Parents Workshop. Science

Parents’ Workshop

• Teaching and Learning of Science ~ Ms Teo

• Mindmap as a study tool and drawing a simple mindmap ~ Mr Tang

• Deepening POLYA – Science Writing Heuristic ~ Mdm Hanita

• Identify keywords and concepts

• Enables you to see the big picture (how all the different ideas are to connected to one another)

• Helps to clarify thoughts, simplify complex ideas and memorise information

• Allows creativity

• Step 1: In the centre of the page, write the topic or draw the first image that comes to your mind which is related to the topic you are

mindmapping.

• Step 2: Branch off from your central image.

Think of each branch as a subtopic of a chapter. Label the branch. You can also draw a picture

for it.

• Step 3: From your main branches draw some sub-branches and from those sub-sub-branches you can

draw even more branches. What you are beginning to do is to create associations between ideas.

• Step 4: As you come across new information, link it to the mindmap appropriately.

• Step 5: Draw pictures for each branch or for as many branches as possible. Make each picture as vivid as possible.

• Use single words or simple phrases

• Print words

• Use colour to separate different ideas

• Use symbols and images

• Use cross-linkages

Teaching the Language of

My Science marks are below my expectations! I wonder why.

I know my Science content very well but somehow I just cannot express my answers in ways that are considered Scientific to the teachers. My answers are always incomplete or I am always using inappropriate words. The POLYA method has helped me think of the concepts but my answers still lack quality.

Teaching The Language of Science

• Science has its own unique language.

• Pupils might have the Scientific content and concepts.

• However, they still receive unexpected marks for Science exams.

• Have difficulty expressing their answers in ways that are considered Scientific to the

teachers, (especially answers which require them to explain).

Therefore there is a high need to teach the pupils how to merge Science language with Science content in order for them to present

their Science concepts in a Scientifically appropriate way.

~ Elementary Students’ Strategies for Writing-to-Learn in Science

Perry D. Klein

Faculty of Education

The University of Western Ontario London, Canada

This is done through the explicit teaching of

Science Writing Heuristic

~Keys Carolyn W., Brian Hand, Vaughn Prain, Susan Collins, (1999). Using the Science Writing Heuristic as a

Tool for Learning from Laboratory Investigations in Secondary Science, Journal Of Research In Science

So what exactly is

Science Writing

Heuristic? What are

the steps involved?

Science Writing Heuristic

3 Steps:

1)Claim

2)Connect

experiments and real world phenomena.

3)Support

1. Read and annotate to make sense of the

question. Smallest size Largest size Deepest depth Shallowes t depth Greater weight, sink deeper

1) Claim your answer. 2) Connect to concepts, process skills, experiments, real world. 3) Support with keywords, data and evidence from the qn.

1. Claim: Light with broad feet. 2. Connect: Adaptations for

movement and finding food. 3. Support: Based on the data, the bird will not sink so deep when it walks on floating plants in ponds; can find food from the pond.

The bird must be light with broad feet so it will not sink so deep when it walks on the floating plants in ponds to find food.

2. Think of the Science theme(s) and topic(s) and concept(s) tested in the question.

Theme: Interactions Topic: Adaptations

Concept: Adaptations for finding food. 3. Plan

your

answers _{Link the mass of the}

bird and the size of the feet to the weights and size of the cardboard in the experiment given in the question.

4. Do

1. Read and annotate to make sense of the

question.

transparent opaque 2. Think of the Science

theme(s), topic(s) and concept(s) tested in the question.

Theme(s): Diversity

Topic(s): Exploring Materials Concept(s) : Materials which are translucent allow some light to pass through.

3. Plan your answers:

Claim: C and D Connect: Materials which are translucent allow some light to pass through.

Support with data and keywords from the question.

C and D are translucent as they only allow some light to pass through them._____________________________________

translucent

3. Plan your answers:

Claim: Material A is transparent.

Connect:

-Materials which are transparent allow all light to pass through. -Plants need light to make food.

Support with keywords and data/picures from the question:

-transparent

-pass through -greenhouse

-make food 4. Do Material A_{enabling the} is transparent_{plants in the greenhouse to} , so it allows all light to pass through_{make food.__________} it,

5. Check

Made of glass. Used for growing plants .

Responses

1. Please _{rate your Science content.} 75% - Good & Very good

2. Before I was taught this C-C-S strategy, I could not understand why I kept getting my answers to Science paper section B wrong, even though I know my Science content well.

Responses

3. After learning about the C-C-S strategy, I am able to write better quality answers to the Science section B open-ended

questions.

100% - Agree and Strongly agree 4. My answers now contain more of the

correct Science keywords that are required. 100% - Agree and Strongly agree

Responses

• I feel that the CCS strategy helped me in answering Section B better with the correct usage of Scientific words.

• I like this method. It helps me in my science, i now provide more quality answers...

Responses

• It is easy to understand and makes science very interesting.

• It is a very useful strategy that helped my improve my sentence structures a lot.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

CA1 SA1 CA2 SA2

HP class MP class

Average Section B Scores

In Conclusion

• When it comes to Science, there are very different ways of using the language.

• While understanding that the Science

language is critical, content of Science is equally important.

• Focusing on one does not mean doing it at the expense of the another.

• When pupils understand the language of Science, their struggles can be better

References

• Understanding the Language of Science, Seah

Lay Hoon, NIE

• Elementary Students’ Strategies for

Writing-to-Learn in Science; Perry D. Klein; Faculty of

Education; The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada

• Using the Science Writing Heuristic as a Tool for Learning from Laboratory Investigations in Secondary Science, Journal Of Research In

Science Teaching; Keys Carolyn W., Brian Hand,