Category Archives: 2.1 Curriculum

Scientific Literacy

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Scientific literacy (National Science Education Standards, 1996, p. 22) is the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in community and national affairs and economic productivity.

A scientifically literate person can ask, find or determine answers to questions, derived from curiosity about every day experiences. It means that a person has the ability to describe, explain and predict natural occurrences. Scientific literacy entails being able to read articles in the press, with understanding, about science and engage in social conversation about the validity of the conclusions. A literate person should be able to evaluate the quality of scientific information on the basis of its source and the methods used to generate it. Scientific literacy also implies the capacity to pose and evaluate arguments based on evidence and to apply conclusions from such arguments appropriately.

A lack of scientific literacy can lead to inaccurate media reporting, this inaccuracy can have a detrimental impact on the lives of many people. In 1998 Dr Andrew Wakefield announced that he believed the MMR jag was directly linked to autism in children. However, there was no evidence or proof of this link. (Daily Mail, 2006) Many parents decided against their children receiving the MMR jag, ‘in 2003/4 fewer than 8 in 10 children received the jag’ (BBC, 2013). In 2008 the NHS reported that there was no link between MMR and autism (NHS, 2008). The BBC (2013) interviewed parents about their decision to not have their child vaccinated, Craig Thomas disclosed “It’s been devastating and I feel terrible guilt. My daughter lost half a stone in weight. My son’s face was swollen, he had unbelievable spots and a rash. They were pretty much bedridden for three weeks.” Whereas another parent disclosed “With the recent measles outbreak, I am relieved that he is now protected. But if it happened again I’d make the same choices,” after her son decided to get the vaccination aged 14. Dr Andrew Wakefield’s ‘work has since been completely discredited and he has been struck off as a doctor in the UK’ (NHS, no date).

When conducting an experiment in science it is important to test it fairly. It is highly important to use fair testing in order to make the experiment results reliable. To conduct a fair test you must consider changing one factor at a time while the rest are kept the exact same. An example of teaching children about fair testing may include an experiment questioning if heating a cup of water allows it to dissolve more sugar. For this you must have various cups of water all heated at different temperatures. However, to test this fairly the teacher must use the same type and size of cup, the exact same amount and brand of sugar each time along with the exact same amount of water. Doing this is demonstrating to the pupils how fair testing allows them to get a more dependable result out of an experiment. Teaching fair testing in schools links to scientific literacy as it assists the child with understanding scientific concepts and has them questioning the best ways in order to conduct different experiments. Fair testing also allows the children to develop an evidence based conclusion as they

have gathered reliable information through conducting the experiment fairly and thoroughly.

BBC. (2008) MMR: How parents feel now about avoiding jags. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22354895 (Accessed: 5 February 2016).

Daily Mail. (2006) Scientists fear MMR link to autism. Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-388051/Scientists-fear-MMR-link-autism.html (Accessed: 5 February 2016).

National Science Education Standards (1996) Scientific literacy. Available at: http://www.nap.edu/read/4962/chapter/4#22 (Accessed: 6 February 2016)

NHS. (no date) MMR Vaccine. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/mmr-vaccine.aspx (Accessed: 5 February 2016).

NHS. (2008) MMR Vaccine ‘does not cause autism’. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2007/January08/Pages/MMRvaccinedoesnotcauseautism.aspx (Accessed: 5 February 2016).

Science Buddies (2002) Variables for Beginners. Available at: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_experiment_fair_test.shtml (Accessed: 11 February 2016) Turner, J. (2012) It’s Not Fair. Available at: https://www.ase.org.uk/journals/primary-science/2012/01/121/2994/30-33.pdf (Accessed: 11 February 2016)

My Story Box Experience

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While on placement within a primary 4 class last year, I created a story box bWorst_witch_book1002ased on the book ‘The Worst Witch’. When I was a child, I wasn’t a big fan of reading but instead read only when I was forced too by my teacher or parents. However, ‘The Worst Witch’ was one book I never had to be persuaded to read. Although I chose books for myself from the school library, they were often never looked at or even touched until it was time to return them. ‘The Worst Witch’ was different though. I found the book to be extremely enjoyable as a child and read it from beginning too end within a few nights – not something that I was seen to do. Due to my experience of the book, I chose it to base my story box around it for the class as I believed they’d love it too.

I started off by re-reading the book in order to help inspire me with ideas for activities that I wanted to have within the box. I also focused my attention on the topics the children were studying within each subject such as maths and literacy. I then started searching the internet for worksheets or activities which were linked to magic or witches. As they were learning about coordinates in maths, I managed to find a few different witch styled activates for varied abilities images (1)based on that topic. I also managed to find a witch’s position poem along with the lyrics to the school song that the girls sing within the book. As I was finding all these worksheets on the internet, I edited them with pictures of ‘The Worst Witch’ characters and even changed the text to make them look a lot more interesting in order to engage the children. As I had read through the book once, I read through it once again and found phrases or words the children would maybe not understand and created flash cards with the meanings on the other side – the side with the words or phrases were all coloured purple as I believed this colour linked to witches. Creating the box itself was a fun task for me as I wanted the children to be able to look at it and know that the contents were related to the book. For this I found some black wrapping paper which had gold speckles on it and wrapped the box with it. I then printed and cut out photos of the characters and the name of the book in order to arrange them on the box as well.

When working through the story box with the class, I always began the lesson by reading part of the book then moved on to an activity from the box. Throughout the reading process, I would ask the children questions to make sure they’re understanding the story before moving onto the next part. I would also often recap before starting the next lesson.download

Reflecting back on my experience delivering my story box, I found the creating part the most enjoyable as I’m a very creative person and enjoyed editing the worksheets to fit in with ‘The Worst Witch’ theme. I believe I need to work on my confidence when reading out loud to a class as I felt nervous doing this and occasionally stuttered and lost my place. However, I did recover well and reread from the beginning on the sentence in order to make sure the children weren’t getting confused with my mistakes.

If I was to do the story box/sack with younger children such as primary ones or twos, I would most likely chose a fairy tale picture book. I would make sure that I would be able to use props with the particular book in order to use whilst telling the story. For example, Goldie Locks and images (2)the Three Bears would be a good story to tell as I would be able to pull bowls, teddy bears etc. out of the box/sack. Another good way to tell a story would be to use finger puppets and get the children to act as the certain characters while I read through the story. This process would help with the younger children’s understanding of the story overall.

Overall, a story box or sack is a great way to get the children engaged and interested in the book or story that is being read. The different activates which link to the book are great ways to continue the children’s learning within different subject areas while constantly connecting back to the book.

Blobs in a Bottle

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‘Blobs in a bottle’ is a great science experiment to do with children in orderbubblebottle3 to explore the term molecular polarity and what it means.

To begin the experiment you must pour 200 millilitres of water into a clear 1 litre bottle of water. Afterwards you must add 700 millilitres of vegetable oil. After a few minutes, the oil will settle and will sit on top of the water with a clear separation. This is called molecular polarity. This term basically means that the two substances can not mix; The water molecules are attracted to the other water molecules and the oil molecules are attracted to the other water molecules. Due to the structure of the two different molecules, it does not allow them to bond together hence the clear division of the substances.

To make this experiment more interesting for the children, you can add any colour of food colouring into the bottle – I found red to be the best as it was a strong colour. The food colouring will drop through the oil and will mix with the water. After the colour is as strong as

you want it, you can move onto the next step and add a fizzing tablet, i.e. an Alka Seltzer, into the bottle. When the fizzing tablet dissolves it creates a gas. As the gas bubbles rise, they take some coloured water with them. Once the blob reaches the top, the gas escapes and the coloured water then sinks back down.

This process looks just like a lava lamp which can look even more effective if a light is placed underneath the bottle. This is a great experiment for kids as they are creating something they may have at home while learning about molecular polarity and how their home-made lava lamp works. This experiment will effectively engage the children in their learning as it’s something they will enjoy doing at home or within the classroom.

“Under the Sea” – Dance Lesson Plan

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I based this lesson plan on the class having taken part in previous dance sessions built around the theme and song from “The Little Mermaid”, ‘Under the Sea’. The previous lessons consisted on the children learning how to travel, i.e. swimming movements, and twist to represents sea creatures and underwater plants.

Working towards outcomes of a Curriculum for Excellence img-thing

Inspired by a range of stimuli, I can express my ideas, thoughts and feelings through creative work in dance. EXA 2-09a

Learning Intentions

To successfully use their bodies to imitate sea weed swaying within the water.                                                To successfully move loosely to emphasise how the plants move within the waves.

Success Criteria

How to loosen up their bodies and be successful when using loose movements                               How to successfully do a body roll and understand how the movement can be seen as the same as sea weeds movements when the waves cause the plants to sway.

Resources

CD player or docking station                                                                                                                         A variety of music including “Under the Sea”                                                                                             A large empty space, preferably the school gym hall

Setting the context/ Beginning the lesson (Introduction)

Introduce the lesson by recapping on the previous dance sessions encouraging the children to share what they have previously learned. Make sure the children check their l
aces are tied before beginning the warm up. Make sure I’m aware of any injuries the children may have in order to adapt the moves in order for the child to be comfortable.

 Octopus Tag2db7a88b5890e15e67663a083dfeaa77

One person (the tagger) stands in the middle of the gym hall. The rest of the children line up at one end of the hall and when I shout go, they all run to the other side. Whoever the tagger tags, they must stand where they got tagged and become an octopus. The octopus cannot move from their spot but must move around their arms in order to help the tagger tag the other children.

Quick stretch of the muscles the children are going to be using in order to learn the specific dance moves i.e. their arms, shoulders, neck, back and abdominal.

Teaching the learning intentions (Development)

Before starting the main lesson I will have the children find a space where they’re able to move freely. I will also check whether they are able to see me clearly through using the method of ‘if I can’t see them, they can’t see me’.

Begin by getting the children to sway lightly from side to side with lose movements.   Encourage them to follow their shoulders allowing their arms to dangle by their sides.                               Then have the children imagine that someone is pulling them by their belt which has their loose upper bodies follow their hip – Do this movement over, while counting in eights, until the children are successful with the movement.                                                                                     Now, encourage them to allow their arms to swing without them controlling the movement too much as this will cause them to tighten up.                                                                           Throughout this process, I will have music playing in order for the children to learn how to move loosely to the beat while counting in eights.

 After the children have managed to loosen up their bodies and do simple loose movements, I will move onto firstly telling them what the name of the move they’ll be learning – a body roll.     I will then show the children an example of this move before talking through it st5a41a5b5a19496512d516fd72f8cc591ep by step.   Start by rolling my head back, telling them to imagine someone pushing against their foreheads, then rolling the movement down to their neck, shoulders, chest, tummy, hips, then legs (demonstrating as I speak through each rolling movement).                                               Then have the children join in, slowly rolling each body part I am naming and imitating my movements (counting in 4s for this section).           Have the children try it on the own allowing them to speed up with practice.                                           I will walk around the hall observing the class and assist any children who are struggling.

Once I see that most of the children are becoming confident with this move, I will switch the music to “Under the Sea” and have them pretend to be sea weed within the water using the new body roll they’ve just learned.                                                                                                              I will encourage the children to other movements they have learned from previous lessons by shouting out their names and demonstrating them at the front of the hall for all the children to see.                                                                                                                                                          Count in fours for this song.

Ending the lesson (Plenary)

For this I will have relaxing ocean sound effects in order fit the theme of ‘Under the Sea’.

For the cool down, I will have the children and myself stand in a circle, having them hold hands in order to do this quickly.                                                                                                                             I will get them to drop hands once everyone is in position.                                                              The cool down will consist of having the children take deep breaths, raising their arms when breathing in and dropping them when breathing out.                                                                     After this, I will have the children lay down on the ground, close their eyes and listen to the calming music for a few moments in order to allow me to prepare for heading back to the classroom.

My next steps

During this lesson, as the children have been introduced into how to move their bodies loosely in order to successfully do the body roll, the next lesson will consist of more loose movements such as the arm wave which will represent the waves within the sea. For this lesson I will watch Youtube videos in order to give me ideas on how to break down the move and explain it step by step.

Healthy Body Bits

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I believe an effective and fun way for children to learn and expand theirstuffy-4 knowledge on their human body topic is to take a class trip to the Dundee Science Centre. Here the children can take part in a 45 minute session called ‘Healthy Body Bits.’ The session is recommended for first level learners where they will explore what’s inside the human body through the use of Stuffee, the centre’s giant rag doll. The children are able to operate on Stuffee and search for his organs. Whether the trip is at the beginning of the class project or nearer the end, it will be a great way for the children to learn or revise the organ names and what each of their purposes are within the human body.

The session has a maximum capacity of 33 children and lasts around 45 minutes. This would be an ideal trip for individual classes between primary 3 and 5. This is due to how ages younger than p3 may struggle to sit for the long length of time that the work shop lasts as their concentration span is shorter than the older children. Also, children older than primary 5, may find the session boring as it’s based for younger children.

For this trip, as a teacher, I would first have to contact the centre with specific information which includes:

  • The name and level of the session I wish to book i.e. ‘Healthy Body Bits’, first level.
  • A selection of dates I’d be happy to book if available.
  • An idea of the time we’d arrive and departure noting the centre is open between 10am and 5pm.
  • The number of children and an estimate number of adults that will be present.
  • If I will require a time for the children to be able to have their lunch.
  • Whether I would like to be invoiced or pay on the day of the trip.

Once the trip is booked, I will then book a coach in order to transport the class and myself to the science centre. After everything is booked, I will work out the cost overall and how much the children will have to pay each depending on the school funds. Then I will create permissions slips stating the purpose of the trip, where and when the trip will take place, the price and the fact the children would need a packed lunch on the date stated. I will also include the chance for the parents or guardians of the children to state whether they would like to come along and help. Along with having parents or guardians to assist with the trip, I will seek the help of support staff, teacher’s assistants or management who are free on the day.

On the day before the trip, based on me having the knowledge of the number of adults going to be present, I will split the children into smaller groups assigned to one or more adult. This adult will be responsible for the children while they explore the centre before or after attending the workshop. The centre offers a great opportunity for the children to learn about a wide range of science along with the human body. The class can spend a maximum of three hours within the centre exploring the different areas of science along with taking part in the booked workshop.

The day after the trip, I will then plan a lesson to find out what the children learned while in the science centre. This may include getting them to draw a picture of one important new thing they learned or even write a small story about their day.