Scientific Thinking in Schools

Hershal Pandya.
(Educator, Riverside School, Ahmedabad, India, 2010-2011) Feel free to contact for any queries: hershal_pandya@yahoo.com. Photos in this presentation are a property of Riverside School. May not be reproduced or used without prior consent.

Understanding Goal, Purpose, Who is it for, Skills & Attitudes

Understanding Goal

Students will try to understand that the only way to make sense of the seemingly random universe is to be mindful of the Scientific Process.

Purpose
Scientific Temperament consists of Observing, constructing a

Theory, Testing a theory and Re-constructing till all possible tests Validate the theory.

The purpose of running the Scientific Thinking program in a

school environment is to develop the scientific temperament in children. To make them into independent observers and individuals constantly learning through questioning.

Although it connects immediately with the three sciences,

Scientific Thinking is not for a student of science but for any thinker! i.e. for everyone.

Who is it for?
All the children from Pre-K to Grade12 benefit from this program

when appropriately designed.

The program can be modified

to suit the complexity of understanding, availability of resources and discipline of interest or specific needs of the particular group of children.

Scientific Thinking program

can as well be for the Teachers & Admin/Support Staff.

Skills & Attitudes Developed through Scientific Thinking

Skills

Observe Record Hypothesize Imagine Illustrate Describe Analyze Questioning Reasoning Making Connections

Attitudes

Rationality Teamwork Patience Open-mindedness Wonderment Respect for others opinions

Framework, Implementation, Teacher Preparedness, Resources & FAQs

Framework
Demonstration Observation Recording Hypothesis (Individual)

Establishing Theory (Teacher led)

Validating through Reasoning or Experiments.

Class Discussion

Group Discussion

Learn the Complete Theory

Making Connections

Reflection on mindfulness of the process

Implementation - Demonstration
demonstration. The demonstration should Be as engaging, fascinating as possible Contain effects that provide a sensorial experience.(visual, sound, smell, touch) for a group from an appropriate distance. Challenge the childs knowledge and understanding Simple enough for the child to comprehend at the end of the exercise Have many facets and levels of understanding so that children falling across the spectrum of cognitive skills have a take-away by the end of exercise
Depending on the age group of the children, one needs to select an appropriate

Implementation - Worksheet
At the beginning, the students should be handed the worksheet

with marked out spaces as follows:

What did you see? Illustrate and Explain. [OBSERVATION]

Why do you think this phenomenon occurred? Give your reasoning. [HYPOTHESIS]

What was your collective understanding after discussing in your group? [REFINING AND JUSTIFYING]

Are you aware of such a phenomenon occurring elsewhere? [MAKING CONNECTIONS]

Explain and Illustrate why it is the way it is [MY TAKEAWAY]

Which step in the scientific process was I less mindful of? How did that affect my thinking? [REFLECTION]

Implementation Student Prompts

The students will Carefully observe the experiment while it is being demonstrated by the teacher. Fill in the worksheet as given in the previous slide. First come up with their collective understanding in smaller groups made by the teacher. And then as a class. Remind them to be mindful of the scientific process while responding to the phenomenon. Each group of students should present their hypothesis along with valid reasoning.

Implementation Teacher Tips

The size of the group should be kept around 20-25 children. During the demonstration the teacher should not give hints but at

the same time should draw the students attention to the changes happening during the experiment.

During class discussion, the teacher should list down all the

hypotheses on the board and lead the discussion to established theory and guide students to reason out the incorrect ones. guide by asking relevant questions. See the list of the questions in the Appendix B.

The teacher should not give any inputs of his/hers but only

Teacher Preparedness
The teacher should believe that this program does enrich the

scientific thinking skills of the students. It is very important that the teacher runs through a new experiment once for himself/herself and have a colleague go through the process. The teacher also should be well read on the physical/ biological/ chemical processes that are occurring during the experiment. The teacher should also be well informed about the out-ofdomain connections (may be in nature or technology) where the same principle of science is responsible for an action. The experiment/demonstration is well designed and well prepared for.

Time & Duration

Scientific Thinking session should be held twice a month

ideally. One complete session from Demonstration-to-Reflection should not exceed

45 minutes for children upto the age of 10 yrs 1 hour for children upto the age of 14 yrs 1.5 hours for children upto the age of 18 yrs The deciding factor should be the time for which

children remain engaged.

Resources
Internet is a good resource to find interesting experiments

to demonstrate. List of Experiments carried out at Riverside in the year 2010-11 (see appendix).

FAQs
Q. Should the experiment be from the syllabus? A. It is preferable if the experiment be something from outside the syllabus. But still comprehensible by the students. Q. Can the experiment be inter-disciplinary? A. Yes, it is even better . Q. Does it need to be related to either of the sciences Bio/Phy/Chem ? A. One as well could have a demonstration for any other discipline like Math or any event naturally occurring in the surrounding.

Case Study
The Soda Can Experiment

Method
Materials:
Couple of Soda Cans, Insulating tape, Scissors, Gas Stove / Heating Plate, Water

Preparation:
Take a tin can of any Cola and bore a small hole with the help of a pointed object like a

geometric compass. Empty all the soda and fill around 2 tb spoon of water in the can.

Keep electrical insulation tape handy.

Experiment:
Heat the can (with the hole open) on a Gas Stove(preferable) or a hot plate for around 2-3

min. *

When little steam starts coming out of the hole, take the can off the heat and seal the hole

with the insulation tape. water.

Let the can cool down slowly. After five minutes, immerse the can in a small vessel with tap

*Please ensure that the children are at an appropriate distance from the hot plate or bunsen burner.

Method

Heating the Can

Letting it Cool Final Outcome

Guided Inquiry
This particular experiment is quite sensorial hence no

specific guidance to the students is required. As the can cools down, it contracts and the tin makes loud crackling sounds. If less amount of water had been kept initially, then the contraction is very loud and clear.

Grade 6 students looking at Can contract when placed in water.

Performance of Understanding

Performance of Understanding

Performance of Understanding

Performance of Understanding

Investments & Reflection

Investments
Physical
Observation skills, Illustration skills.

Social
Respecting others point of view Persuasion

Cognitive
Knowledge/Reasoning

Emotional
Acceptance of ones failure upon verification

Reflection
Knowing the principles that drive the particular phenomena

BUT not allowing the background academic knowledge to compromise the scientific temperament. One could look at how to include the above idea into the Scientific Thinking Prog. Some ideas are:
Ask the students to give a fresh / revolutionary /fictitious

theory Use magic/sci-fi movie clips/circus as demonstrations.

Out of Clutter, Find Simplicity, From Discord, Find Harmony, In The Middle Of Difficulty Lies Opportunity.
-Albert Einstein

Appendix A: List of Experiments

Refractive Index Expt by David Resonating Pendulums Ice Block Soda Can Expt Shadows? Egg in Water

Appendix B: List of Questions to Guide Inquiry

What do you see here? Can you illustrate it in your worksheet? Why do you think it is happening? What all factors affect the outcome of the experiment? What if the environment was different e.g. colder

room/dark or more bright place/ lot of vibrations on the table? Would it change the events outcome? What if the materials used were different? Like salt instead of sugar or salt crystal instead of salt powder [incase the demonstration is based on dissolving capacity] Where else do we see this happening?