Practical science and ICT in the classroom

In our book ICT and Primary Science (Williams and Easingwood 2003) we have suggested two main reasons why science in the primary school should almost always be taught with reference to practical experiences:

1. Science in the wider world is essentially practical. It is carried out in laboratories, workshops, observatories and even in the ‘field’, which can be any part of the natural world from the arid desert to the depths of the oceans. Whatever the science involved it requires a set of skills that can only be learnt through practice and experience and which in turn will illuminate the body of knowledge which we call ‘science’. Of course there are examples of pure theory which appear to contradict this. Yet, however imaginative these theories may be they are usually based not only on sound scientific principles but also on practical scientific activity. Darwin, for example, based his theory of evolution on his scientific observations. He was in fact a very practical scientist. We should allow children as far as possible to learn these skills, observation being perhaps the first and most basic. They are not only important in themselves, but through their use children will be more able to develop a better understanding of the essential scientific

POSSIBILITIES AND PRACTICALITIES

concepts. For example, children may learn something about a simple animal such as a woodlouse by copying a picture from a book. However, they are more likely to have an understanding of how it lives, what kind of animal it is, and its place in the animal kingdom if they study it in its natural environment. If the children then collect some of these creatures to make a series of careful choice chamber tests back in the classroom, then they will be able to check the observations that they first made in the field. They may even go further and formulate and test their own hypotheses, all fully supported by various aspects of ICT which will

be described later. This kind of learning simply cannot be done only with reference to the secondary material, although a CD-ROM might help in some cases! Without these practical applications teaching science would be akin to teaching art without ever touching a paint- brush, or learning music without handling an instrument or even being allowed to sing. It would also be very dull and the enthusiasm of the children would be lost, which brings us to our second point.

2. In our experience young children are highly motivated by

practical work of any kind, and even the most reluctant

learners seem to enjoy it. In the primary school, by practical science we do not only mean practical experiments, but also role play, drama, some technology, investigation and observation (as described above with the woodlice) as well as the appropriate use of ICT. When young children are first introduced to science, they are faced with abstract concepts such as life processes, electricity and forces. Surely the only way they can hope to understand such things is by practical application and study? They may well have an instinctive idea of, for example, the nature of electricity, which can be surprisingly sophisticated, but the best way for them to explore these ideas is to work with real bulbs and batteries. Life processes must surely include actually growing something, but could also involve both drama and role play when it comes to learning about such things as bacteria and their effect on the body. If it required Galileo to carry out numerous experiments whilst investigat- ing forces (perhaps the most abstract of the three), then we would argue that children should carry out their own practical investigations of this highly abstract area of science. What we are suggesting is, of course, the notion that before an abstract idea can be fully understood it must first go through a concrete stage that can form the basis of thought, discussion and the comparing of ideas.

Practical science and ICT in the classroom