Teaching the ‘big ideas’ of physics through an Earth context

The ‘big ideas’ of physics Plan for the day Coffee/tea Welcome Physics through the window Sampling the KS3 and KS4 ‘Physics in an Earth context’ workshop activities and feeding back on them What are the ‘big ideas’ of physics that all children should know/understand? Lunch ‘Big ideas’ plenary - recording all suggestions Planning, testing, writing materials for a KS3 or KS4 activity for teaching the ‘big idea’ in an Earth/environment context Feedback on the activities Feedback on the day and ‘What next’ - sorting out the follow up Departure © The Earth Science Education Unit Copyright is waived for use of this PowerPoint within the laboratory or classroom. Copyright material contained herein from other publishers rests with them.

The ‘big ideas’ of physics Times Educational Supplement front page, 10th June 2005 Bill Bryson said "My only memory of science at school was of staring out of the window and waiting for it to be all over. I was completely bored by the teachers writing formulae on the board. Physics and chemistry are germane to everyone’s lives but the teachers always made them seem terribly remote"

The ‘big ideas’ of physics An Evaluative Study of Creative Science By Manchester Metropolitan University, Institute of Education Science in an Earth context: teaching the big ideas of science through an Earth perspective The impact on the participants was overwhelmingly positive. There are many reasons why this session buzzed, but it appears that the key reason was that they had to think and work things out for themselves, and in the process of thinking and talking to others and then seeing if their ideas worked in practice, they became more creative than they had imagined was possible. They were automatically being critical of their own ideas and the ideas of others. There was very little didactic input, yet expert information was transferred in indirect but more effective ways: 'I could never have believed it possible that we could have generated so many "new" ideas in so short a space of time.'

The ‘big ideas’ of physics What physics can you see from the window? - KS3 What physics can’t you see from the window? - KS4

The ‘big ideas’ of physics Sampling the KS3 and KS4 ‘Physics in an Earth Context’ workshop activities Sensing the Earth: teaching KS4 physics through an Earth context DIY Solar Eclipse Tsunami! Soil Resistance Modelling half life Rocks behaving as insulators Which is the fastest spreading ocean? Through the lab window to the world: teaching KS3 physics through an Earth context Heating and cooling the Earth Melting ice and sea level change Sounding the ocean floor How to stop an earthquake What is the Earth’s magnetic field like? How heavy was the dinosaur?

The ‘big ideas’ of physics What are the big ideas of Physics that all children should know/understand?

The ‘big ideas’ of physics ‘Big ideas’ plenary – recording all suggestions Planning, testing, writing materials for a KS3 or KS4 activity – for teaching the ‘big idea’ in an Earth/environment context Feedback on the activities Feedback on the day and ‘What next’ – sorting out the follow up.

The ‘big ideas’ of physics Suggested ‘quintessential’ stories that merit a place in the curriculum from Beyond 2000: science education for the future – a report with ten recommendations. Osborne, J and Millar, M (1998). London: King’s College. Available on:  the human body as a set of inter-related organ systems;  cells as basic building blocks;  adaptation of organisms;  life processes in plants;  mechanisms for passing characteristics from one generation to the next;  evolution by natural selection;  all matter being made of tiny particles;  chemical reactions as particle rearrangements;  different kinds of bonding;  the Earth’s movement relative to the Sun;  the structure of the Solar System;  the formation and evolution of the Earth;  the structure and evolution of the universe;  forces acting over long distances;  the causes of motion and its control;  the causes and direction of change, and  radiation, light and their interaction with matter.

The ‘big ideas’ of physics ‘Big ideas’ of physics that all children should know/understand include (from Hazel Healey, PGCE Physics tutor, Keele): Forces, friction and simple machines (levers, screws, inclined planes), efficiency and heat loss (Newton’s Laws?) Pressure Energy transfer (in relevant contexts) Heat transfer and insulation Basic electricity (series and parallel circuits, AC/DC, switches, transformer, ring main, fuses, earthing, relay Electrostatics (lightning, hair on end, shock off car, cleaning chimneys, photocopiers, inkjet printers, painting cars) Radiation – waves (radio astronomy, microwaves, etc.) Electromagnetic spectrum Sound (ultrasound) Radioactivity – (hospital/medical, industrial, smoke detectors, tracers, nuclear power) Optics (eye, refraction, correction of sight, microscopes, telescopes, binoculars) Digital technology (analogue  digital) Electronics (electronic music, mixing decks)

The ‘big ideas’ of physics Planning, testing, writing materials for a KS3 or KS4 activity – for teaching the ‘big idea’ in an Earth/environment context

The ‘big ideas’ of physics Science in an Earth/environmental context activity Participant Card Title: Introduction: Activity: Teachers’ Support Key Stage: National Curriculum Refs: Time: Pupil learning outcomes: Context: Common misconceptions: Resource list: Follow-up: Name…………………School…………………Contact details ………………………………………. Use extra paper for diagrams, tables of results, risk assessments etc. as necessary and attach Please tick: □ We would be happy for ESEU to pilot this activity in schools □ We would be happy for ESEU to use this activity as part of its future ‘Science in an Earth context’ work

The ‘big ideas’ of physics Feedback on the activities Feedback on the day and ‘What next’ – sorting out the follow up