Science Sharing

Lower Block (P3)

15 March 2015

Content of Presentation

1) Primary Science Curriculum

2) The Inquiry Approach in the teaching of

Science

3) Common errors in answering OE questions

4) O-I-R scaffolding in answering OE questions

Science Teachers

• Primary 3

3A – Miss Soo Bee Li

3B – Miss S. Deviga

3C – Miss Tan Soon Hui

3D – Miss Hui Wing Yan

3E – Miss Yvette Leong

3F – Mrs Karin Tan

1) Primary Science Curriculum

http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/syllabuses/sciences/files/science-

primary-2014.pdf

Primary Science Curriculum

Topics organised across 5 themes

Diversity, Cycles, Systems, Energy, Interactions

• 2 blocks:

- Lower block (P3-P4)

- Upper block (P5-P6)

Updates to the 2014 Syllabus

P3 Science Topics • Diversity

– Classification: Living and non-living things

– Plants

– Animals

– Fungi and Bacteria

– Materials

P3 Science Topics

• Systems

– Your amazing body as a system

– Plants and their parts

P3 Science Topics

• Interactions

– Magnets and their characteristics

– Making Magnets

Science Curriculum Framework

The curriculum

seeks to nurture

the student as an

inquirer.

Assessment

focuses on

application,

rather than recall

of science facts

and concepts.

2) The Inquiry Approach in the

teaching of Science

The Inquiry Approach

• Encourages pupils to

derive the science

concepts through:

– Questioning

– Investigation

– Observation

– Deduction

• Knowledge is then

reinforced through

application

• Knowledge, Understanding and

Application of Science facts and concepts.

• Skills and Processes

• Ethics and Attitudes

The Inquiry Approach

Skills

• Observing

• Comparing

• Classifying

• Using apparatus

and equipment

• Communicating

• Inferring

• Predicting

• Analysing

• Generating possibilities

• Evaluating

• Formulating hypothesis

• This is the skill of using our senses to gather information about objects or events (includes use of instruments)

Observing

• Identifying similarities and differences between two or more objects, concepts or processes

Comparing

• Grouping objects or events based on common characteristics

Classifying

Skills

• Interpret and explain observations or pieces of data or information Inferring

• Identify the parts of objects, information or processes, patterns and relationships between these parts

Analysing

•Transmitting and receiving information presented in various forms – verbal, pictorial, tabular or graphical

Communicating

Skills

• Assess the likelihood of an outcome based on prior knowledge of how things usually turn out

Predicting

•Exploring all the alternatives, possibilities and choices beyond the obvious or preferred

Generating Possibilities

•Assessing the reasonableness, accuracy and quality of information, processes and ideas. Includes assessing quality and feasibility of objects

Evaluating

Skills

• Knowing the functions and limitations of various apparatus and developing the ability to select and handle them appropriately for various tasks

Using apparatus and

equipment

•Making a general explanation for a related set of observations or events (extension of inferring)

Formulating Hypothesis

Skills

3) Common errors in answering

OE questions

Common errors in

OE questions • Incomplete answers (when comparing)

• Fail to use appropriate scientific words or

equivalent in answers

• Did not use comparative words when needed

• Indirect answers

• Unclear / vague / ambiguous answers

Concerns

• Feedback from teachers and pupils:

– “I don’t know why my answer is ‘incomplete’.”

– “I know the answers but don’t know how to

write them.”

– “How to get it to them.”

Incomplete answers

• What is one difference between the life

cycle of a chicken and a butterfly?

– The chicken has a 3-stage life cycle.

(incomplete: What about the butterfly?)

• Why does magnet B appear to float on

magnet C?

- Because the two poles are like poles.

(incomplete: why like poles cause the ‘floating’?)

The bird’s nest fern is a non-flowering plant while the

orchid is a flowering plant.

Incomplete answers

Did not use

appropriate words

• What is one difference between the life cycle of a chicken and a butterfly? – The young of the butterfly looks like a worm, while the

young of the chicken looks like the mother.

Errors:

Larva is not the same as a worm.

The young chick looks like the male chicken too.

Did not address life cycle

• Expected correct answer:

- The life cycle of a chicken has 3 stages while the life cycle of a butterfly has 4 stages.

Did not use

comparative words • The table shows the number of clips which two

magnets can pick. Which is the stronger magnet and why?

– B is the stronger magnet because it can pick up 20 clips.

Error: Stating 20 clips does not indicate B is stronger.

B is stronger because it can pick up more clips than A.

Magnet No. of clips attracted

A 10

B 20

Skills: Inferring and communicating

Indirect answers

Indirect answers

Unclear answers

4) O-I-R scaffolding in answering

OE questions

Observation-Inference-Reason

(OIR)

Language scaffold to help pupils craft

their OE answers.

Observation-Inference-Reason

• How does wearing

sweater keep us

warm?

Common Incomplete

Answers

•Because it’s thick.

•Because it blocks out the

cold.

•Because it’s made of wool

which is warm.

•Because it traps heat.

Observation-Inference-Reason

• How does wearing

sweater keep us

warm?

Using OIR

•The sweater keeps us warm. (O)

•This shows that our body heat did not escape. (I)

•This is because the sweater has trapped air which is a poor conductor of heat and slows down our body heat from escaping to the surroundings. (R)

The OIR format

• ________________ (observation)

• This shows that___________(inference)

• This is because ___________(reason)

• Many ‘standard’ answers can be modified

to suit the OIR format.

OIR

Answer

•The paper clips were not attracted to the nail.

(observation)

•This shows that the copper nail was not magnetised.

(inference)

•This is because the copper nail is not made of a magnetic material.

(reason)

The picture shows a copper nail being

magnetised using the electrical method.

What do you think will happen when the

paper clips were brought near to the

nail. Explain your answer.

OIR

Answer:

•The earthworm in set-up X will die after a few days.

(observation)

•This shows that the earthworms does not have any air.

(inference)

•This is because the plastic sheet does not allow air to enter the jar.

(reason)

The earthworms in set-up X were placed in

an air-tight jar. What do you think will

happen to the earthworm in set-up X

a few days later?

Some challenges using

the OIR

• The OIR cannot address misconceptions.

• It is not applicable to all types of OE questions.

• The answers may not come across as elegant.

• Pupils find it difficult to distinguish between ‘inference’ and ‘reason’. – However, it can still be useful tool to get pupils to look

at a complete answer as a ‘3-parter’. This can can help pupils expand/elaborate their answers or fill in missing gaps in their original answers.

Strategies in answering OE

questions

Thank you

Q & A