WHAT
HAPPENS
IF ...?
previously begun in their food
and nutrition topic. Although the
children could not be involved
in our planning, we knew that
for them to have a sense of
ownership of the lesson and to be
motivated, the activity needed to
be open-ended (Kempa and Dias,
1990).
As visiting teachers we were
aware of what the class had
already covered in this topic;
however, we did not know what
the individual children actually
understood. An advantage of
planning and teaching an openended investigation was that
all the children could explore
science concepts at their own
level while undertaking the same
activity. Also, the wide range of
knowledge and skills the children
had obtained both inside and
outside school could be combined
and applied within the context of
this investigation. This included,
among others, the knowledge
of how to make jelly, reversible
and irreversible reactions and the
different properties of solids and
liquids.
Why make a jelly volcano?
The purpose of the lesson was
for children to use process skills
to investigate the effects of
combining different solid and
liquid ingredients and to choose
the most appropriate ingredients
to create a jelly volcano. This
context was meaningful for the
children because
they were familiar
with the everyday
ingredients to
be used in the
lesson and had
aving spent an afternoon
the final fortnight of a busy term. gained some
understanding,
poring over recipe books, The challenge for us as student
through
intently discussing ideas
teachers was to plan a child-led,
with your young fellow chefs and science-focused lesson that would secondary
information
trying to plan a school menu that excite and engage these children
sources,
would tantalise the taste buds of
until their time came to shine in
of how
the youngest reception child and the kitchen.
their model of an
your vegetarian best friend, all
Why
plan
an
open-ended
erupting volcano should look and
you want to do in the next lesson
investigation?
sound (Johnston, 1998).
is to don your paper chef’s hat
The school we were working
In mixed-attainment
and start cooking. Imagine your
in had an established ethos of
groups, the children worked
feelings when you are told that
systematically to identify five
the kitchen is only big enough for involving children in their own
learning and allowed them to
white cooking powders (icing
half the class and you first have
sugar, caster sugar, cornflour,
to spend three hours undertaking contribute their ideas to the
planning of units of learning. Our flour and bicarbonate of soda)
a science investigation in the
from how they react with
classroom. This was the reality for planning was based on what the
class teacher and children had
water (Figure 1). Children then
sixteen 10- and 11- year-olds in
Teaching students Louise Brazil,
Jennifer Curtis, Rachel Grayer and
Ruth Henry share the planning and
teaching of an open-ended science
investigation
H
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Jan/Feb 2011
31
what happens if...?
Figure 1 (right) An example of
the observations the children
made on the white powders
Figure 2 (below right) ‘I learnt
that when you set the jelly
and you put a banana in it,
the banana goes mouldy after
two days.’
Figure 3 (below) ‘It is half
solid and half liquid’ was one
child’s description of jelly
input were of equal value to
those of the adults. This helped to
to them and what might yet
develop a classroom atmosphere
happen, that we decided to use
in which children felt safe and
our pre-made jellies for the final
able to offer their ideas without
explosions so as not to destroy
fear of repercussions (Harlen
the learning potential their own
identified which powder would
jellies provided. The class teacher and Qualter, 2009). For example,
produce the ‘volcanic fizz’ when
when the children laughed
capitalised on the children’s
mixed with vinegar. This was
as they attempted to describe
enthusiasm and continued the
followed by a discussion about
in words how the ingredients
investigation in the classroom
what happens to cause the
looked or felt (‘sort of squashy’,
over the course of the week.
‘volcanic fizz’ and why some
‘furry’), we encouraged them by
The fact that the children’s
of the other powders reacted in
saying that ‘unscientific’ words
interest held was shown in their
the way they did. Ideas from the
were acceptable because we have
children ranged from: ‘Bicarbonate comments a fortnight later – see
a shared understanding of what
Figure 2.
of soda explodes with vinegar, so it
these words mean.
must crackle with water’ to a more
Creating an atmosphere
By using open-ended
precise ‘Bicarbonate of soda creates
for learning
questioning in our lesson, we
a gas and fizzes. It is a chemical
When we arrived at the school,
were able to elicit the children’s
reaction’.
our first task was to rearrange
ideas to help us understand what
Making the jellies
the classroom to ensure that
experiences they had already had
Originally we had planned to
all the children had an equal
and what we needed to develop
pre-make the jelly; however, we
opportunity to take part in the
through further discussion.
realised that the children would
lesson. We arranged the chairs
Questioning also played a big
benefit from being involved in
in a circle so that a full group
part in exposing misconceptions;
the activity from the start and
discussion could easily take place we would never have known how
making the jelly themselves. In
(Corden, 2006). This arrangement they had constructed the world
true ‘Blue Peter’ style, we still took also meant the whole-class
in their minds without hearing
in our pre-made jellies in case the transition from sitting in the
their responses. For example,
children’s did not have time to set! circle to working in groups was
one child was asked what had
To our surprise, the children were made smoothly. As the adults sat happened to the sugar when it
so engaged with the jellies they
in the circle as well, this showed
was mixed with water. The child
had made, what had happened
the children that their ideas and
responded ‘it has disappeared’, to
32
Primary Science 116
Jan/Feb 2011
what happens if...?
which another child replied ‘no
it has dissolved’. Although they
were aware of this vocabulary,
we needed to question further to
find out what they understood by
the terms. This further probing
enhanced our own understanding
of the children and their ideas, and
helped the children to clarify their
own knowledge.
What unexpected learning
took place?
As expected, the children were
able to discuss and represent
the properties of solids, liquids
and gases. This prior learning
was extended as the children
grappled with how to classify
the jelly in its set state and some
of the cooking powder mixtures:
‘Jelly changes state. It’s hard to keep
on a spoon. If it’s not a solid, liquid
or gas, what is it?’ (Figure 3). This
was an example of differentiation
by outcome, as some children
were able to make the connection
that the cornflour mixture was
‘jelly-like’, while others attempted
to explain and draw what was
happening using their knowledge
of particles.
The interest children showed in
exploring jelly and the questions
they raised in our elicitation
activity were both far beyond
our expectations. We expected
children to investigate whether
jelly set more quickly when hot
or cold water was added but,
by allowing an open-ended
investigation, the children were
able to satisfy their curiosity and
generate their own ideas. For
example, what would happen
when they added carrots,
lemonade, washing-up liquid and
bananas (‘We put banana in our jelly
to see if it melts but it has floated to
the top and has turned into flakes!’)
and when they tried to set the jelly
in the microwave and the freezer.
Of course, we could never
have planned for this level
of imagination, but by using
their knowledge of their own
classroom and school they were
able to experiment with familiar
resources that were meaningful
to them. As the children’s ideas
about properties and changes of
state were being challenged, it
was important for them to explore
these concepts first hand, in a
familiar setting and on their own
terms, in order for them to be
ready to restructure their existing
ideas (Harlen and Qualter, 2009).
By giving children the freedom
to play with ideas and make
mistakes, the investigation became
How to make a jelly volcano
more relevant and purposeful
to them and this enriched the
learning experience (Oliver, 2006).
Implications for openended teaching
We certainly learned that
open-ended investigations are
particularly effective for renewing
children’s enthusiasm in science,
as well as developing their
scientific enquiry skills. With the
current focus on holistic teaching
and learning, we wanted to
allow children time and space
to describe, test and scrutinise
their ideas. We found that an
open-ended science investigation
can provide them with such an
opportunity.
Judging by the comments from
the children’s self-evaluations
of the cooking and science
investigation sessions, both proved
to have the necessary ingredients
to make for fun and challenging
learning experiences!
References
Corden, R. (2006) Managing group work. In Learning to teach in the primary school, ed. Arthur, J.,
Grainger, T. and Wray, D. pp. 118–135. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Harlen, W. and Qualter, A. (2009) The teaching of science in primary schools. 5th edn. London: David Fulton.
Johnston, J. (1998) Learning science in the early years. In ASE guide to primary science education, ed. Sherrington, R. pp. 76–82. Cheltenham, Stanley Thornes.
Kempa, R. F. and Dias, M. M. (1990) Students’ motivational traits and preferences for different instructional modes in science education. International Journal of Science Education, 12, 195–216.
You will need:
Making the jelly volcano
water
cooking oil
jelly cubes or powder
bicarbonate of soda
vinegar
1 Once set, turn the jelly out on
to a plate.
Making the jelly
1 Grease a bowl or jelly mould
lightly with oil to prevent the
set jelly from sticking.
2 Empty jelly powder or jelly
cubes into another bowl and
mix with water according to
the instructions on the packet.
[Safety: hot water]
3 Pour into the bowl or jelly
mould and leave to set.
Oliver, A. (2006) Creative teaching: science in the early years and primary classroom. London: David Fulton Publishers.
2 Scoop a 2–3 cm hole out of
the top of the jelly to make a
crater.
3 Put 2 tablespoonfuls of
bicarbonate of soda into the
crater.
4 Pour 20–30 cm3 of vinegar on
to the bicarbonate of soda.
5 Stand back and watch the
volcano erupt!
Louise Brazil, Jennifer Curtis,
Rachel Grayer and Ruth Henry
are second-year students
on the BA (Hons) Primary
Education (Science Specialism)
programme at The University
of Winchester. Email:
[email protected]
[Safety: strictly no eating!]
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