Promoting Scientific Working to Year 6
Congratulations to Judith Burns (Education Reporter), who posted up a super article all about how to enthuse Key Stage 2 children about science. With the inspirational British astronaut Major Tim Peake safely returned to Earth after six months on the International Space Station orbiting our planet, now is a great time to “grasp the nettle” and use Tim’s space experience to help inspire and enthuse school children all about science. A dinosaur workshop can help to motivate children.
A Dinosaur Workshop and Science Visit
Earlier this month, Year 2 children at Colegrave Primary School (Stratford, east London) were asked to consider questions related to the universe and physics. A visit from Dr Berry Billingsley, an associate professor at Reading University provided the catalyst for an afternoon of science exploration.
Key Stage 1 Pupils Explore Science
Rather taken with T. rex toes. Exploring science. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
To learn more about how Everything Dinosaur helps with science teaching: About Everything Dinosaur.
Why is my Jacket Red?
The pupils were asked to explain why Dr Billingsley’s jacket was red. Lots of suggestions were put forward such as, it was made red by the factory and maybe it’s because your favourite colour is red. The associate professor then suggested that the jacket is red because it bounces back red light and absorbs all other colours. She postulated, that if her answer is right, does that mean that all the answers given by the children were wrong? Cue an exploration of the spectrum of visible (white) light. Special glasses were worn by the pupils, these glasses refract the light into its various wavelengths.
The young man in the picture (above) has a red T-shirt. Why is it red?
Defining Science
In a series of fun experiments the children explored gravity and evidence for gravitational waves, with the objective of the session to help the children to understand how scientific advances come about, how “scientific working” can help to find answers to problems. A key question asked was what is science? Several children came up with explanations:
Maryam: “You can discover new things about the world, which you did not know before.”
Alamame: “Science is about exploring space and making scientific discoveries.”
Dr Billingsley’s favourite definition of science is: “Science is about observing and talking about our observations.”
At Everything Dinosaur, we have our own favourite definition: “Science is the search for truth.”
Whatever the definition, the children certainly enjoyed their afternoon of challenging science based activities.
Learning about Fossils, Dinosaurs and Life in the Past Helps to Enthuse Children about Science
Making dinosaur themed snacks a novel way to learn about science.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur, one of the team members who conducts dinosaur themed workshops in schools stated: “Our trained teachers visit schools all over the country delivering dinosaur and fossil themed science workshops. It’s great to be able to help enthuse and motivate the next generation of scientists.”
Learning about dinosaurs and fossils in class can help to enthuse school children about science.
Visit Everything Dinosaur’s user-friendly website: Everything Dinosaur.