Science Rich Tasks, and Context Knowledge

Happy New Year to everyone! 
I was reading an old SET article that a colleague had sent out -SET 2, 2011, What is a rich task? by Chris Joyce of NZCER. She was talking about assessment and the goal of rich tasks within this. It's an interesting read, as is anything published by NZCER. They write in a simple style that's easy to understand as well as encouraging.
There were a couple of bits that struck me that I wanted to share. I talk a lot about the nature of science with a focus on the science capabilities. I also talk about not being concerned if students don't quite get the context focus as first, I'm developing the capabilities and second, I'll simply provide some more opportunities to support that student's knowledge development. 
Sometimes it seems that I'm actually saying "Don't worry about all that context stuff, it's irrelevant"! However, it is important! If we are going to develop rich science tasks that challenge students, there needs to be context strand development. Even though the New Zealand Curriculum clearly states that the nature of science is the overarching strand and is the compulsory one, you can see that there's an expectation of students developing context strand knowledge as the Level 1 and 2 objectives are not the same as the Level 3 and 4 ones.
Joyce is writing about two different assessment tasks. One is simply expecting a knowledge answer and therefore isn't a rich task whilst the second task, one with a water filled balloon inside an air filled balloon is a rich task because there isn't simply 'an answer'. Children have the chance to share their own views and ideas giving teachers the chance to assess far more than a simple knowledge answer!
I like how Joyce writes about the melding of knowledge with the nature of science: 

Chris Joyce, Set 2, 2011

We need that knowledge so we can see how the student applies it to a nature of science centred assessment. He's using the science capabilities in observing, inferring, building an explanation and testing it. By having the context knowledge as part of the task, I believe that this task can be a rich opportunity to learn from (for the student and the teacher!).
The second thing I wanted to share is also about the purpose of the science task that we choose to give to students. These past couple of years, I've spent time in schools diving into the front end of the NZC to pull out those Key Competencies, Values and Vision aspects that can be supported by science. In fact last year I had a conversation about this very idea -a science lesson can have a focus on something other than science! It could be a tool to measure how students are operating in a Key Competency. Time for another Joyce quote: 

And now I'm wondering if I should write Key Competencies without capital letters! That aside, take a look through the front end of the NZC with your team. Underline or highlight all the bits that could be seen through a science task. You'll be surprised. At the end of the year, I often challenge staff to put all their science units that they have done alongside the Vision, Values and KCs. Sometimes the problem is we can think they've done 'everything' (and yeah, I know you actually do, in a way!) but I'm implying more of a deliberate act of teaching. How do we deliberately develop student thinking in terms of participating and contributing? Although it might be easy to assess with an arb task, it's a lot more difficult to support students in developing this idea. 

I like the idea that these rich tasks can be a part of a larger unit as well as smaller lessons which may be targeting a particular Key Competency or a science capability. It might be an evaluative lesson to gather some OTJ information so you are better equipped in planning further lessons. 
The other thing I like about these rich tasks are that they are perfect particularly for Term One! From my own experience, Term One has a pile of interuptions: Waitangi Day, swimming lessons, and formal assessments as well as new students turning up through the first few weeks. Being armed with a pile of rich tasks may be an effective way of getting through the term.

Have a great week everyone -I know you're all busy planning your first week as well as the term and I hope it all goes smoothly. If you have ideas for this year's blogposts, do share. I'm thinking of moving to a weekly blog but shorter pieces -I'd be interested in what you think of this idea. Do remember my facebook page which is also called Science Happening NZ. Here, I tend to post links, photos and videos to share ideas. It's a good place to message me too.
So onto 2019!