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Watching films is a common activity for children outside

of school, and incorporating popular films that contain scientific references has the potential to spark interest in the classroom. Clips rather than entire films can be used, as the children will maintain focus on the lesson objectives while being

excited by the appeal of the film. The use of film clips has been found to stimulate children and give an alternative method of learning that links an activity children enjoy at home directly to the classroom. When used as starters they motivate the children for the lesson ahead and, as plenaries, they round off a lesson; they can even be used to break up longer written assignments.

How the project startedBristol University uses the Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme (Harrison, Smith and Shallcross, 2009), whereby students in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects work on projects with primary and secondary schools as a component of their degrees. This project started as the result of Elle’s placement, as a final-year chemistry undergraduate student, in a local primary school.

A literature search came up with advice from Teaching science in the primary classroom (Ward et al., 2005) suggesting that games, role-play and stories should be used to stimulate interest and link previously learnt concepts with new ideas and situations in the real world. As the decline in reading books for pleasure is

USING POPULAR CHILDREN’S FILMS IN SCIENCEKey words:

Creativity

ICT

ITE needs

Cross-curricular links

Elle Wadsworth, Steve Croker and Tim Harrison report on a project using film clips to stimulate children’s interest, and the web-based resource they have created

Figure 1 The film Up provides a great context for a forces topic. Photo © Disney/Pixar

20 PRI MARY SCI ENCE 123 May/June 2012 PRI MARY SCI ENCE 123 May/June 2012

linked with the increased use of the more popular alternatives of television and film, it was decided to explore the use of these methods. This led to the creation and trials of our resource.

The resourceAs the project progressed, a web-based resource was created, which links film clip references with their scientific relevance to the English National Curriculum. The clips chosen have scientific references to key stage 2 (upper primary, ages 7–11). The resource lists units within each year, and each unit gives an indication of the science entailed in the relevant film clip(s), so the resource can readily be used with other curricula (Figure 2). Teachers find the resource helpful for planning as it was built up based on the teaching units that many teachers in England use as a basis of the topics. The links take you to a breakdown of topics covered in this age range, although some topics have more film clip references than others. The clips are between approximately 90 seconds and 3 minutes in length, short enough to keep children focused on the lesson objectives but long enough to get the point across. The clip descriptions describe what is being shown and why it is relevant,

along with suggestions of how the clips could be used, rather than specific guidelines, to allow a degree of creativity and flexibility for the person planning the lesson.

Two examples are given below of the resource in use.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory In one 3-minute clip from the 2005 film of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Grandpa Joe is telling Charlie the story of how Willy Wonka made a palace out of chocolate for Prince Pondicherry in India. The construction of the palace is seen with the chocolate in different forms: solid, liquid and a mixture of the two for mortar. Unfortunately there is an especially hot day in India and the whole palace starts to melt

and collapse.This clip can be used for

‘Changing state’ topics and ‘Reversible and irreversible changes’. The children could be asked if the palace can be remade with the same chocolate – is it reversible? What material is not reversible once melted? This clip could also be used in cross-curricular work with geography for fair-trade and learning about the countries that grow the cocoa. This could also be combined with literacy lessons, by reading Roald Dahl’s book, or in food technology where pupils could experiment with melting and solidifying chocolate.

Those interested in chocolate may like to know that good quality chocolate has a melting point near to the temperature of the mouth (~35 °C). In melting, energy is removed from the mouth giving a slight cooling effect on the tongue!

Space Chimps The second example, shown to a year 5 class (ages 9–10), involves the 2008 computer-animated film Space Chimps and gravity. It links to the ‘Earth, Sun and Moon’ topic, where the children were learning about the difference in the atmosphere on Earth and on the Moon and the significance of gravity. Two clips were shown from the film Space Chimps. The first clip is set on Earth with gravity and the second is in space with very little gravity. In the first

clip Ham the Chimp is one of three chimps being

sent into space. The clip shows the

chimps being introduced to humans at a press conference. Ham then accidentally sets off his rocket

pack and is sent flying

up in to the air and around the

conference room. This clip was used to

introduce gravity, and in the ensuing discussion questions

Figure 2 The resource entry for the ‘Forces in Action’ unit

Figure 3 Chocolate is a motivator, however you use it!

USING POPULAR CHILDREN’S FILMS IN SCIENCE

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PRI MARY SCI ENCE 123 May/June 2012

were asked such as ‘Why does Ham require a rocket pack to float in the first place?’ and ‘Why does he fall to the ground once the pack has run out of power?’

The second clip, in contrast, shows the three chimps in space after they have just left the Earth’s atmosphere and are floating in their spaceship. This clip is about the lack of gravity. This time the children were asked ‘How is Ham floating without a rocket pack?’ and ‘What is the difference?’

What the users thinkIn a feedback interview about this method of introducing science topics one teacher said:I think that using film clips in a science lesson will help children to learn that aspects of science are all around us, even in films. This should hopefully reflect on what they notice happens in real life, therefore

helping them to develop the scientific knowledge and understanding required in order to understand the world they live in. Another reported that the clips were:engaging from the start – immediately grabs their attention with something familiar before introducing a science concept.

A survey of one class’s experience of using film clips in their science lessons found that all enjoyed having the film clips and all but one child said that they thought the clips made science more fun and that they wanted more clips in future lessons.

Moving onThe website resource will be updated in 2013 as part of a future UAS project and so the latest children’s films containing appropriate science topics will be added. The next time you are starting a science topic do take a look at the project website, and, if you have the relevant film DVD at hand, why not give this approach a go? In the meantime, if you find a suitable clip within a film do let us know.

AcknowledgementsThe authors wish to thank the staff and pupils of St Peter and St Paul’s Primary School and Elmlea Junior School, both in the city of Bristol, for the initial trials of this resource.

ReferencesHarrison, T., Smith, D., Shallcross, D.

(2009) Final year school projects: the Bristol ChemLabS use of the Undergraduate Ambassador Scheme. Acta Didactica Napocensia, 2(2), 35–40. Available at: adn.teaching.ro/v2n2.htm

Ward, H., Roden, J., Hewlett, C. and Foreman, J. (2005) Teaching science in the primary classroom: a practical guide. London: Paul Chapman.

Copyright issuesIn case you worry about the issue of copyright and using films in class, Filmbank, a company representing many of the leading Hollywood and Independent film studios in the area of film usage outside the cinema and home, states on its website: ‘Generally, film screenings for education purposes/part of the curriculum, do not require a screening licence to remain within copyright’.

Useful websites• www.chemlabs.bris.ac.uk/outreach/resources/UASWEB/home.html – for the resource ‘Using popular children’s films to stimulate interest in science’

• www.filmeducation.org provides award-winning teaching resources, teacher training and cinema-based events that support the use of film within the curriculum

• www.nationalschoolsfilmweek.org provides teachers and their students with the opportunity to see a wide range of films at local cinemas entirely free-of-charge. Film Week 2012 will be 16–26 October in England, Wales and N. Ireland and 1–9 November in Scotland.

• www.filmbank.co.uk deals with issues such as licences to show whole films in schools

• Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme: www.uas.ac.uk

Elenore (Elle) Wadsworth was an undergraduate chemistry student at the University of Bristol at the time of writing and is now the Bristol ChemLabS outreach administrator, University of Bristol. Email: elle.wadsworth@bristol.ac.uk Steve Croker is the senior laboratory manager and webmaster at Bristol ChemLabS, University of Bristol. Email: Steve.Croker@bristol.ac.uk Tim Harrison is the Bristol ChemLabS director of outreach at the University of Bristol. Email: t.g.harrison@bristol.ac.uk

Figure 4 Examples of children’s responses to the Space Chimps and gravity scenario

USING POPULAR CHILDREN’S FILMS IN SCIENCE