TEACHING THE TEACHERS
1. We go to TQ to observe a teachers course. Techniquest provides the course for nursery school teachers who want to learn about teaching science to pupils. I'm not sure how the course is funded (i.e. is it a course that teachers and/or schools have to pay for, or is it part of the educational remit of Techniquest?)
2. We join the class at 1pm. Claire introduces us to members of the group, explaining that we are from Cardiff University and are doing a study of TQ.
3. Claire tells the class that there is no need to take notes as the first part of the lesson requires participation. She gets out a ball and throws it to one of the teachers. She asks the class to suggest other ways in which the ball might be moved around the room. A teacher heads the ball back to her.
4. The point of the demonstration is that there are three basic things that children at KS1 need to know about forces: Forces can 1) Push 2) Pull and 3) Deflect.
5. Next, the teachers are asked to explore various activities laid out across the lab. They are given worksheets and are asked to think of "appropriate questions which can be asked to help children develop their scientific understanding."
6. On table one there is some coloured spaghetti, yellow water (for blowing bubbles) and a bowl containing pink glue-like substance.
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7. On table two there is a wood woodpecker, a wooden train that runs down hill, marbles, pink cups.
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8. On table three there is a pool of water with "boats" floating on it. The boats are actually take-away boxes (like the ones used for hamburgers at MacDonald's ) They have blue balloons inside them.
9. On table four there are plastic bottles with straws in them.
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10. Running across the back of the room is a string with a balloon.
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11. When the teachers have tried all of the activities, they come back together for discussion. Claire says that the point of the air power activity is to demonstrate that "air can make things happen". One of the teachers says that the experiment with the floating magnets is good because many children don't know that magnets float underwater.
12. Claire says that "the nice thing about the spaghetti is that you can feel it." She talks about the "messiness" of the activities and the "squeezability factor".
IN THE EXHIBIT HALL
13. Claire directs the teachers to the exhibit hall to look at exhibits that demonstrate forces. Again, she asks the teachers to think of questions that would help children develop their scientific understanding. The teachers move round the exhibit hall in groups and spend a good deal of time exploring each exhibit on the list.
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BACK IN THE CLASS ROOM.
14. Sarah joins the class. We are told that they are two ways that one might introduce science to young school children. One, you can tell the class that you are about to conduct an experiment. (Sarah laboriously begins to outline a scientific experiment).Or, two, you make the experiment into a story with a fun task to complete at the end (Claire jumps in front of Sarah with a colander on a head and begins to tell a story that contains a hidden scientific principle).
15. In order to further explore this idea, the teachers are put into groups. Each group has a box of props. The group members must use the props to explore a given scientific question. I join a group that has a box of assorted tights and a bag of sugar. Their question is: "which tights are the stretchiest?" Their task is to tell a story that encourages children to answer the question.
16. The group develop the following story: A lady giant wanted to go to a party but all her tights were too small because they had been made for humans. She asked her sister to help her stretch the tights, in order to make them fit. The group members suggest that after the story has been told, the children can then be asked to assist in the pulling of the tights in order to test which is the stretchiest.
17. Another group has a box of magnets and pins, with the question: "which magnet is the strongest?" From these stimuli they develop the following story: A Japanese princess was getting ready for her wedding - but as with most Japanese children she didn't wear any shoes on her feet. The dress maker was putting the final touches to the wedding dress when disaster struck - she spilt her box of pins all over the floor! The Japanese bride couldn't move for fear of cutting her feet and the dressmaker needed to come up with a plan to pick up the pins as quickly as possible. Then she remembered that she had a magnet in her pocket, and so used the magnet to pick up the pins. But the magnet wasn't very strong and there were still lots of pins on the floor. The princess was going to be late! Luckily the dressmaker's son entered the room and so the dressmaker asked him to bring her a box full of magnets. When the story has been told, the children will be asked to try the different magnets in the box to see which one picks up the most pins.
Memos
18. The general message to the teachers seems to be that science can be tactile, messy and fun.
The other key point (unsaid) is that a lot of the activities are made from everyday objects (i.e. takeaway boxes, plastic bottles, corn flour) and are therefore easy to replicate in the classroom.