Research School Network: Working Scientifically – creating independence in primary science – Part Two Teaching in Primary Science

James Siddle and Karen Robinson of Lincolnshire Research School and Roisin Knight from Christ the King Catholic Voluntary Academy explore the new EEF guidance report on primary science.

In part one of this two-part blog we considered how teachers ensure that the science curriculum is accessible to all pupils, enabling them to move from novice learners to expert scientific thinkers, especially for our most disadvantaged. We described the first three steps from the seven-step model.

In this second blog we want to further consider how this model helps science learners acquire understanding, apply, and retain extensive difficult concepts and skills using the final steps of the seven-step model.

At this stage the teacher would check to ascertain the children’s current understanding of the skill, process and/​or knowledge that has been introduced by seeing if the new learning can be explained or applied. Low stakes quizzes, interrogation of understanding by explaining to a partner, are all useful ways to embed new knowledge and concepts.

For example, when studying space in Year 5, pupils’ have been asked to create a video to explain how we get day and night. Following some explicit instruction, the teacher modelled an explanation of the movement of the Earth using a globe and a torch. She then shows the class an un-labelled diagram to further illustrate the process. She asks them to point out each part of the diagram and explain what is being shown. This step shows and consolidates their understanding of the model from the previous step.

This is the ​‘we do’ part of the modelling process. Here practical work can reinforce learning and deepen understanding. Partially created graphic organisers and scaffolds can also support understanding as appropriate.

When studying living things and their habitats in Year 2, a class might be asked to collaboratively create a food chain for a tree-frog. The class teacher might create a scaffold with boxes for the animals and arrows labelled ​‘eaten by’.

We have reached the ​‘you do’ stage of the process and the majority of children will be ready to approach the task independently. Scaffolds can be gradually removed as the children are ready. Here the pupils will start to use reflective strategies such as planning and monitoring. Teachers can support this through questioning or modelling their own thinking:

Have we done something like this before?
What do you know already?
Do you need to make any changes?
Do you need to do anything differently?

In the final stage, discussion helps ensure learning objectives have been achieved. Reflections further allows pupils to consider how effectively they approached their task and what changes they would make if they were to do it again. This evaluation phase can be scaffolded by teacher questions such as:

What did you find the most difficult and how did you solve this?
What would you do differently next time?

These prompts can be gradually withdrawn as pupils are able to progressively apply this questioning process independently.

In a Year 6 lesson on light, the class have been exploring how light can be reflected and change direction by designing and building a periscope. As part of their reflection the teacher asks them to test to see if they can see round a corner using their periscope. They are asked what the limitations of their design are, in what other circumstances their periscope may be useful and how they could make their periscope even more effective.

They class are asked which part of the project they found the trickiest and what they did to overcome this. They also use their knowledge organiser to reflect on which new scientific knowledge helped them to approach the task successfully highlighting or ticking off the knowledge that today’s lesson covered. If necessary, they might test themselves on any vocabulary, using previously made flashcards, to support their own learning.

Disadvantaged students and the seven-step model

Working scientifically integrates science content knowledge with an understanding of the nature, processes, and methods of science. Combining these different aspects to work scientifically can be challenging for both teachers and pupils. Guiding pupils to work scientifically by using the seven-step model over a series of lessons has the potential to improve their ability to think like scientists and support them to understand challenging concepts.