A bit of a mix...

Just a quick blog before finishing for the year. It's been a fabulous one working with some schools in their second year of PLD with me, some brand new schools and two great clusters in Hamilton and Rotorua which has worked really well -one cluster will continue on next year. I've also had the chance to do a few one-off workshops around the place -lots of fun with lots of positive feedback...
Next year, with the changes to PLD, it's all very interesting! I have a couple of CoLs to work with, a few schools wanting some workshops and hopefully lots more opportunities to support schools with science PLD. The latest TIMSS results show that our Y5 children are improving which is fantastic! Although the blog site is not for advertising, do get in touch if you think I could help your school with teaching science.

Righto... onto a few quick vignettes for our students. I just thought I'd post a few activity ideas that might stimulate some thinking -even at this stage of the year! I like the idea of series of science lessons but I also like the idea of short one offs too. Something that will still encourage children to think like scientists...

This first one popped up on the Hamilton Astronomical Society facebook page and instantly had lots of comments on how this isn't actually night turning into day but the other way around. I thought this would be an interesting one for children to try to prove. How do we know which is right? How could we check? This is a good one in terms of 'let's ask Google' but then how can we teachers be sure the children really do understand. I was working with a class a couple of weeks ago and at the end asked the children to draw a diagram showing their understanding. Even though the children had explored for about ten to fifteen minutes, it was curious how many didn't really get the concept yet (which of course is perfectly fine as we can then have some follow on lessons!). We can hear or read the understanding but then showing this in a different way can enforce this new understanding. I like the above example because you could do it on a page, with a couple of balls and a torch... even with interpretive dance!

Yes, another one off the internet... Is he right? And if you like this one, head back a couple of posts to find some other ideas as to why the dinosaurs became extinct. And how can we 'prove' what happened? In the sense of inference vs explanation, what kind of proof do we need for our ideas to become an explanation? What would the above letter need, to prove that this is what happened? I wonder what other ideas are out there that can be misunderstood? When a group of us visited GNS in Taupo (and I recommend a tour of the place), one of the scientists talked about how much water is underground and how old this water is (hundreds if not thousands of years old if I remember correctly)... but I don't ever remember seeing this on a water cycle diagram!

Last one... just a photo I really like! According to the picture it's a dalmatian pelican from Europe and the largest pelican breed. I used to really like pelicans until I saw an awful TV programme of them eating other birds' chicks live... so I've sort of gone off them! Anyway, a neat picture for what do you notice!

Do have a lovely Christmas break and do stay in touch! 

Paul