It’s the time for returning to school after a summer break, and with that comes professional development for schools. Last week a group of local schools got together for a ‘Science day’ at the East Midlands Science Learning Centre.
During the day a couple of groups working with me considered such questions as ‘Why do penguins huddle?’, ’What’s the best colour to wear at night?’ ‘How can I make it quieter?’ ‘What are the best curtains to help someone sleep during the day’? using data logging equipment to gather information to prove or disprove their hypotheses.
As the photos below show everyone was intent on making and testing the hypothesis, as well as giving consideration to when and how they could use the activities in science work.
Datalogging, is one of many tools for scientific enquiry and can be used by teachers and children, fruitfully through out the school, including the foundation stage. It provides opportunities for immediate, visible feedback and for recording changes over time.
Output can be seen pictorially in the form of graphs and charts and lots of good thinking can be encouraged when interpreting at them. If this graph is about changes during the night in the classroom why there is a sudden burst of light or sound?’
Children benfit from lots of support and exciting activities to develop the ability to pose a question and respond with a tentative answer before finding out if they are right. Children need to fell free to make mistakes.
Don’t be put off by datalogging being at Y 5 in the ICT QCA document, times change, and children’s capabilities change.. its important to develop scientific thinking from the start so give it a go
During the day a couple of groups working with me considered such questions as ‘Why do penguins huddle?’, ’What’s the best colour to wear at night?’ ‘How can I make it quieter?’ ‘What are the best curtains to help someone sleep during the day’? using data logging equipment to gather information to prove or disprove their hypotheses.
As the photos below show everyone was intent on making and testing the hypothesis, as well as giving consideration to when and how they could use the activities in science work.
Datalogging, is one of many tools for scientific enquiry and can be used by teachers and children, fruitfully through out the school, including the foundation stage. It provides opportunities for immediate, visible feedback and for recording changes over time.
Output can be seen pictorially in the form of graphs and charts and lots of good thinking can be encouraged when interpreting at them. If this graph is about changes during the night in the classroom why there is a sudden burst of light or sound?’
Children benfit from lots of support and exciting activities to develop the ability to pose a question and respond with a tentative answer before finding out if they are right. Children need to fell free to make mistakes.
Don’t be put off by datalogging being at Y 5 in the ICT QCA document, times change, and children’s capabilities change.. its important to develop scientific thinking from the start so give it a go
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