The Neverending Story...

Once scientists thought migrating birds flew to the moon for winter. Others thought birds buried themselves in the sand and then a different bird hatched out (to explain different species at different times of the year). Some scientists thought there were canals on Mars.

newspapers.com

And even this humble science facilitator has got it wrong... sometimes even spectacularly wrong! But isn't that what science is about? I've noticed this and this happen when I do this, so I think the cause might be this... There might be something completely different going on but just looks like the cause and effect are related! Children think that sugar disappears in water -well you can't see it anymore so it must have! I tend to not correct them but simply challenge them to keep investigating... Has the sugar really disappeared? Does the water taste the same? Can we just keep adding more sugar? 

Because that's science! It's about developing some ideas, investigating further, perhaps modifying/changing/creating new ideas, communicating them with others and then modifying/changing/creating ideas and slowly building to an explanation. This all happened to me the other day when I challenged a teacher to draw a diagram after a lesson which they struggled to do (the diagram, not the lesson -it was a great session!), so I had a go and struggled too!  
And this got me thinking about models... I often do a diagram at the end of the lesson and try hard to make sure that I have a chance to have a child talk to their diagram. This way, I can ask questions, share thoughts, critique the diagram and think about where to next time. But are there other ways children could show their thinking?
For me, I was watching teachers do the experiment with the plastic bottle with a balloon over the neck put in hot water. The balloon usually 'inflates' or 'expands' and the explanation is that the air inside the bottle expands. When I tried to draw this, as mentioned above, I found it really hard -does air really expand? Is it individual molecules getting bigger or smaller... and more importantly, does this mean the Antman movie is legit?!?

Antman little (Marvel Antman movie)

and Antman big! (Marvel Antman and the Wasp movie) Yeah, I do like both movies!

So I spent the day sorting this in my head. I can't show movement well in diagrams (and that's interesting in itself: how can students show movement in a diagram? Do you draw the end product or what's happening along the way?). Maybe a model would be better. I chatted with the science leader and suggested those little $2 packets of beads that expand in water -maybe they could be the air particles getting bigger (I was still stuck on that idea)? He didn't think so, so it was back to the drawing board.
In the final session, one of the boys googled the experiment and then explained what happened. So now we have diagrams (which didn't really work for me) and a written explanation (which worked far better for me) -but it confused the child reading it... he knew he had found 'the' answer but... The teacher had taped out a large bottle on the carpet so I grabbed a few children to be my air molecules and had them stand still. The teacher and I talked about this being a state of matter: solid. As you heat matter, the molecules start moving and as they get hotter, they move faster, and become liquid and then even faster to become gas. I had the children now moving around and then 'heated' the bottle so the children moved faster and lo and behold, they needed more space as well as it all getting a bit rough. And this is what the student had read out -the balloon expanded because the hot air molecules are zipping around more and more and getting a bit rougher and this roughness causes the balloon to expand. Am I still okay with children saying  the air in the bottle expands making the balloon inflate? Yes of course! Particle theory is for Level 4 kids! I might not worry so much about diagrams and models as this is heady stuff...
So this is where I am now! Is it 100% right? I don't know but I can read a bit more, investigate a bit more, and perhaps come up with an explanation that 1) I understand (!) and 2) demonstrates my thinking to others and 3) is a bit further on...

Besides wanting to share how my science thinking had moved along -and being more keen than ever to do this with students (so not going, "Hey kids, here's how that happened," but more, "So what do you think is happening?") and not being focused so much on right and wrong answers, I want to work in different ways with students to show their thinking. Can I do it in dance (as I did with the students here)? Could I show it by making a model? The model may need to be moving, so I might video this.

Look! It's lego and it's molecules! Granted, best for older children (found a great Y9 resource) but good to get thinking going. As I look, I'm wondering about the bricks' sizes -are Hydrogen and Oxygen molecules different sizes? Is it okay to show water molecules this way but discuss further? From https://edgerton.mit.edu/sites/default/files/media/LEGOChemteachersguide_9-7-12.pdf. 

And finally, really importantly, can children discuss these ideas with one another. Let's not assume this is 'the answer', or even the 'right answer'. Does the model/dance/diagram/video clearly state their understanding? Does it show what you saw happening with the experiment? Do you agree? Why or why not? It might be that you disagree with the model or the explanation and both of these are important to critique. One is under interpreting representations (exploring models/diagrams/videos and thinking about how well they do the job -what information is shared or missing, why did the author use this method...) and the other is under using evidence (explanation building, and challenging investigative procedures). 
Rather than being stuck on students doing a diagram, give the children some options... and it's okay if their thinking isn't quite right! Again, that's what science is about... Okay you showed the four children dancing around the bottle, but how does that make the balloon expand and why does the balloon get bigger with more or hotter water? Could you show this with your theory? 

So get your dance shoes on!
Keep dancing sciencing on.

From Mantia Sisters' Dance Academy video... Now I want to do interpretive dance with Rutherford's discoveries!