COA Science.mp4

Direct Instruction

In this lesson the students conducted a science experiment. The focus was to support them to critique experiments based upon their reliability - was it a fair test?

Extended plan here

Reflection

This was a really fun lesson as the students enjoyed the crafty/ critical thinking aspects of it despite us literally watching ice melt! I actually repeated this lesson with two classes, which was fortunate as my footage corrupted part way through with the first class ; you can see this in the middle of the video where we are in a different classroom. It was helpful at teaching critical thinking and had links to literacy, science, technology and statistics. I could have increased the cognitive challenge, by getting the students to plan the entire experiment including the materials, but I wanted to draw the focus to the learning intention.

Things to note

The small group scene has a few awkward moments as we were actually sharing the classroom with a team of builders; you can see the students watching them at different times and some building noises. At some point during the lesson, the students started talking directly to the camera and at moments to myself, but I was at the other side of the classroom!