YEAR 1 NETWORK: SCIENCE 17th MAY 2016

Aims of session To understand the scientific enquiry process To provide an overview of the requirements for science in year 1 To consider progression in scientific enquiry To apply this to your planning

Why is enquiry important? Engages children Gateway to scientific knowledge Understanding and retaining knowledge Core to primary teaching Enthusiasm and curiosity that builds the scientists of the future Builds the skills that they will (hopefully) need in secondary school Score 2011: Too much science is illustrative and not investigative. We are teaching students to be sheep rather then shepherds.

The scientific enquiry process

Difference between enquiry types and enquiry skills Observing over time  Identifying and classifying  Pattern seeking / survey  Research (using secondary sources) Testing (fair testing / comparative testing) Problem solving Enquiry skills Questioning skills Predicting Measuring Recording of data Ability to interpret findings

The scientific enquiry process is … Observe and explore the world around them. Explain/record the findings Ask questions based on the exploration/observation Answer the question (if possible) and look for patterns Consider how you could find out the answer to your question. Collect evidence to answer the question and consider how good it is

What the National Curriculum says…

Key Stage 1 requirements

Teacher assessment Supported by 2016 teacher assessment exemplification

Year 1 network science milestones

The scientific enquiry process

Exploring – Do limes and lemons float in the same way? The thrill of exploration Discuss this in your groups. Do not touch any of the equipment yet! Do you agree or disagree with each other? Can you base your prediction around scientific knowledge or prior experience?

Mini investigation – Do limes and lemons float in the same way? Exploratory learning model Based around the power of talk The excitement of exploration The need to explain what we observe. Most importantly the importance of allowing pupils the opportunity to go back to their learning. To dig deeper into their learning independently. Ofsted: curiosity in science 2015: ‘Teachers are keener to cover the content than develop independently curious pupils who can think for themselves’

Science enquiry types It’s not just a fair test! Observing over time  Identifying and classifying  Pattern seeking / survey  Research (using secondary sources) Testing (fair testing / comparative testing) Example of blowing up a balloon

Fit the question to the right enquiry type! Testing (fair or comparative) Survey Classifying Observing Research Problem solving How far does the car go on a steeper ramp? Which materials are attracted to magnets? How can you make a flashing lighthouse? How do different surfaces affect friction? Do planets get bigger the further away they are from the sun? What will happen to a bean seed over three weeks? Is the grass longer in the shade? Do people with bigger thumbs take longer to do up buttons? What differences are there between these animals?

Progression (of scientific knowledge)

Progression of scientific enquiry What is progression in year 1 science? Building independence Ofsted: curiosity in science 2015: Science achievement is highest when pupils are fully involved in planning, carrying out and evaluating their own learning’. Encouraging pupil discussion and debate Introducing different types of recording Where come from? Knowledge and understanding of world in EYFS

EARLY LEARNING GOAL 14 Expected: The world: pupils know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. They talk about the features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another. They make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur, and talk about changes. Exceeding: They know the properties of some materials and can suggest some of the purposes they are used for. They are familiar with basic scientific concepts such as floating, sinking, experimentation.

Example: identifying and classifying This is when you sort objects or living things into groups Magnetic Non-magnetic Are we really teaching the children to work scientifically or just knowledge?

How is this activity encouraging progression? Letting children select own sorting criteria: obvious at first, then have to observe closely and think about properties (independence) Use to assess prior knowledge as well as encourage collaborative working Emphasis on encouraging scientific talk Lots of possible extensions (recording): Carroll or Venn Diagrams Yes/No games encouraging questioning Branching database

The scientific enquiry process

Enquiry and Progression Year 1 milestones are an excellent basis Are there any omissions? Think about enquiry types and enquiry skills Consider overall context of progression in primary: encouraging greater independence in all aspects of enquiry process opportunities for talk variety of recording

Enquiry and Progression A few challenges for you: How can you introduce exploration into your current topic? Are you providing opportunities for children to use a range of enquiry types and develop their enquiry skills? What opportunities do you give the children to generate follow-up questions? How much independence are you giving the children? Try mapping out the year 1 units so that know which enquiry types will be developed in which topics

Year 1 science enquiry planning chart

Difference between fair and comparative tests Comparative and fair test enquiries enable children to explore relationships between different variables. In simple comparative tests children compare one event with another and identify different outcomes. For example, does the red car go faster than the green car? In more sophisticated comparative tests children will compare several different materials, events  or artefacts, controlling conditions and variables to ensure validity. For example, finding out which is  best material for mopping up spilt water, when children will control the size of each material and the time given to soak up the water, so that they can rank the materials according to absorbency.  In order to demonstrate  a causal relationship between two variables children carry out a fair test . For a fair test they   identify a variable that can be changed and measured , and test  the effect changing it has on  another, while keeping the other variables the same. For example, how does changing the height of a ramp affect how quickly a toy car rolls down it, where the type of car, the surface of the ramp, and other relevant variables are kept the same. Children can answer questions by collecting data to identify, and then explain, the causal relationship between the variables. Fair tests are only suitable when variables are continuous and can be changed e.g. surface area of parachute ;  comparative tests are used when categoric variable are compared e.g. material  parachute is made from  .  Neither is suitable when we can’t change something in a systematic way (e.g. experiments on humans or the weather). In these situations other types of enquiries need to be used.