Forces and Light Enquiry School Project

1. Forces and LightEnquiry School Project How can we improve our science/technology teaching to make it more child-centred, creative, imaginative and less teacher directed Brian Egles March 2011 brian.egles@bjpce.co.uk 07785 527324

2. Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch

3. Initial preparation Make a large lighthouse

4. Magnets • Find the strongest magnet: • Weigh what they can lift (meccano) • Use scales and 10g – 1kg weights • Make electromagnets (in 3s): • What makes them stronger? • Compare the ones they made

5. Magnets - notes • What went well? • Concept of strength (not size) of magnet • Electromagnet building in 3s • Scales with weights in 10g increments • Interest levels high • What needed changing? • Not enough scales to start with (need 1 per table) • Ferrite magnets are strongest but brittle • Need more metal to lift as team sharing hard

6. Finding magnets Reed switch circuit Ready to assemble Assembled and tested Find “underwater” magnets And plot them on a chart Make a boat Fit the circuit

7. Finding magnets - notes • What went well? • Idea of reed switches • Ready-to-assemble circuits with connectors • Hiding magnets and Jenga to avoid feeling • A chart is not a picture • What needed changing? • Separate group finding magnets worked best • Others then needed occupying • Bulbs blowing (~30% but old)

8. Springs Each team shows and tests Build Mr Grinling’s Springy Safety System Any design you like Not all successful

9. Springs - notes • What went well? • Very open ended task • Lots of things are springy (cut bottles, flat) • Huge enthusiasm for the real egg drop test • Great “2 stars and a wish” feedback in groups • Good range of results (broken, cracked, intact) • What needed changing? • One group needed 20 minutes “sharing help” • More larger springs would be good • Be very clear what is not allowed (cotton wool?)

10. Pulleys (Knex) Build a pulley system to get Mr Grinling’s lunch across the gap between 2 tables (teams of 5)

11. Pulleys - notes • What went well? • Knex experts helped the novices well • Perseverance when not as easy as it seemed • Enough to do (pulleys, baskets, structures) • Pre-prepared “fair bags” of Knex • Use Jenga blocks as the sandwiches • What needed changing? • Hoped to use big lighthouse but tables safer • Teams wanted to steal larger pieces from others

12. Lighthouse making Give teams of 2-3 the parts to make a “Pringles tube” lighthouse with a switch. Let them choose coloured acetate to make theirs different in the dark Can you identify yours?

13. Lighthouse making - notes • What went well? • Pre-prepared kit of parts, drilled Pringles tubes • Good “why is mine not working” problem solving • Sense of achievement • The “find my lighthouse” game they(?) invented • What needed changing? • Several found wiring fiddly and needed adult help • Would making the circuit “flat” first help?

14. Prisms and reflections Line a tube with black paper and cut slits in some card. Make a lightbox by shining a torch through the slits. Draw the light rays as they reflect off mirrors and refract through various prisms/lenses

15. Prisms & reflections - notes • What went well? • Some groups did very well, good drawings • Good introduction to reflection/refraction • What needed changing? • Too much messing about with lenses/prisms • Some groups drew very little • More prisms would be good but are expensive • Round lenses/mirrors unsuitable – need flat base • Hard to get room dark enough • Probably better as a small group activity

16. Water rockets 2 x 2l carbonated drink bottles Cereal card for fins A4 thin card and clay for nose

17. Water rockets - notes • What went well? • Very exciting • Teaches that careful build = good result • What needed changing? • Should stress importance of even spacing on fins Not really practical to run without Satro support

18. Telescopes Use kits to test objective lens onto a paper screen held over end. Then add eyepiece for real thing. Look at near + far for focus and read upside down

19. Telescopes - notes • What went well? • Telescopes work pretty well • Use of transparent screen first is good • What needed changing? • Only a short activity (1 hour), do not spin it out • Hard to hold steady to read, put elbows on desk

20. Overall thoughts … • Children loved it • Some learning is very high level • Interested to know the effect it has afterwards • Theme is good but requires “forced fit” • Creative partnerships process is rather drawn out and “project timescale” feels constraining • Teamworking skills are growing

21. Clever Invents things Creative Fun Experiments New thing every day Things happen Funny Silly Makes potions Happy Serious Discovers things Strange Bonkers Crazy Expert Thinks of loads of things Kind Helps people Brave Cheerful Excellent Weird Pupils “What is a scientist”

22. You need skill Fantastic Wonderful Super Wow Wikid Despicably awesome Unbelievable Don’t have to write about it Interesting Learning Cool Utterly awesome Beautiful Exciting Fun Terrific Brilliant Fabulous Inventive I like to learn whilst making One of my favourite things Tempting to do it again “What I think of science now”

23. Pupil Feedback Most popular and why • Water rockets (exciting, team names, outside) • Small lighthouse making Least popular and why • Knex pulleys (team disagreements) • Telescopes (not enough to do) • Magnets (not exciting enough) Preference for smaller groups (2s, 3s). Like to decorate everything (especially the girls)