created with explanations of these and links to lessons which relate to these.

Science Capability site

He spoke of consumers being bombarded with products and services

See NZ Science Teacher for articles on capabilities and "science talk".  This directed me to the ARBs.  These have been redeveloped with NoS and Capabilities in mind and also link to BSC and MBS books.

His thoughts on the capabilities:

1.  Gather and interpret data
is it measurable?
observation/inference
Jurassic Park example (Footsteps in the sand) in which you can judge the speed of a dinosaur based on its footsteps

2.  Use evidence
mystery boxes - What's in them?
What do you already know?  This reminds me of...

3.  Critiquing evidence
Tree Octopus example  the site looks plausible, internet does not get peer reviewed or sued!  Published material can.

Using science ideas/advertising to sell products such as colonic irrigation...

4. Interpreting data
portrayed as good science
NZ example is Ribena

5.  Engage with science
How Wolves change rivers in Yellowstone Park
Where do you get your information from and how do you verify it?
Innoculation debate and links to autism
related to the notion of certainty and scientists are never certain!
risk taking and informed decision making to reduce risk

general public know more now and more discerning and demanding
Who is saying it and why?
Do they have a vested interest?
Decisions about own and others health, when balancing risk there is no definite right/wrong answer (does this also relate to the capability 3 critiquing evidence in which not all questions can be answered by science?")
Nuclear is now the clean fuel in Europe but there are risks involved
Hydro electric is clean versus damage to ecosystem and cost involved
NZ water cleanliness standard is "wadeable" due to Dairy industry influence



The capabilites are rich with discussion opportunities.  Another real life issue is the 1080 debate. Do the benefits of eradicating possum outweigh the numbers of native and  non native species in the forest also being killed?

John also had a variety of activities set up which investigated the properties of light.

My favourite was this simple activity which demonstrates the concept of refraction.  I might set this up at our Science Expo in Term 3 for parents to try. This is also an example of a discrepant event - something which does not turn out as expected.

The second workshop I attended was based on 101 science activities which can be done with a piece of string.  These included pendulums, paper cup telephones, instruments, newton's cradle, centripetal and centrifugal force, capillary action.

The gems I took away from these workshops were the importance of discrepant events to engage and invoke curiosity and also the ease with which we can use a few simple items to demonstrate science concepts.  With a few well thought out questions we can then extend these activities to build on NoS concepts and science capabilities.

Core sediment sampling in estuary

Julien kindly let me tag along to see the sampling process he undertakes.  By now he has it down to a fine art!

The equipment is heavy and fragile so we had to park as close to the site as possible.

Aluminium pipe was hammered into the ground which collected the sample as it went down.  A tripod was then set up with a block and tackle to pull the pipe out again.

A second sample was taken to ensure reliability of results.  (Capability - supporting ideas with evidence)  We then packed up and cleaned the equipment. The sample has been split in half in order for it to dry then it can be analysed for trace metals.

Curriculum Day 2 Part 2

Nation of Curious Minds is about connecting, linking and networking

Possibility of visiting Carol B (past fellow) at Hampton Hill Primary School to see how she is integrating science

Dual role of scientists - creators AND crtiquers of claims

big groups encourage disengaging and make it difficult for individuals to be heard

Characteristics of good evidence are:
reliability
replicability
accuracy

Assessment - Alice

Why?

Helps kids' learning
improves teaching

What?

Content
Application of content (use it)
Science inquiry skills (capabilities)

Lester Flockton 2009

Scientific drawings
annotated drawings

no template given and often no exemplar meaning children share their new perspective of the world

Air teaching ideas (umbrella behind runner, balloons holding table, tissue in cup in tub of water which doesn't get wet)

Expo/Masterchef
authentic audience

WALT that about

Capabilities expand NoS, a way of teaching NoS

Yesterday we did ... , today we are doing...

Yesterday we collected data, today we are going to use it

Co constructions can be useful

"What does ... look like?"

Austin's Butterfly

coke bottle clouds

Curriculum Day #2 30.04.15

Richard Hall from Stonehenge Aotearoa

"Not knowing stuff is awesome"  quote from scientist Jenn bumped into

In the 19th C some countries will still marked as "unknown" in encyclopedias

Science -speculation, theory, fact
Belief/Faith - spirituality, religon, mysticism, magic

Science Capability - Critiquing Evidence (Not all questions can be answered by science)
Full moon is linked to increased crime

world was uncertain for early humans apart form the stars
untouchable thus the realm of the gods
Great Bear Constellation - plough
Star signs initially marked important events happening in lives ie.  Matariki

Earth maintains its tilt thus the same seasons at the same point in its orbit

Time keeping important for farming, migration, navigation (Kupe)

Story telling
throughout most of history there has been no written word
stories are a way of encoding knowledge
Kupe's octopus - ocean current

Children trained from 4-puberty to be a living book

Word meanings change
virgin - wise woman

Mythology interweave supernatural, facts and symbolism

Visuals are worth the time they take to prepare in powerpoint presentations

Portents (celestial signs) herald important events

If you can read the sky you can understand the mind of god!

the word month comes from moon
Maori use lunar calendar
European solar 

Menstrual cycle, lunar calendar, moon usually a feminine symbol

Land of the long white cloud - at statioary clouds form over landmasses

fish hook -symbol of teacher
cast hook, don't tell everything

Lots of good einstein quotes

Curriculum Day 1 - 29.04.15

NoS: knowledge ABOUT science
Context:  knowledge created by science

Science fair tends to consumer testing

Try Padlet - for brainstorming in class

Reading about science is not the same as doing science, testing the real world is the final arbiter of claims

BSC and MBS are a one stop shop for resources, especially for addressing misconceptions
google, children's non fiction to build Teacher content knowledge

Capability 2 - Thinking with Evidence

Kahoot - free online quiz (used after treasure hunt activity, could work well for staff PD)

NEMP - National Education Monitoring Project, could be useful for assessment ideas and PD

What did you do first? What happened at the end?  What happened in the middle?

What did you have at the start?  At the end?  In the middle?

Baking soda in tissue in bottle with cork

Berocca in water in film canister

Baking soda + citric acid+ icing sugar

 Demonstrating the Moon orbiting the Earth and how the Sun's light appears on the moon.
Some people think....how could we test this?

Demonstrating a caldera using a balloon in flour.  A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters.