Creative Teaching: Science in the Early Years and Primary Classroom

Ann Oliver

• Publisher: David Fulton Publishers
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9781138151857
• eBook ISBN:
  9781136793035
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Early Childhood Education

Practical, useful and informative, this book provides ideas and suggestions on how to interpret and develop the primary science curriculum in an interesting and challenging way. Bringing together creative thinking and principles that still meet National Curriculum requirements, the themes in the book encourage teachers to:

• teach science with creative curiosity
• value the unpredictable and unplanned
• thrive on a multiplicity of creative approaches, viewpoints and conditions
• be creative with cross-curricular and ICT opportunities
• reflect on their own practice.

For teachers new and old, this book will make teaching and learning science fun by putting creativity and enjoyment firmly back onto the primary agenda.

CHAPTER 1

The importance of teaching science creatively

I've been given this block of work on electricity, I have an idea about an activity but the teacher told me I have to do the one they do every year. I knew the practical bit putting batteries into appliances would be over in ten minutes but I still had to do it. I have been told not to do an investigation as it is not on their plan.

(Trainee teacher on block placement 2004)

She told me that the whisked white of an egg is chemically foam. I've been puzzling all day about why butter is also chemical foam. I think I can work it out, but it has set me thinking how I might explain this to my class. Dread and foam doesn't sound quite right does it?

(Primary teacher 2005)

Though he seems to view his schoolmasters with amused and olympian contempt, the present illusion of a superior mind is usually shattered by a display of abominable ignorance. He is a lazy observer and lazy in acquiring the solid factual foundations of knowledge. He could work hard.

Form master's report of John Polanyi (1929—), Nobel Prize winner, Chemistry 1986

(Hurley 2002)

The success of any lesson can be gauged by what the children have learnt and how they have been involved in that process. In reaching this goal a teacher has to decide how to go about the business of teaching and create an environment in which pupils have the opportunity to learn. If pupils are to become fascinated by science, much more is needed than coverage of topics. Some teachers are more creative than others in making decisions which influence both teaching and learning. This chapter will look at the practice of creative teachers. It draws on anecdotal evidence and examples of creative teaching to illustrate the importance placed on teaching science through investigation, making creative connections and discovering more than one answer to scientific problems.

It is clear that there is no single definition which encompasses all views of what it is to be creative or that there is a consistency in how creativity is defined (Boden 2004; Craft 2002). Even when working with prescribed schemes of work every teacher will interpret plans slightly differently. Responding to the needs of individual children involves making choices and adapting ideas. This might only be done in some small way but every lesson will be unique. A creative teacher will plan and organise activities to present a sense of purpose and build on individual talents within the framework of the prescribed curriculum. Creative teachers will see the value of providing a rich variety of experience based on practical activity. Children will be supported in considering connections, making links and finding out information as well as developing process skills.

Good science teaching reflects certain principles which promote learning, such as recognising the tentative nature of scientific results, the value of focused questions and the uncertainty of inquiry. These are evident in everything the science teacher says and does. Children quickly pick up teachers' expectations and attitudes. Children know intuitively if they are required to ask questions, come up with solutions, try alternatives or simply remember facts from a worksheet. If children see their teacher comfortable with being surprised, perplexed or confused by something observed in a science session then they will probably feel that this is an acceptable reaction. If they see their teacher trying to solve a problem, looking at alternative ways of approaching a challenge and listening carefully to several different explanations then this too will be seen as the acceptable ethos of the lesson. If they see their teacher delighted at an unexpected outcome then they too will value the unanticipated.

Creative science

My friend asked me what I was writing a book about. I replied that it was about teaching science. She responded with a single word, ‘Boring’. Being a keen and knowledgeable gardener her conversations often refer to scientific processes and descriptions. She is extremely animated when talking about variation and diversity of plants or the particular care needed to germinate different seeds and diverse methods of propagation. Science knowledge and understanding are unmistakably evident in her explanations. In common with some teachers there is a clear mismatch of perception of science as a subject and science as an activity. If experience of school science has been mundane, prescriptive or lacking in purpose then it is understandable that science is seen as boring. What she didn't acknowledge was that she was already talking about scientific processes, not even realising the creative ideas she had sparked.

Children seem to have fewer problems thinking more widely. All we need to do is ask them about their perfect science lesson.

I would get all the equipment out like spatulas and pipettes and mix everything to design new chemicals and investigate suspensions and solutions and find out more about DNA. Mix different DNA extracts.

(Kimberley 10 years)

Go to a zoo and let all the animals go.

(Ruby 7 years)

I would like to dissect different animals. Cut them open and look inside.

(Rajeev 10 years)

Make dinosaur models and put them in the garden and tell people about them, how they killed other animals with their teeth and jaws and feet.

(Daniel 9 years)

Mix chemicals to make explosives and fireworks and try all dangerous stuff.

(Sean 8 years)

I would start by picking a topic out of food hygiene or electricity or dissecting frogs. Then we would go to Las Vegas to study electricity, then an aquarium to study fish: how their bones are like and their body. I would start with options then in groups report back with results and ideas then experiment on our own and research with someone.

(Levi 10 years)

My perfect science lesson would be if we could go round our homes/schools and see what had the most bacteria. I wish though we could do genetic splicing.

(Padma 10 years)

Make a film about a caterpillar and a butterfly.

(Jessica 5 years)

Make electrical circuits all the time.

(Ben 10 years)

A creative approach to teaching delivered in an interesting and fun way does not mean learning is diminished.

Creative teachers:

• provide imaginative activities;

• vary methods of teaching;

• explain in ways to engage thinking, including modelling;

• plan for pupils to use their own initiative;

• are flexible in pursuing ideas;

• respond to unplanned opportunities;

• challenge thinking;

• value the exchange of ideas;

• accept uncertainty;

• raise questions;

• make connections clearer;

• discuss thinking and consider alternatives;

• look at things closely and differently;

• encourage speculation;

• respond to surprise.

Almost everyone remembers a lesson or learning experience which was positive in some way. It might be because they were different from the usual format but those experiences which stick in people's minds often include some of the characteristics mentioned above. In reading the following examples, think about the ways in which a creative stance has been adopted by the teacher.

Creative example 1

In 1961 there was a total eclipse of the Sun. All the children were taken into the playground and warned not to look at the Sun. They were scared about looking at it. It became cold, eerily quiet and dark. Once back in the classroom the teacher drew a diagram on the board showing the spherical bodies of the Earth, Sun and moon and went on to explain what had just been experienced. She then used three children to model the movement of the heavenly bodies. Although the model was crude it had a lasting impression because of the previous physical experience in the playground. She had helped the pupils make a connection between theory and practice. This was before the time of space travel or real-time photo images from satellites. Her creative approach left a lasting impression not only in establishing basic facts but also the importance of modelling to develop scientific understanding. Forty-three years on, this lesson is remembered and discussed. In 1961 there was no National Curriculum and no statutory requirement to put primary science on the timetable. The teacher had successfully used an opportune moment to engage thinking and explain facts.

Creative example 2

More recently, in the year 2000, a football sock was found at the edge of a school pond, sodden, misshapen and covered in weed and grass. On examination, five different plants had successfully germinated and grown on the sock; intertwined roots had established a secure and unbreakable hold between layers of fabric. The sock was retrieved by a 7-year-old boy during a class nature walk looking for evidence of animal habitats. At first it prompted a great deal of disgust as it was soggy and smelly. The sock was taken back to the classroom by the teacher and used to promote discussion on what plants need to grow (NC). Previously, many children had told the teacher that plants need soil to grow. She decided to challenge this belief and suggested that socks were brought in on which a variety of seeds would be placed and various conditions observed. Many socks, large, small, old, new, holey and decidedly ancient, appeared. Ideas progressed from this simple beginning. Children independently set up experiments using a variety of seeds and materials as growing mediums. The plants growing on the original football sock were all identified using keys and the internet as well as reference books. The children were astounded by the strength of the roots and their inability to tear some of them. These were examined using an Intel microscope and observational drawings of the form and structure were completed. This led to a discussion of roots we eat and root adaptation to various climates and soil types. One girl mentioned that her mother grew orchids and they had roots in the air. Another group used a Newton meter to measure the pull they could exert on the roots and to see the force needed to break them. They were amazed at how strong they were. Discussions concerning the difference between germination and growth developed, as did the desire to set up experiments and find things out. Pupils began to use their initiative to follow lines of inquiry. Thinking had been challenged and explora...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Also available
• Full Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• About the contributors
• 1 The importance of teaching science creatively
• 2 Creative science teaching
• 3 Planning for a creative approach
• 4 Inspiring inquiry
• 5 Inspiring involvement
• 6 Creativity in the Foundation Stage
• 7 Creative teaching and learning in ‘Life Processes and Living Things’
• 8 Creative teaching and learning in ‘Materials and their Properties’
• 9 Creative teaching and learning in ‘Physical Processes’
• 10 Enjoying assessment
• 11 Conclusion
• Index