Science Workshop For Parents

Yu Neng Pri Sch 8 March 2014

Workshop Outline
What

is Inquiry Based Learning and its impact on acquisition of scientific concepts. ( 15 min ) with Understanding(KU) vs. Process Skill(PS) Questions. (15 min ) in answering Process Skill(PS) questions. i) Terms used in Science Open-ended questions (15 min ) ii) Answering Process Skill Qns using RIP (30 min ) misconceptions of pupils. ( 15 min ) a passion for Science learning. ( 15 min )

Knowledge

Strategies

Common

Developing

Inquiry-based Approach
Teaching

science as inquiry must go beyond merely presenting facts and using just the textbooks. on questioning . Who,What,How,Why?

Focus Pupils

must be actively engaged in the collection and use of evidence: formulate and communicate explanations based on scientific knowledge.

Remembering Understanding Applying

40% Primary Science Curriculum 2014

Skills and Processes Ethics and Attitudes Curiosity Creativity Integrity Objectivity Openmindedness Perseverance Responsibility

Knowledge, Understanding and Application

Scientific phenomena, facts, concepts and principles

Skills Observing Comparing Classifying Using apparatus Scientific vocabulary, and equipment terminology and Communicating conventions Inferring Scientific instruments and Formulating hypothesis Predicting Apparatus including techniques and aspects of Analysing Generating possibilities Safety Evaluating Processes Creative problem solving Scientific and technological applications Decision-making Investigation

Understanding Applying Analysing Evaluating 60% Creating

Environment Web of Life Adaptation Mans Impact on the Environment

12 qns K/U 18 qns PS

16m K/U 24m PS

understanding

understanding

With understanding

Process Skill Questions

Summary of Process Skills

Themes Skills Basic Process Skills

1) Observing 2) Comparing 3) Classifying 4) Using apparatus 5) Communicating Diversity 6) Analysing Cycles 7) Generating Systems 8) Evaluating Interactions 9) Inferring Energy 10) Generating Possibilities 9) Creative Problem Solving 10) Decision-making 11) Investigation

Integrated Processes

Process Skills
Observing This is the skill of using our senses to gather information about objects or events. This also includes the use of instruments to extend the range of our senses. Comparing This is the skill of identifying the similarities and differences between two or more objects, concepts or processes. Classifying This is the skill of grouping objects or events based on common characteristics.

Observing / Comparing
The diagrams below show two Plants A and B.

Plant A

Plant B

Based on the above diagram, state one difference and one similarity between Plant A and Plant B. Difference: Plant B has fruits but Plant A does not have fruits. Similarity: Both have leaves.

Classifying
Classify the following items in the correct group. Paper Lime plant Bread Iron

Things

Living Things
Lime Plant ____________ ____________

Non-Living Things

Once Alive
Paper ____________ Bread ____________

Never Alive Iron ____________

____________

Process Skills

Communicating This is the skill of transmitting and receiving information presented in various forms - verbal, pictorial, tabular or graphical.
Inferring This is the skill of interpreting or explaining observations or pieces of data or information.

Ameer set-up the circuit tester shown on the right. He placed different materials in the gap marked A in the circuit tester and recorded the brightness of the bulb in the table below. The term lux is a unit used when measuring the brightness of an object: the higher the lux value, the brighter the object.
Material Reading 1

Communicating & Inferring

Brightness of Bulb (lux) Reading 2 Reading 3

W
X Y Z

302
423 328 412

313
450 336 421

307
448 324 414

Which one of the above materials should Ameer choose to make an electric wire in a circuit? Why?

Communicating & Inferring

Which one of the above materials should Ameer choose to make an electric wire in a circuit? Why? X. The lux value of the bulb for Material X is the highest, indicating that the bulb was most brightly lit with Material X. This shows that Material X allowed most electricity to flow through it, so Material X is the best electrical conductor, and hence most suitable for making an electric wire in a circuit.

Process Skills
Predicting This is the skill of assessing the likelihood of an outcome based on prior knowledge of how things usually turn out. Analysing This is the skill of identifying the parts of objects, information or processes, and the patterns and relationships between these parts. Evaluating This is the skill of assessing the reasonableness, accuracy and quality of information, processes or ideas. This is also the skill of assessing the quality and feasibility of objects.

Predicting/Analysing
A mixture of ice and water was poured on the outer surface of the round bottomed-flask.
Glass Delivery Tube
Water level Ice and water

Round-Bottomed Flask

What will happen immediately to the water level in the delivery tube? Explain. The water level will fall or drop. The loss of heat causes the flask to contract, so the air in the flask will be pushed into the glass delivery tube causing the water level to fall or drop.

Evaluating
Richard was trying to make a model of the water cycle to demonstrate the formation of rain. He noticed that hardly any rain was formed under the aluminium sheet or inside the beaker.

Aluminium sheet

Ice cubes

beaker

Explain why Richards set-up did not work well. The temperature at the bottom and the top of the aluminium sheet was the same as the surrounding. Therefore, there was little/no condensation of water to allow rain to form.

Process Skills
Generating possibilities This is the skill of exploring all the alternatives, possibilities and choices beyond the obvious or preferred one. Using apparatus and equipment This is the skill of knowing the functions and limitations of various apparatus, and developing the ability to select and handle them appropriately for various tasks.

Generating possibilities/ Using apparatus & equipment

John was puzzled when his friends told him that plants give off water vapour. He wanted to convince himself if it was true or not. He went to his garden and saw these things there. Plastic bags Newspapers A pot of balsam plant Strings

a) Suggest what he could do to show that plants give off water vapour.

He need not use all of the above things.

b) Explain your answer in (a). a)John could wrap the leaves of the balsam plant with a plastic bag and tie it up using the string.

( Take note that he did not have to use the newspapers.)

b)The plant gives off water vapour through tiny openings found on its leaves. The water

vapour condenses into water droplets upon

touching the cooler inner surface of the plastic sheet. He will see tiny water droplets on the inner sides of the plastic bag.

Answering Open-ended Process Skill questions

Words in the questions that indicate how they should be answered

 Some can be answered using only one word while others may require several sentences.
It is important to know how much detail to give in your answer. Writing more than is required wastes precious time Writing too little causes you to lose precious marks. There are words in the questions that indicate how they should be answered.

Answering OE questions

Terms used in questions

1. State Simply required to write down the answer.

2. Describe

To give relevant details about an object or event. Not required to explain your answer.
To give reasons or make something clear and simple to understand. It is not enough to give only the key words as the answer. Link the answer to at least one
scientific concept.

3. Explain

State
State the conditions necessary for plants to carry out photosynthesis. The presence of carbon dioxide, water and light are necessary.

Describe
The diagram below shows a strong magnet attached to each toy car, A and B.
Direction S N N S

Car A

Car B

Describe what happens to toy car B when toy car A is slowly moved towards it in the direction shown above.
Toy car B will move away from toy car A.

Explain
Two similar wet towels were hung out to dry in the sun. The diagram below shows how the towels were hung.

State which towel will dry faster. Explain why. Towel B. It has a larger exposed surface area, allowing

the water in it to evaporate faster.

Answering Open-ended questions

Terms used in questions

4. What does this experiment tell you? 5. What is the purpose of the experiment? 6. What would happen? To interpret the results of the experiment and state what the results mean. Do not need to describe the results. To state the aim of the experiment. Do not need to interpret the results or describe them. To make logical prediction. No explanations are required.

What does this activity tell you

When object X is connected to the circuit, the bulb lights up.

What does this activity tell you about object X? Object X is a conductor of electricity.

What is the purpose

Jill poured equal amount of water at 850C into Glass A and Glass B. She wrapped Glass A with a cotton handkerchief and Glass B with a silk handkerchief. Both handkerchiefs were of the same size. After 15 minutes, Jill measured the temperature of the water in the glasses again.

What is the purpose of her experiment? The purpose is to find out which material is a better insulator of heat.

What would happen

A thick elastic band was stretched and attached to the wall at one end and a pole holding a basket of marbles at the other end.

a) What would happen to the length of the elastic band if more marbles are added to the basket? The elastic band would stretch and become longer.

How can you make A thick elastic band was stretched and attached to the wall at one end and a pole holding a basket of marbles at the other end.

b) How can you make the elastic band stretch more without adding any more marbles to the basket? Move the basket of marbles further away from the wall.

Weaknesses in answers
Dos and Donts

Describe Example 1
Roza and her classmates dug a hole in the school garden and set up an investigation to find out if it was possible to obtain fresh water from seawater. The diagram below shows their set-up.

After the set-up was left in the sun for a day, the pupils found some freshwater in the cup at night. Describe how water was obtained in the cup. [2m]

Answer 1 By evaporation and condensation. [0m]

Weakness : Answer is too general and vague. No description was given.

Answer 2 Water evaporates from seawater. [1/2m] The water vapour then condenses to form a liquid. Weakness : Answer is not given in the context present in the question.

Answer 3 During the day, the heat causes water to evaporate from the seawater and changes it to water vapour. Water vapour is visible and does not have a definite shape. At night, when it is cooler, the water vapour condenses onto the plastic sheet as droplets of water. Water as a liquid can flow from a higher level to a lower level. The water droplets then run along the slope of the plastic sheet and drip into the cup. Weakness : Answer is too long and includes unnecessary details.

Suggested answer During the day, water gains heat from the Sun and evaporates [1/2m] and changes to water vapour.[1/2m] At night, when it is cooler, the water vapour loses heat and condenses on the cooler plastic sheet above.[1/2m] The water then drips from the plastic sheet into the cup.[1/2m]

Describe Example 2
Mr Tan has a small aquarium with a few fish. Instead of an air pump, he places some water plants in the aquarium. How do the water plants help the fish in the aquarium? [1m]

Answer 1 For the fish to survive. [0m]

Weakness : Answer is too general and vague. No description was given.

Answer 2 The water plants produce oxygen. [1/2m]

Weakness : Answer is not given in the context present in the question.

Answer 3 When the water plants make food during photosynthesis using carbon dioxide and water, oxygen is produced for the fish to breathe. Weakness : Answer includes unnecessary details.

Suggested answer

The water plants produce oxygen during photosynthesis [1/2m]which the fish in the aquarium need to breathe. [1/2m]

Answering challenging questions

 Require you to recall concepts learnt Use multiple process skills and apply the relevant concepts accordingly.

Step 1

Read
the question carefully and highlight the keywords. (Reread if required)

RIP

Step 2

Identify the
1)Topic(T) 2)Sub Topic(ST)

IP

3)Scientific Knowledge(SK)
4)Make an Inference(I) based on question and the scientific knowledge, if possible.

Step 3

Perform an
analysis
To compose the answer by linking it to the concept tested and in the context present in the question.

RI

David placed an inverted test-tube containing some water and hydrilla inside a beaker of water as shown in the diagram below.
The constants(C) are the amount of carbon dioxide in the water ,the water and the hydrilla.

T: Energy and Photosynthesis ST : Photosynthesis in Plants. SK : Plants can make their own food only in the presence of light energy, carbon dioxide and water. I : The bubbles formed must be oxygen

After ten minutes, he counted the number of bubbles produced by the water plants over 1 minute. He repeated the procedure 4 more times, increasing the distance between the light source and the beaker. He recorded his observations in the table shown below
Distance of light source from beaker (cm) Number of bubbles produced in 1 minute

Increasing

30 40 50 60 70

60 50 40 30 20

decreasing

(a) Write down one observation David can make from the above experiment.[1m]

As the distance of the light source from the beaker increases, the number of bubbles produced in 1 minute decreases. (b) Write down one conclusion David can make from the above experiment.[1m]
The further the distance between the light source and the hydrilla, the slower the rate of photosynthesis.

When Bars A, B, C and D are hung from a rod using strings of the same length, they move in the manner as shown in the diagram below. Some of them are magnets but some of them are not.
T: Magnets ST: Magnetic property SK: Unlike poles attract while like poles repel I: Non-magnetic materials neither attract or repel. Magnetic materials only attract.

a) Use the table below to classify the four bars according to their magnetic property.
Magnets
A B

Non-magnetic materials

Not Possible To Tell

C D

Bar E was then hung between bar A and bar B and this was what happened.

Is bar E a magnet? Explain your answer. Bar E is a magnet. It repels bar A and only magnets can repel one another.

how can you tell

When the trigger of a popgun is pressed, the ball pops out and moves along a curved path as shown by the dotted line in the diagram below.

As you observe the ball moving along the curved path, how can you tell that a force is acting on the ball?

What you should do

T: Forces ST: Effects of A Force SK: When a force acts on an object, it can cause the direction of its movement to change.

As you observe the ball moving along the curved path, how can you tell that a force is acting on the ball?

The curved path shows that the ball is changing its direction as it moves and only a force can change the direction of the ball.

Three identical containers, A, B and C, are each filled with the following substances, W, X, Y and Z. Stoppers were then used to seal the three air-tight containers as shown below.

filled with Z

An object of mass 10 kg was then placed on the stopper of each container. The stoppers were observed and the results recorded in the table below.
Container Did the stopper move? A Yes B No C Yes

T: Matter ST: Three States of Matter SK: A gas has no definite shape nor volume. I: A gas can be compressed but a solid cannot be compressed. (a) Based on the results, which of the substance(s) (W, X, Y or Z) is/are most likely a gas? [1m]

X and Z
(b) Explain your answer in (a). [1m]

A gas can be compressed (1/2m) and the 10kg masses compress Gas X and Z and push the stopper downwards (1/2m).

Ben poured exactly 500ml of tap water into each saucepan shown below. He put the saucepans on separate burners of the same size and covered one of it with a lid. The burners were turned on high.

Ben recorded the time taken by the tap water in saucepan A and saucepan B to boil and plotted his reading in the graph shown below.
of water

Identify and state two errors that he has made when he plotted the graph.

T: Heat & Temperature ST: Conduction of heat SK: Water freezes at 0C and boils at 100C. Heat travels from a hotter to a colder place or object. I: Temperature of tap water is above 0C . Heat travels when two objects touch each other.

Ben recorded the time taken by the tap water in saucepan A and saucepan B to boil and plotted his reading in the graph shown below.
of water

Identify and state two errors that he has made when he plotted the graph.

T: Heat & Temperature ST: Conduction of heat SK: Water freezes at 0C and boils at 100C. Heat travels from a hotter to a colder place or object. I: Temperature of tap water is above 0C . Heat travels when two objects touch each other.

i)The graph should not begin at 0 degree Celsius [m] as the temperature of tap water is not 0 degree celsius.[m] (ii) The tap water in saucepan A should take longer to boil

than the tap water in saucepan B.

In another experiment, Ben placed a potato of similar sized in each saucepan and covered the saucepan with lids. Both pans had enough tap water (1litre) to cover the entire potato. He placed the pans on different types of metal plates as shown below and turned on the heat.

Which potato would be cooked much faster? Explain your answer. Potato in Saucepan A [1m]. Saucepan A has a flat metal plate which has more contact area [m] with the heat so that more heat can be transferred [m]to cook the potato faster.

Science Misconceptions

Breathing is respiration.

True or False

Breathing is the process of taking in oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide.

Respiration is the process where the body breaks down the oxygen so that the cells in the body can use it to create energy.

Batteries store electricity.

True or False

Batteries convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy.

A community is the same as a population. All aquatic animals adapt to breathing underwater by having gills. Hyenas, vultures, earthworms, millipedes and termites are decomposers. Camels adapt to the dry desert environment by drinking a lot of water at one time and storing it in their humps. Global warming causes all parts of the world to become warmer and drier.

How can you help your child?

Raise

your childs awareness of Science in their daily life. Science is everywhere. Connect the concepts learnt in the textbooks to actual happening that takes place around them.
opportunities for Science learning at home while watching educational programmes or perhaps embarking on inquiry-based experiments right in your very own home.

Create

How can you help your child?

Explore Inject Show

non-formal education sites. Eg. Visit to zoo, beach, hiking fun into Science learning and revision through games, quizzes and crossword puzzles. excitement/passion for science. If you expect your child to develop the passion for the science, you too have to develop it. existing skills, reinforce what is learnt in school. ( You can apply what you have learnt on RIP
strategy! )

Develop

USING ICT for self-directed learning

BrainPoP for EMS http://www.brainpopjr.com/ http://www.brainpop.com/ Username: yunengps Password: 1658stud AsknLearn Learning Management System https://lms.asknlearn.com/

Q&A
Mr Hashim HOD Sci Mdm Dewi LH Sci Mrs Singh P5 Sci Tr Mrs Iris Lim P6 Sci Tr

The End
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