Science from Games and drama

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Science from Gamesand drama

• Hellen Ward
• Putting learning First

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Science

• What subjects do children like at key stage 2?
• What subjects do they not like ?
• And the reasons are..

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What pupils said

• Science gets on my nerves and I am not always
  sure of what to do in science Girl
  Year 5
• In science you have to write stuff and in PE
  you havent Boy Year 6
• 19 of children nominated science as their least
  liked subject. Pressure to record and recall
  information appeared to kill their enthusiasm for
  science.

What pupils say Pollard and Trigs 2000
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Why games?

• People learn in many ways the learning styles
  dimension
• The creative dimension that we should be
  creative in our teaching and also teach in ways
  that will enable our students to be creative too
• New initiative allow some flexibility

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Learning styles

• Although there are favoured ways of learning,
  these are not Brain Based
• Many functions including sensory input work in
  parallel
• Humans are far more complex than a simple
  learning style

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How do we learn ?
Always in context
With input preferences
By processing information
Then reacting to the information
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What games

• Depends on what you want to teach and games will
  not take the place of all types of science but it
  could help with copying off the board syndrome
• Creative use of time was praise by the 2002 HMI
  report in science.
• Variety of pace, lesson type and length was also
  praised

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interpersonal
spatial
intrapersonal
musical-rhythmic
Multiple intelligences
bodily-kinesthetic
mathematical/logical
Verbal and linguistic
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Pearce suggests

• We are like a garden that has been sown, but the
  seeds need to be nurtured and nourished
• The greater variety of learning offered to
  students the greater the chance of learning.

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Games focusing on language

• Bingo
• Link games
• Crosswords
• Hangman
• Matching games
• Memory games
• I can think of three

• Twenty Questions
• Mime
• Charades
• Whats the question?
• Odd one out
• Five minute science

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Hangman

• Quick start to a lesson.
• Can give a clue or just ensure it is a word that
  is relevant to the topic being studied

If you need a clue think of Something ending
in . ing!
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Find bundles of three!
water vapour
Cotton fabric
bread dough
Oxygen
lead
water
Cheese
Yoghurt
Bread
Ice
Cotton Shirt
Air
cotton plant
Milk
Toast
Cake
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What is missing ?
Seed
Germination
Seed dispersal
Flower production
Pollination
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What is missing ?
Seed
Germination
Seed dispersal
growth
Seed production
Fertilization
Flower production
Pollination
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Areas for development

• extending their understanding of reproduction
  by teaching explicitly about the stages of the
  life cycle of plants (Standards report science
  2003)
• The drama of the plant.
• Some types of learning is enhanced with props
• Remember to give some choice and it appears to be
  better to reinforce practical work with drama
  rather than replace the practical work.

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Lets play ball

• One of many ways to help with vocabulary
• Other suggestions are Bingo
• Matching pairs

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Can you find the pairs that match?
materials that bend easily without breaking
a material that can soak up liquid easily
Shiny
Opaque
Flexible
an even surface with no bumps or lumps
Absorbent
the name for materials we wear
Fabrics
a smooth polished surface that reflects the
light
Smooth
materials that do not let light through
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Asking Questions

• You can only ask questions to which the answer
  will be yes or no
• The quality of your questions could be commented
  upon!
• What have I got, How many questions will it take
  you to identify it?

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More questions

• You will be provided with some objects
• You have 2 minutes to ask some questions about
  the object and then choose one question and write
  it on your hand ( the card one not your real one!)

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Hot Seating

• Jenner caused some problems in the summer.
• My colleague is going to get you to find out as
  much as you can about the life and works of a
  scientist.
• What do you know about this scientist at the end?

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Areas for development

• arranging activities in which they observe and
  investigate the properties of a range of solids,
  liquids and gases, and discussing with them which
  properties are common to each state of matter
  (Standards report science 2003)

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Which of these is not a gas?

• Air
• Hydrogen
• Calcium
• Carbon do oxide

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Name 3

• Solids that are not mixtures of materials
• Liquids which are not runny
• Gases that are not colourless
• In the Primary classroom the challenges would be
  easier?

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Repel
Gravity
Friction
Air Resistance
Surface
Forces
Upthrust
Attraction
Can you give me a question for each of these
answers ?
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challenge is greater than skill
Interest
high
curiosity
Stress/anxiety
Degree of task difficulty
motivation
tension
anticipation
Skills exceed challenge
Interest
boredom
low
Apathy
Inertia
low
high
Personal skill level
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Act it out

• You could act out these statements
• You could decide to make a poem
• It is possible to do a rap
• In the time we have you will have to be quickly
  creative.

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Statements

• That light will not pass through some materials
  and this leads to the formation of shadows
• That some changes that occur when materials are
  mixed can not be reversed.
• That different plants and animals are found in
  different habitats.
• That electrical devises will not work if there is
  no battery or a break in the circuit

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Time is short

• We need children to like and enjoy science
• We need scientist
• A survey conducted on today's famous scientists
  suggested that most of them know that they wanted
  to be a scientist before the age of 10
• Enjoy the rest of your day