This course has allowed me the opportunity to explore and engage with excellent online tools and resources to further the teaching and learning of science in the classroom.
The use of scientific investigative skills is transferrable across the curriculum, in particular the promotion and development of oral language.
I have successfully used the themes of weather and materials and their correlation with children’s clothes, properties and characteristic of material in coats and its relevance to the children’s own environment and experience.
With the children working in small groups they have experimented with basins of water and a variety of materials including plastic, nylon, cotton, wool paper and cardboard the children were asked to identify and investigate materials that absorb water and those that are waterproof. They were asked to explore the characteristics of materials in coats that were wet or dry and appropriateness to various different types of weather.
The groups were given templates to record findings and share this with the class. There was fun, interactivity, experimentation and teamwork. This in itself is true learning in every sense for the “real” world.