Primary Science - Classroom Organisation

children learn most science when the lesson is relevant stimulating and well organized you can achieve this by planning the lesson carefully before beforehand this video looks at ways of organizing science lessons and how you choose which method to use there are lots of different types of organizations each has advantages and disadvantages the decision you make affects how you set out the classroom and Equipment before the lesson starts how and what you tell the children to do and how you make sure they're all learning effectively 14 my goodness J in planning your science lesson your first

step will be to decide what ideas and skills you want the children to learn the classroom organization should then be chosen to optimize this learning but your options will be limited by what equipment and materials you want to use the children's previous knowledge and experience and the time available so what are the possibilities we're going to look at a variety of organizations some involve the whole class others involve small groups of children the the term whole class teaching or whole class activities can mean many things including introducing a topic to the whole class the whole

class doing the same practical activity sharing science books with the whole class demonstrations for the whole class and drawing the lesson together with the whole class small group may also be used to describe a variety of activities group groups of children doing different practical science tasks a circus of different activities that groups of children move around and one group only doing science while the rest of the class do a separate activity for each method you need to plan the organization of equipment how the children will learn and your role in the activity once you've decided

what ideas you're going to teach you need to consider the following things how will you make the lesson relevant and stimulating what do you need to do before the lesson what equipment have you got how will you organize it what experience do the children already have of group work how will you use the time available and what are you going to do in the lesson what have I got here Victoria I've got a Teddy yes it's my best whole classwork is relatively easy to control is it a good idea to go to the park with

what he's wearing what's he wearing at the moment the introduction is a chance to capture the children's interests by putting the activity into a familiar context this shows them that science is relevant in everybody's life what will Teddy need to wear to go to the park Oliver a jacket Megan a hat a hat to keep his head warm you need to tell the children the aim of the lesson and the task they're going to carry out this teacher wants the children to think about the properties of different Fabrics got all these materials here in front

of you I want you to have a guess and tell me which one you think will make the best coat for Teddy now then Alice I think that um brown one this brown one here you think why do you think that because it looks um thick and it looks really warm quite warm good use open questions so all the children can respond fully try to find out what they already know what else does Teddy's need to be make sure that every child takes part and that everyone listens to the new ideas how do you think

we're going to find out which will make the warmest coat for Teddy how could we find out Oliver we could put them through a test a whole class introduction has a number of advantages it's easier to control the children when they're all together and you can all share ideas here's a clue you can show them all what to do at the same time the disadvantage is that it's difficult to assess and cater for individual needs in this way some of the children may need more time to understand the ideas others may be able to learn

far more than their peers yeah I think that's making sure it's fair yeah good by providing practical work for all the children after the introduction there's a chance for them to work at their own level suitable practical work excites children's interest and helps them to learn if all the children are doing the same task it's fairly easy to monitor their learning and you only have one type of equipment to organize the aim of this part of the lesson is to help children carry out scientific tests they're finding out which is the best best fabric to

keep a Teddy warm make sure all the children are working at an appropriate level walk around the class helping questioning and promoting new ideas yours has gone up higher than it was at the beginning but what if there isn't enough equipment for everyone to do the same task together or you want the class to investigate a number of different aspects between them one alternative approach is for small groups to do different activities and then to share their knowledge at the end you can choose the membership of the groups depending on what you want to teach

and the children's experience of group work in this lesson the teacher wants the children to learn science investigation skills each group is going to do a different experiment testing the properties of paper strength water resistance and suitability for writing on but the basic investigation skill skills are the same the groups need different equipment so you'll need to prepare carefully all equipment must be out and ready before the lesson starts so what are you going to write down in your chart these people are going to put how many rubs that's easy they're just going to write

a number these people are going to put how many drops so they're just going to write a number what are these people in your introduction you need to tell each group what to do whilst keeping the attention of the whole class any problems anybody before I send you off to your tables Emily I'm just about to say not only do you have to tell them what to do you also have to arrange for them to move to begin their work start with the strong people this table here Tim Abby Higgins Joshua kimy and Sarah Morgan

work at this end of the table Oliver Robinson Christopher Mill Jaclyn and Alexander at the other don't talk for a minute send the rest of the groups off and Stuart you work with the instruction once the children have started you should move around helping individuals particularly those who are struggling that's good it doesn't go through it you very and you should be ready to provide extension material for those who've completed their tasks so they have something useful to do while everyone else finishes help you why do you think what they found out is since the

children have all done different experiments you can draw the lesson together by having each group report its findings and ideas to the whole class anybody else got another question they'd like to ask and how hard pring in this activity each child only does one of the three investigations if you want all the children to do all the activities but you don't have a lot of equipment and materials you can move the children through a circus of activities there are three activities in this circus about sound finding out how vibrations can produce sound and movement how

big and small instruments make different sounds and how sound travels through different materials as each group does the tasks in a different order a circus should only be used when there's no progression between activities I don't think you're banging loudly enough that's what I think so we can frighten it this approach is not as easy as it might seem you need to be sure all the activities you choose can be done in the time available all the children have to know what they're expected to do in each situation and how so you need to write

on the bottom of this you need to write on the bottom of this that the little instruments have the High voices and the big instruments have low voices the teacher should again move around the different activities you do this one hold that and as before it's a good idea to have a backup activity for children who finish quickly these children are matching pictures and sounds listen right once again you've got 1 minutes no more sounds one minute to tidy up your table for the next group who are coming and to make sure that you filled

in your sheet and to make sure that you've got your name on it your ready to move can you sit down each time the groups have completed their activity you need to move them sensibly to the next you may need to remind them of what to do now I want you to be having a think about where you're going next Can you spot the place you're going next When Sarah's table have tided up we'll be ready to move is your table tidy the one you're leaving oh it better be off you go round to the

next place and sit sit down uh don't touch anything yet just sit down look ready right off you go let's see what's happening here as a circus is complicated to plan and carry out successfully another possibility if equipment is very limited or if it needs close supervision is to have just one group of children doing science leave you thermometer in it for a minute that's it now you only got a little bit of hot water is it still very hard still very hard in this case the teacher is working with the science group to introduce

the use of thermometers while the rest of the class get on with other work that's already been introduced and explained this intensive approach enables you to supervise and help children to use delicate or complicated equipment to concentrate on children who need extra help to develop their knowledge or practical skills and to assess individual progress down there you go in this organization you should sit in a position that allows you to supervise and continue to help the whole class Jackie bring your dictionary Sweet let's see what you're doing bring your book bring your book have a

look that both activities are of high quality and value and you must make sure that you keep track of who's done what if we can find in the dition go if the children already know how to use the equipment and are clear about what they have to do they can work independently of the teacher in this case the teacher is concentrating on helping the rest of the class with an English task at the same time she's keeping an eye on the progress of the children on the computer and she'll examine their written work later she'll

talk about the activity with the whole class once all the children have had their turn on the computer good girl it looked like egg right what happened to the butter then not using the right words are we what happened to the butter went looked like egg and it went all sloppy what what happened to it do it it melt it had melted good sometimes the children can't do the experiment themselves materials may be very limited or equipment too complicated for them to use how do you know it's really hot water put your hands up then

there may be dangers involved the children might be at risk or they might damage delicate equipment or hurt living animals what might you get from but burn your finger so that's why I'm doing it isn't it let's put it in then sh don't call in these cases the teacher can demonstrate the activity while all the children watch Alice anything else you can think of that will melt like this ice yes good girl if we've got an ice cube we could put an ice cube in whole class demonstration should be rare white bit stop pushing although

this organization seems to be easy for the teacher it's difficult to involve all the children primary children need as many handson experiences as possible because they cater far better for individual needs I'm very sorry whilst practical work is very important children need to learn that scientists work in other ways some of their research is done by reading so children need to learn how to make good use of non-fiction science books right should we get someone to choose something Vicki have a look let's see what we can choose sound waves sound waves hey page six so

they can non-fiction and fiction should be presented in different ways you don't need to read all of a non-fiction work here the teacher's encouraging children to find data by using the contents page then she's reading and talking about one page only word I'm after one word with l Victoria her letter she's writing a letter isn't she it's a great big long letter let's read some fiction books can prompt scientific discussion the teacher is using this book to put the children's investigation into an everyday context and to prompt talk about environmental issues the world is precious

every bit please don't make a mess of it and she wrote her name sharing a book can be a good way of introducing a science lesson or of drawing it to a close I thought cuz it's not it could like sort like that plastic I thought that like that would be waterproof and like that would be the thickest and that would go on for I think it's maybe because it's not actually made out of paper that it was the strongest after all science activities you should help the children to explain what they've done and what

they found out sorry what was it that was making the rice move what was the word that we said before this is usually best done with the whole class what was it called when the rice was moving um vibration well done Chris yes it was vibration why how do you know it was the best one because like how do they know it was the best one somebody helped them out how do they know Megan they only lost talking to you in their classmates helps and motivates the children to clarify their ideas so it lost the

least amount of heat didn't it must have kept it also gives you a chance to assess their learning and to develop their ideas further okay going to sit down again then well done each type of organization has advantages and disadvantages most teachers use several methods the one you choose will depend on what you want the children to learn what experience the class already has of group work and the time equipment and materials available once you've chosen an organization you should think about what you need to collect and set out the way you'll introduce the work

what the children will do during the lesson what you'll do to Monitor and assess their learning how you'll help children of different abilities and how you'll conclude the lesson we need although this seems a lot to plan for each lesson all your efforts will pay off stimulating well organized lessons focused at the right level minimize discipline problems optimize children's learning and make science enjoyable for the children and their teacher what we now