Primary Science Lecture 3: Materials and Processes

1. Essex Primary SCITT Primary Science Course Lecture 3

2. Review of last time • To develop trainees’ knowledge and understanding about materials, including: • materials and their properties; • solids, liquids, gases; • particle theory; • effect of heating and cooling; • change of state; • dissolving. • To develop trainees’ knowledge and understanding of the process skills of observing and questioning • To learn how to plan a practical science activity, including how to organise the classroom so that this can be done safely

3. Feedback from last time • Go outside every lecture • More suggestions for where to find resources • More activities matched to year groups • Specific Early Years activity ideas • Watch Jeremy teach a science lesson

4. Aims for today • To develop trainees’ knowledge and understanding about materials, including: • irreversible change and the formation of new materials, including changes associated with the action of acid on bicarbonate of soda. • To develop trainees understanding of formative assessment and how to use this to assess children’s knowledge and understanding • To learn how to plan and organise an investigation activity (fair test), including developing knowledge and understanding of the process skills of questioning, hypothesising and predicting, and planning for fair testing • Watch Jeremy teach a ‘WOW’ lesson • Explore, compare, classify and investigate a range of common materials (including rocks and soils)

5. Show and tell • Briefly share your experiences based on a science activity you have observed or taken part in since our last lecture.

6. Revision - Change of state SolidLiquidGas Heat added Vaporisation Evaporation Heat added Melting Heat removed Freezing Heat removed Condensation

7. Melted or dissolved? • Common child misconception – dissolving and melting are the same thing. • Melting – involves only one material. Solid turns to liquid by heating alone. • Dissolving – involves the mixing of different substances. More of a solid will dissolve if heat energy is added.

8. Dissolving and evaporating a. b. c. d.

9. The effect of heat on dissolving • Salt has a crystal latticestructure. • There is more energy in hot water, so there is more energy available to break up the crystalline structure. The water molecules are more agitated and there is more motion inside the liquid. • The solubility of salt is also greater in hot water as the water molecules are more agitated, which creates higher intermolecular space and hence more space to hold more sugar. • The salts breaks up into individual molecules.

10. Why can’t we see it? • Start with a single grain of salt. Divide it into a billion equal-sized pieces, and then divide just one of those billion pieces into a billion equal-sized pieces. If you do this carefully, each of those smallest pieces will be the size of a single molecule of sodium chloride, the substance we call salt.

11. How many atoms are in a grain of salt? • On average, a grain of table salt (Sodium Chloride, NaCl) has a mass of about 100µg (one ten-thousandth of a gram). • The number of molecules in a substance can be deduced through Avogadro's number, 6.022 x 1023 molecules per mole of compound. • So, first we convert to moles: the molecular weight of salt is 58.44 grams per mole, so there are 1.71 x 10-6 moles per grain. • If we multiply this by Avogadro's number, we get 1.03 x 1018 molecules of NaCl per grain of table salt. • That's about one quintillion, or one billion billion molecules in a single grain of salt.

12. Dissolving – some definitions • Dissolve – when a solid becomes evenly dispersed in a liquid. Particle size at molecule level or smaller. • Solvent – a substance that has the power of dissolving. • Solute – a dissolved substance. • Solution – a mixture of a liquid and one or more dissolved substance. • Insoluble – cannot be dissolved. • Suspension – a solid suspended in a liquid (sand in water) or gas (smoke in air). Solid will settle over time.

13. Other ways to separate substances • Sieving • to separate solid particles of different sizes. • Distillation • to separate liquids that turn to gas at different temperatures. • Chromatography • to separate 2 liquids that have the same boiling point. The different components are separated by differential diffusion across filter paper.

14. Properties and changes of materials Pupils should be taught to: • explain that some changes result in the formation of new materials, and that this kind of change is not usually reversible • common changes include those associated with burning, rusting (oxidisation) and reactions, for example vinegar with bicarbonate of soda • use knowledge of solids, liquids and gases to decide how mixtures might be separated, including through filtering, sieving and evaporating

15. Which solids react with which liquids? Liquids • sugar solution • lemon juice • water • vinegar Solids • bicarbonate of soda • dried yeast • Alka-Seltzer • concrete How could children record what they observed? http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/index.html

16. Physical and Chemical changes • Physical change • no new substances formed • change is usually reversible • there may have been a change of state (e.g. ice to water) or shape (e.g. broken glass). • Chemical change • new substances formed • the original substances cannot be got back • gas may be produced • change is usually irreversible (e.g. yeast/sugar solution, fried egg, cake, rusted metal, burnt wood)

17. Separating mixtures How could these mixtures be separated? • rice and pasta shapes • paper clips and sawdust • flour and rice • sand and water

18. Assessing children’s progress Does the pig get heavier because you weigh it frequently?

19. Formal or informal? • Formal assessment – This is planned for and is usually recorded in some way by the teacher or child. • Informal assessment – Teachers carry this out as they work, every minute of every day. It may not be specifically planned for and may not be recorded.

20. Types of assessment Assessment has 4 main functions. It informs … • the teacher about planning for future teaching – formative • children about their own learning and progress – formative • subsequent teachers about children’s learning and progress – summative • parents about learning and progress - summative

21. Formative assessment • Formative assessment enables the teacher to find out which aspects of a concept or skill a child has acquired and which concepts or skills need further development. • This will then inform the next step in teaching the children; it also informs children about their own progress. • It is best done by both teachers and children so children know where they are with their learning and feel ownership of it.

22. Why use formative assessment before teaching a unit? • Teachers need to know what their children understand and how they learn before they begin to teach them. • This avoids wasteful repetition on tasks that are easily achievable or teaching children ideas and skills that are beyond their ability to learn. • The teacher can measure at the end of the unit how much of what has been taught has resulted in learning for each child.

23. Why use formative assessment during a lesson? • Teachers can address misconceptions or adjust the challenge of the work to suit the whole class, specific groups or individuals by constantly assessing how successfully children are learning during the lesson. • By checking pupils’ understanding systematically and effectively in lessons, and by giving clearly directed and timely support, teachers can provide pupils with incisive feedback. • What does the teacher need to do in the lesson for this to be most effective?

24. Using formative assessment after teaching a lesson • After a lesson the teacher should consider if: • the level of challenge and rate of learning was appropriate; • the teaching strategies used and classroom organisation were effective; • there needs to be any modifications to any of the above for the next lesson.

25. Approaches to Science Assessment inEnglish Primary Schools • Read the summary report • What are the key messages? http://www.bathspa.ac.uk/Media/Education/ASAEPS%20teachers%20FULL.pdf

26. Drawing explanatory diagrams • What happens when a drop of water is put onto a piece of paper, card, tissue? • Give little, if any, guidance on how children should record their thinking. • Encourage them to record in the way that makes most sense to them. • Analyse for science vocabulary, predictions, explanations compared to accepted scientific facts.

27. Completing/labelling diagrams Water balloon sponge

28. Concept cartoons/pictures • Talking about cartoons/pictures is a useful way for children to talk about their ideas. • This type of assessment activity shows children that science is not just straight facts, it can be a matter of opinion and is certainly not straightforward! • A thorough discussion will enable the teacher to get a clear picture of what the class understand about the scientific concept.

29. What do you think? They will keep them cold and stop them melting. Don’t put coats on them. They will melt. I don’t think the coats will make any difference.

30. Simple Assessment (or recording) Recording findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts, and tables

31. Assessment (Recording) Recording findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts, and tables

32. Assessment (Recording) Recording findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts, and tables

33. Word association – concept map • Word association is the most basic form of enabling children to record what they know about a particular concept. • Concept maps allow children to demonstrate how different areas of knowledge are linked. • It shows connections between apparently unrelated aspects of understanding.

34. Word association • Write the word ‘dissolving’ – what do you link/associate with that word? dissolving

35. Concept Maps • Children are asked to connect a wider range of words. • Younger/less able children can be given pictures and arrows to arrange and discuss. They can write words on the arrows for further explanation. • Another stage is to give children several words written on a piece of paper and cards with words which the children use to make links with the words on the sheet.

36. Observing/assessing practical work • This will usually give the teacher the most rounded view of children’s skills and understanding as it is carried out as children are working. • Teachers must ensure that they organise sessions in such a way that their time is spent working with children and not organising resources. • Ofsted describe this as: Teachers checking pupils’ understanding systematically and effectively in lessons, offering clearly directed and timely support.

37. Investigating – Fair Testing Does jelly dissolve in water?

38. Working scientifically – Years 5 and 6 Pupils should be taught to use the following practical scientific methods, processes and skills through the teaching of the programme of study content: • planning different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables where necessary • taking measurements, using a range of scientific equipment, with increasing accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings when appropriate • recording data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs

39. Working scientifically – Years 5 and 6 • using test results to make predictions to set up further comparative and fair tests • reporting and presenting findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal relationships and explanations of and degree of trust in results, in oral and written forms such as displays and other presentations • identifying scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or arguments.

40. Investigating – Fair testingA step by step approach for teaching • Ask a question • Model testing the question • Generate different ideas • Change one factor • Keep all other factors the same • Carry out the investigation • Measure or observe the effect it has on something and record your findings • Analyse the data • Draw sensible and appropriate conclusions

41. Investigating – Dissolving jelly • Ask “I wonder if I can make jelly dissolve in water.” • Model dissolving jelly. • Ask “I wonder what we could do that might make a difference to the time for the jelly to dissolve.” • Give children time to think of ideas. • Scaffold thinking about ideas if necessary e.g. • I took the water, not hot, not cold. • I poured it in the pot, not a drop, not a lot. • Convert ideas that are not useful into meaningful ones e.g. • “We could try coke or milk.” becomes “Change the type of liquid.” • Write ideas on yellow post-its and decide what to change. • Write what to measure on a green post-it.

42. Analysing questions Anne Goldsworthy says … • If we want pupils to suggest ideas for an investigation and develop their enquiry skills we must ask questions where they can choose either what to change or what to measure or both (Questions with a ‘No’). • Once pupils have chosen what to do, their question should identify both what to change and what to measure (questions with ‘Yes/Yes’).

43. Analysing questions

44. A planning board for a fair test Yellow post-it (Key variable) Green post-it (Key variable) We will change We will measure or observe the effect it has on We will keep these things the same to make it fair Yellow post-it Yellow post-it Yellow post-it Yellow post-it Yellow post-it Yellow post-it

45. Teaching what ‘Fair test’ means Anne Goldsworthy suggests playing “That’s not fair!” • For example, when dissolving jelly … • Suggest adding 3 cubes of jelly to one jar and a tiny amount to another jar. • Dissolve one cube in a bucket of hot water and one in a glass of cold water.

46. Jeremy teaching • The lesson will be the children’s weekly ‘WOW’ science lesson. • Teaching will focus on: • Asking a question • Modelling observation skills • Setting a task to enable children to use their observation skills • Asking children to record their observations • Refining observations skills • Predicting • Observing a final cause and effect activity

47. Our table of results for a fair test What we change What we measure Yellow post-it Green post-it

48. Using tables for recording • Make sure children understand what ‘table’ means in a science sense. • Teach them how to use them and understand the information on them. Time to dissolve (seconds) Why did they write (seconds) in the time to dissolve column? How many jellies were tested? Type of jelly Rowntrees jelly 45 If you had another jelly to test where would you put the name? Sainsburys jelly 57 Where should you put the new measurements you make? Asda jelly 39

49. Repeat readings • Doing repeat readings gives us a better idea of the more likely result (not the right answer!). • If we had only done one reading how confident would we be that the result was reliable? • If we did one more test what do you think would be the most likely result?

50. Our table of results for a fair test What we change What we measure Yellow post-it Green post-it 1st 2nd 3rd Mean