Science in Action!
In N2, the children have been deepening their understanding of what we need to do to become an explorer.
Students identified a range of skills that explorers need in order to discover how things in the world work. Skills such as predicting, making observations, problem solving and documenting findings. We invited the students to engage in a range of science experiments that allowed them to allowed to draw on and deepen these skills.
Our first experiment involved water, food colouring and some celery. The students were asked to predict what they thought was going to happen:
I think the celery is going to turn the colour of the water Alex L
I predict the we are going to see the food colouring move up the celery in 5-10 days Huey
I think we are going to see something in 2 days Mia
The students continued to make observations throughout the day and were ecstatic to see within 30 minutes there was some movement. Huey suggested that we measure the water to see if it changed over night.
The experiment raised questions from the students:
How is the colour moving up the stem Lola
What do we call the little veins Esther
Our second experiment involved seeing what would happen if we put a seed into a jar with paper towel and water. The students were able use their prior knowledge of plants to make some predictions of what they think they would happen to the seed.
After 4 days, the students noticed that the roots were starting to come out, and they were pointing down. Lola suggested we turn the seeds around to see if the roots would grow upwards.
As educators we see the value in students having hands on experiences, be encouraged to learn from their peers and share their thoughts and ideas to build on their knowledge.
To reflect on our learning, we asked the children, “What are the different ways we can solve a problem”?
Before you do something you can think. Milo
Your friends can help you. Matthew
We can stop and rethink what we are about to do and if we don’t think it’s a good idea we do something else. Seb
We will continue to provide experiences for the children to deepen their scientific knowledge and develop their skills as problem solvers.