Science for citizenship... citizen science...

Kia Ora
Just a quick note today... off to lovely Rotorua to share some science, work in classrooms and generally wreak havoc!
I've been thinking a little bit about the role of science within our lives. The NZC states that science plays a significant role (p. 17) so with this in mind, it should be a bit of a priority in classrooms. Of course we already have plenty of other priorities including growing vege gardens, teaching the children to swim and possibly squeezing in literacy and mathematics too!
If science is to play, or is indeed playing a 'significant role', how do we citizens respond? The other night I watched a news article about an upcoming 1080 drop with people from both sides arguing the case. It seems, as a nation (in fact, as a planet), we're losing the ability to discuss. We simply shout louder a particular view with absolutely no interest in any other point of view. Could we be supporting our students to develop communication skills? Again, the NZC on p.28 discusses the need for communication right through all components of the Nature of Science! Can children share their views, listen to other points of views and possibly change their mind? When I watch videos, particularly of the US and their political protests, I do wonder whether this could happen!
My job does tune me in, but I do wonder about this "significant role" science plays. It seems some areas are seeing a drop in science being taken at higher NCEA levels and universities are finding the same. One scientific research centre I spoke to told me they had to hire from overseas as we just didn't have the uni courses to grow the needed skills and there were few graduates anyway. So how do we start 'making' science important again?
Science definitely makes the news: 1080 drops, medical breakthroughs, new solar systems discovered were just over the weekend that I saw. Last week, I was reading about the Canterbury river system with its braided rivers which are quite unique and the issues with farmers needing water and the system possibly degrading. I come across science articles and comments through Facebook, although  not sure that reflects "science"! I wonder how people respond. Do they read through or glance through or ignore? Do they accept whatever they read, hear or watch, whether it be NZ Herald, television news, a documentary, National Radio, etc? Do people critique? Do they know how? And more importantly, do we need to know how?

From Fake Science, Facebook

So winding up my quick post... With all this science around us, do we need to start exposing our students to it? Do we need to teach them how to critique? Could we be using science as an authentic context for literacy and numeracy? Let's read this article and then discuss it. What do you think? Is it important that you have an opinion on the 1080 drops? Are DoC right? What about the protesters saying millions of birds are killed with each new drop -are they right? Have they counted?
I would hope as children become more tuned to science playing a significant role, they will start to think that they too have a significant role in society!

And to finish... saw a duck eating an acorn the other day so shared my findings with a colleague like this "Did you know ducks eat acorns?... Well one duck did... Well I saw her eat one acorn, I don't know if she eats lots... I'll start again. I saw a duck eating an acorn!" The joys of scientific observation!

Have a great sciency day
Paul

Sea Week Feb 25 - Mar 5

Coming up very soon is Sea Week and, particularly if you are near the beach, a great reason to hit the surf! As always there are a lot of resources already out there. The best place to start is http://seaweek.org.nz/, the 'home site' for the week. They have resources, events, videos and more on the site and it is certainly a great place to start.
One of the pages has a citizen science idea around brown seaweed. NIWA are collecting information about the seaweed to see whether it si an indicator of pollution. the website (http://naturewatch.org.nz/projects/large-brown-seaweed-distributions) has a sign in option using google (which most schools have) or you can register, perhaps as a class. These opportunities for students to work 'with' and 'as' scientists are really valuable in terms of students understanding about science. The NZC statement says that students explore how science works and these kinds of activities enable this... Why do we need to record accurately? What if I just change the data a little? What would happen if everyone exaggerated their observations? The seaweed observations also show the importance of knowledge. Although, as teachers, we're growing our students in terms of their processes, skills, capabilities, etc, we still need the contexts! I'm not going to asses how many types of seaweed the students can identify but they do need to know the different names so as to be able to communicate their observations.

wikipedia image

Scientists don't call Neptune's Necklace "that green bobbly one" because there might be another green bobbly seaweed out there... If I told you about the little yellow flowers growing in my lawn, it could be a daisy or a buttercup (or possibly some other yellow flower!). We use names to communicate what we're noticing so we can be specific and if we use the same name, then others can use our observations, record data, compare results, etc. It would be interesting for the children to discuss why do we need to know the names of the seaweed -what would happen if we all used different names?

Marine Metre Squared, from the University of Otago is another citizen science project. If you go to their website, you'll find resources and ideas as well as information on joining their efforts in monitoring local seashores.

For more ideas, check out NIWA or the science learning hub (https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/events/39-seaweek-2017) for more teacher resources and support. An interesting question -could you do Sea Week without being near a beach? Those of you who have been subjected (!) to my workshops will know that I like seashells. They're great for observations and building curiosity... Get children to draw their shell -can they find their particular shell (or even better, can someone else identify their shell?), what are some of the wonderings they might have... how come the shells are different sizes?, different colours?, why do some shells have rings like on a tree stump?, how strong are the shells?, are shells the same from different beaches or different countries? What senses can they use in observing the shells? You could create a wordbank under the different senses that children could then use for other observations. Could the define what a shell is? Is it different to a rock? Are there some things that are the same between a rock and a shell? Perhaps children could use a Venn diagram to describe the similarities and differences. Could students set up a flow chart for identifying common seashells? Finally, could students chat to a marine biologist either face to face or online (or even better, at the beach!) and learn about their work as a scientist?

I haven't even started on how I could integrate maths, reading and writing into this science but there are lots of opportunities to take science from after lunch and use it as authentic contexts in the morning! And then there's all that lovely technology we can use too!

So, have a go!
Paul





https://seashellsbymillhill.com/

Science playing a significant role in society...

Well, a brand new year and lots more opportunities for science in the classroom! One thing I've been thinking a bit about is 'how much science is happening in  my life?'... The essence statement in the NZC (p. 17) talks about science playing a significant role in society -so does this actually happen?
Just thinking about this over the last week for me included a few ponderings...

• we have a plum tree absolutely laden with fruit which is causing some branches to break and be hanging on by the proverbial fingernail. I've been quite fascinated as the leaves and fruit haven't withered, they still look healthy. And this causes me to wonder about the structure of the branch -which bits are essential for the fruit and leaves? I'm guessing the outer  bits as that's what is still connected to the tree. We're also getting a lot of birds around the tree eating the plums -thankfully just the ones on the ground but I do wonder if it's a way for them to get moisture... or they might just like plums! Do they taste like we do? 
• I've had a bit of a sore back from an accident and the doctor prescribed some pills which caused me to become quite drowsy and 'muddy'... reading online they all have a few side effects -but then how do I know which website is legitimate? Could it be the site that says x medicine is bad, is producing y medicine that they would like people to use? And how common are the side effects? And why do doctors prescribe these if they're bad? 
• Admittedly I was reading a science book at the time, but the author was writing about magnets and it suddenly occurred to me that the N on magnets is not because it's the North but because it points to the North! If it was the North then it would be repelled by the magnetic north (just like when you put two magnets against each if both ends were 'N')... I tried to explain it to a group of teachers but I think I lost them!
• I've also been reading a few bits on our extinct birds -the huia (one of my faves), the piopio (I was driving through the town and started wondering) and the laughing owl...
• and finally on my to do list is to look a bit deeper into the ads on TV with a petrol company setting up a game with certificates and medallions for children around science and the environment...

What about you? I love it that science has the potential to be in our everyday lives... with cooking, fixing something, gardening, medicine, almost anything. I once had a chat with someone who thought that electricity is science and therefore turning a light on must be science. I argued that the ability to simply turn on the light isn't really science, although the stuff going on to make the light turn on is. I might simply zap my lunch in the microwave and be done with it -that's not really science, or I could wonder why the middle gets really hot, much hotter than the outside... could I design something that prevents this from happening (getting into technology too!)? When I was watching The Chase, they said that phones are on microwave something or others too -so why doesn't that cook stuff as these phone signals bounce around the world and in my pocket? I might want to read a bit more, growing my own wonder and curiosity... I know there are many who think that phones and microwave ovens are a cause for cancer... I wonder why they think that?

And now onto some ideas for the classroom (although I'd be interested whether children have been doing 'science things' in the holidays... books, TV programmes, museums, wonderings...).

If you follow this blog, you know I have a soft spot for the octopus and the bee. I saw this article on the stuff app and thought it was an interesting video to show the students: http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/88993604/angry-octopus-tries-to-intimidate-diver-interrupting-its-morning-walk. When they watch it, let them talk amongst themselves (there's no sound really anyway) and perhaps play it a couple of times... The octopus spends most of the video blowing itself up -which I never knew they could do! At the end it swims away and that's quite neat too. Start with observing before inferring: what do they notice about the octopus, about its head, eyes, tentacles, etc" What colours can they see? What else is in the water? And then we can infer from our observations... Why do the children think the octopus was doing that? If we decided it was because it was scared, why didn't it squirt ink like I've seen other octopus do? Are there examples of other animals that do that? Pattern seeking is an important part of science, making connections to prior experiences and knowledge. And my other question is, how did it blow itself up? Was it air? Fluids? If the children enjoy the octopus video, there are a few more that I posted last year. Oh, one more thing... what do the children think of the diver? Was she being responsible? Was it the right way to treat the creature? And what about the headline for the article: do octopus really go for morning walks?

The other bit I want to share are a series of photos that a friend of mine took and posted on facebook. I already have a very soft spot for bees -you'll often find me feeding sugar water to any bees I find resting on the ground and rescuing them out of pools and rooms in the house! Science is about building curiosity, awe and wonder but I think it's also about action... After I read about the piopio bird (I had just travelled through the town and started wondering about this bird), it started me thinking about the birdlife of New Zealand and how I can be a part of the solution to help save our amazing flora and fauna. Show the first photo to the students and ask them what do they notice...

If they say 'the bees are going for a swim' or 'the bees are having a drink of water', these are inferences! It's only a photo and we can assume but it's not what we can notice. Don't get me wrong, we do want children to infer (it's the interpret of the Gather and Interpret Data capability) but we want them to observe first... What do you notice? How many bees are there? Which way are their bodies? Are there any other insects there or just bees? What type of bees are these?

This is a little bit closer. There's one poor bee that flew a bit too close... I notice little ripples surrounding the bee on the surface so I'm thinking that it's still struggling (and there the gather and the interpret... the observing and the inferring or thinking about the observation. I've never seen bees group like this before other than swarming or in the hive and I have loads of questions about what I can see. If I zoom right in, most have their heads towards the water. There aren't any bees at the top, all seem as close to the water as they can get. I'm also wondering if there's a hive nearby as I don't normally see this big a group of bees in one place. I've never actually thought about insects needing water -spiders (which I know aren't an insect!) set up shop in a corner of a room -do they need water too? If so, how do they get it? The day was a very hot one so maybe the bees weren't getting enough sustenance from the nectar? Did they take the water back to the hive? I might end up needing to talk to an apiarist (a beekeeper!) and asking a few questions about bees! The internet is a great tool although I do like to get the children having conversations first and possible solutions before rushing to Google for "the answer". I did find this article which was quite interesting: http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=14566. It's a blog about insects so seems reputable but I might need to a bit more looking and checking facts.

One last bit about the bees... One of the books I read over the Christmas break had a bit about the way society talk and the different way science 'talks' and one of the examples was 'animal'. If, before you show these photos, you asked the children to define 'animal', I'm imagining they would give the society answer... probably four legged, probably mammals or reptiles, possibly birds but definitely not an insect as that is an... insect! However, from a science point of view, the bee is most definitely an animal! As is a worm or mosquito or spider. Another interesting one is the term "plant" -usually it's the veges or flowers, and some children will say a tree is not a plant, since it's a tree, and weeds are definitely not plants! It's important for children to understand how science is communicated and that terms we use normally might mean something different from a scientist's point of view.

Oh and now we have curiosity about the bees drinking water (or are they?!?), an action point... would it be worthwhile having little drink stations for all animals during the hottest part of summer? The swimming pool always seems to fill with bugs which I've always noticed but not really thought about other than to rescue ladybirds (another 'favourite insect!) and bees -maybe they were all attracted to the water because they were thirsty?

Well have a great week, and do post a comment if you have a go at these ideas :-)

Paul

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

Making lemonade from lemonades

We have a lovely lemonade tree out the back which goes mad with fruit, particularly at this time of the year -which reminds me that there's a great lesson around observations and lemons (http://static.nsta.org/files/sc0802_25.pdf or https://www.nsta.org/elementaryschool/connections/200802MinogueConnection.pdf without the reading)... Anyway, normally we're busy giving away as many of the lemonades as we can -the kids in my class used to love them but this year we've been a bit busy ignoring the fruit and so got a surprise when a few kids turned up at the door asking if they could have some lemons. Of course we said yes, and then found this beauty as the boys were picking "for a feed"!

I thought they'd be great for a quick observation... what has happened here? Is it one lemon or two? What would be there reasons for choosing either -especially if you only showed the first picture -there's only one connection to the tree (the "peduncle extremity" according to Saint Google and http://www.speciale.it/english/citrusfruit.html... I'm always amazed at the level of vocabulary that's out there for those who are experts in that particular field) but if you look at the other photos there are clearly two ends!

I did think that there's a conversation here about twins -identical and fraternal but that might be a bit deep! However in our science 'quickie', could children attempt to draw a cross-section of what they think this lemonade might look like? As always, I have a few thoughts about this (!) -how are they drawing the cross-section? How do they label and describe parts? Children might not know the different parts in specifics but should know "peel", "flesh", "seeds" and perhaps "segments" (although I do wonder about showing them a picture to use a starter with some of the simple names). 

Once they've had a go, you can show them my photos of the interior. I was actually surprised how much 'space' or gaps there was in the fruit -I thought it would be full of flesh but just mutated a little.

"Engaged in Science" certainly was happening in my house -and what's really interesting was it was my wife who was the curious one! And the lemonade was consumed happily -but not by me... yuck!

Of course, giving children some lemons to look at rather than one on a slide is always better... use magnifying glasses to look at the skin, the layers of skin, the segments, inside a seed, etc... lots to talk about, to taste, to smell, to generate questions (which is what the lemon of a lesson does).

As always, have a great day! Thanks to those of you who leave a comment -nice to know people do read these!

Paul

Engaging Children in Science

the originator: Mike Senator (image: today.com)

I was down in lovely Otorohanga last week doing some science with the students there. Before I started with the seniors, a couple of boys were trying to toss their water bottle up in the air and then landing right way up on the desk. Apparently, it's a "thing": (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bottle-flipping-trick-videos-youtube-banned-in-schools-a7346131.html), and I've seen kids doing this in my home town of Te Aroha as well. The aim is to toss a bottle with some water in up in the air and have it land standing upright.
Anyway, I wondered if this is something that could have some science applied to it and the flip can! I found this article online with the science of fluid dynamics attributed http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bottle-flipping-trick-videos-youtube-banned-in-schools-a7346131.html, as well as another article slightly more tongue in cheek -http://www.sciencealert.com/the-internet-just-lost-is-mind-over-this-teen-flipping-a-water-bottle-like-a-pro.
So could children work out what's going on? Could they discover the best way of holding the bottle (holding the cap seems to be best)? How much water is best? Could they film the flip to see what the water does (might need to be coloured?)? Is there a better height to be to flip or toss the bottle both for the flipping person and the surface the bottle is being flipped onto? I love thinking like this -grabbing 'stuff' that is out there and thinking about the science... because I know this is what scientists do as well! And having found a few websites out there with some explanations, I do feel my theories are affirmed! Mind you, I'm also aware that this could start the craze at your school!
Besides all the lovely physics happening here, there's lots for the science capabilities too...
Gather and Interpret Data: what are children noticing? Can they film the toss? Infer/Think about what's happening as they try different amounts of liquids (in fact would different liquids make a difference?), different holds, etc. How will they record their observations? Will they use a table or chart? There's lots of variables going on here -how will they try to keep the changes to a minimum, and why is that important?
Use Evidence, Critique Evidence: Can children try to explain why this works? I'm not expecting the physics answers with all the vocab but students may be able to see what the water is doing in the bottle. Apparently a third of the bottle filled with water is best and if it's coloured, children could see clearly what the liquid is doing. There are plenty of apps out there to slow film down for them to see how the water affects the rotation. When I talk with teachers about this kind of science, they are keen for the children to 'know the answers' and I know I'm very much the same! Sometimes the issue with letting the children loose on Google means them finding the answers but not understanding the answers. They may even be able to repeat what the website says! By getting them to explore first, they may have a better idea of what the website or video is saying... which leads me to another capability.
Interpret Representations: As students look online, they will find diagrams, charts, visual representations, and video explanations discussing the science. Do they understand? Could they explain how the pictures 'work', for example, this explanation from the links above. There's a lot of information here!

Could children film their own bottle flipping and then see if they can correlate the stages in the explanation with their own toss? Do they agree? I'm a big fan of students sharing their own explanations through drawing a diagram, etc. How will they label the picture? How do they show movement, eg of the water? Once they've drawn their diagram, children should have a better idea of their explanation and feel more confident in writing an explanation (if you wanted students to write).

Of course, you may end up with a pile of children wanting to do this all lunchtime but I guess you could put restrictions on the flip! An idea just popped in my head -does the bottle size matter?

As I was talking about this at home, my niece mentioned people trying to balance softdrink cans in their rims with a little liquid in...

Have fun!
Paul

Engaged in Science

Just a quick note to share something that happened over the weekend. One of the capabilities that I'm particularly interested in seeing 'happening' is the Engaged in Science capability. This is where children are becoming almost independent in their science thinking of the world around them and in particular issues. If we're serious about the essence statement in the NZC, we need to be deliberate in our efforts to creating responsible, critical and informed citizens.
I was at a DoC centre in Nelson last week and they are releasing lots of fantastic resources to support teachers (http://www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/conservation-education/) with getting our students engaged in their local environment and doing science stuff! The resources do have the Nature of Science as a part of the planning and it would be simple enough to tag the capabilities alongside.

Anyway, the 'thing'... I was chatting to the hairdresser as she cut my hair and she made mention of the fact the salon seems to always be louder in cool mornings than if it's warm. It got us chatting about this (and if you know me, you would know I was asking lots of questions like "Prove it" and "How do you know that it's louder?"!). We had an observation from the hairdresser and then we were using this observation to think more about this idea. We used prior knowledge about our own memories -that on still days sound does seem to travel further. We also did a bit of science talk as I had read something recently about sound travelling through water very well so was thinking that perhaps a humid day might be better for sound travel... We were musing and discussing and both of us were interested. And those of you who think I'm making this up -the hairdresser then posted this on Facebook!

Rather than getting too deep science-wise, I was wanting to share this as an example of getting science out there. Not just for children but for ourselves as well. Not only is there plenty of science-themed news out there but let's start being inquisitive, curious, wondering... Let's start thinking about what we read... I remember reading something about dogs peeing north and south (http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/01/03/dogs-sense-earths-magnetic-field/) and thought pfft! I take my dog for loads of walks and he's yet to show this natural compass bearing (unless there's something up with Te Aroha, magnetically speaking!) preferring to pee in any direction. However, it did make me want to critique and challenge the finding and that's one of the things science is about... Neither the hairdresser nor I really knew that much about sound travelling but we did have some prior knowledge and a few science ideas. She used good ol' Google to give us some more ideas but I'm sure that she will be monitoring the salon in the future... wanting evidence of her theory!

So get out there and find out stuff! Why do some weeds and flowers grow in clumps? How come the cup 'tings' at different pitches with the spoon after you stir the coffee? Why is a fruit a fruit and a vegetable a vegetable? And why does my toast and jam still fall jam-side down?!? 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/dropping-toast-butter-side-down-2253601

And what interests me is that scientists are fascinated with this everyday science just like us! That last one I put in for fun and then thought 'hmmmmm', googled it and found: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2410532/Why-toast-falls-butter-Scientists-finally-uncover-reason--height-table.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buttered_toast_phenomenon. Yes, I know the last one is wikipedia but now I want to look up the link to buttered cats! Science is so cool!

Paul