learning concepts through inquiry

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© 2010 University of Nottingham 1 LEARNING CONCEPTS THROUGH INQUIRY Introduction This unit considers how the processes of inquiry based learning may be integrated into the teaching of Mathematics and Science content. Often, these two aspects of learning are kept separate: we teach content as a collection of facts and skills to be imitated and mastered, and/or we teach process skills through investigations that do not develop incorporate important content knowledge. The integration of content and process raises many pedagogical challenges. The processes under consideration here are: observing and visualising, classifying and creating definitions, making representations and translating between them, finding connections and relationships, estimating, measuring and quantifying, evaluating, experimenting and controlling variables. As some have pointed out, these are developments of natural human powers that we employ from birth (Millar, 1994). To some extent, we use them unconsciously all the time. When these powers are harnessed and developed by teachers to help students understand the concepts of mathematics and science, students become much more engaged and involved in their learning. This unit has many activities within it - too many for one session. It is suggested that this unit is used as a menu, from which professional development providers can choose. It is however, important that participants are given an opportunity to try out some of these activities in their lessons and to report back on the outcomes. Activities Activity A: Observing and visualising .............................................................................................. 2 Activity B: Classifying and defining ................................................................................................. 4 Activity C: Representing and Translating ........................................................................................ 6 Activity D: Making connections ...................................................................................................... 8 Activity E: Estimating .................................................................................................................... 10 Activity F: Measuring and quantifying ......................................................................................... 12 Activity G: Evaluating statements, results and reasoning ............................................................ 14 Activity H: Experimenting and Controlling variables .................................................................... 17 Activity I: Plan a lesson, teach it and reflect on the outcomes ..................................................... 19 Further reading ................................................................................................................................ 20 References ....................................................................................................................................... 20 Acknowledgement: The modules have been compiled for PRIMAS from professional development materials developed by the Shell Centre team at the Centre for Research in Mathematics Education, University of Nottingham. This includes material adapted from Improving Learning in Mathematics © Crown Copyright (UK) 2005 by kind permission of the Learning and Skill Improvement Service www.LSIS.org.uk.

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©2010UniversityofNottingham 1

LEARNINGCONCEPTSTHROUGHINQUIRY

IntroductionThisunitconsidershowtheprocessesofinquirybasedlearningmaybeintegratedintotheteachingofMathematicsandSciencecontent.Often,thesetwoaspectsoflearningarekeptseparate:weteachcontentasacollectionoffactsandskillstobeimitatedandmastered,and/orweteachprocessskillsthroughinvestigationsthatdonotdevelopincorporateimportantcontentknowledge.Theintegrationofcontentandprocessraisesmanypedagogicalchallenges.Theprocessesunderconsiderationhereare:observingandvisualising,classifyingandcreatingdefinitions,makingrepresentationsandtranslatingbetweenthem,findingconnectionsandrelationships,estimating,measuringandquantifying,evaluating,experimentingandcontrollingvariables.Assomehavepointedout,thesearedevelopmentsofnaturalhumanpowersthatweemployfrombirth(Millar,1994).Tosomeextent,weusethemunconsciouslyallthetime.Whenthesepowersareharnessedanddevelopedbyteacherstohelpstudentsunderstandtheconceptsofmathematicsandscience,studentsbecomemuchmoreengagedandinvolvedintheirlearning.Thisunithasmanyactivitieswithinit-toomanyforonesession.Itissuggestedthatthisunitisusedasamenu,fromwhichprofessionaldevelopmentproviderscanchoose.Itishowever,importantthatparticipantsaregivenanopportunitytotryoutsomeoftheseactivitiesintheirlessonsandtoreportbackontheoutcomes.

ActivitiesActivityA: Observingandvisualising..............................................................................................2ActivityB: Classifyinganddefining.................................................................................................4ActivityC: RepresentingandTranslating........................................................................................6ActivityD: Makingconnections......................................................................................................8ActivityE: Estimating....................................................................................................................10ActivityF: Measuringandquantifying.........................................................................................12ActivityG: Evaluatingstatements,resultsandreasoning............................................................14ActivityH: ExperimentingandControllingvariables....................................................................17ActivityI: Planalesson,teachitandreflectontheoutcomes.....................................................19Furtherreading................................................................................................................................20References.......................................................................................................................................20

Acknowledgement:ThemoduleshavebeencompiledforPRIMASfromprofessionaldevelopmentmaterialsdevelopedbytheShellCentreteamattheCentreforResearchinMathematicsEducation,UniversityofNottingham.ThisincludesmaterialadaptedfromImprovingLearninginMathematics©CrownCopyright(UK)2005bykindpermissionoftheLearningandSkillImprovementServicewww.LSIS.org.uk.

©2010UniversityofNottingham 2

ACTIVITYA:OBSERVINGANDVISUALISING

Timeneeded-30minutesTheprocessesofobservingandvisualisingarenaturalhumanpowersthatwehavefrombirth.Observationisprimarilyaboutwhatwecanseeandnoticedirectly,whereasvisualisationconcernswhatwecanimagineandtransformmentally,inour'mind'seye'.Thecontentionhereisthatthesepowersareoftenunder-usedinclassrooms,atleastpartlybecausewedon'tusetasksthatrequiretheuseofthesepowersfortheirsuccessfulcompletion.Theactivitiespresentedhereareintendedtobejustexamplesofthreewaysofharnessingstudents'powersofobservationandvisualisation.Theseareonlyexamples;alternativesareeasilyfoundatanylevelofdifficulty.Inthelefthandcolumnoftheworksheetweoffergenericdescriptionsoftheactivities,whileintherighthandcolumnweofferaspecificexample.Thesearediscussedbriefly,below.

• WorkonsomeoftheactivitiesonHandout1.• Shareyouobservationsandmentalimages:

-howdidyou'see'theobjectdifferently?-whatdidyounoticeorsingleoutforattention?-whatdidyoutrytomanipulatementally?

• Trytodevelopanactivityusingoneofthesetypesforuseinyourownclassroom.Trytodeviseexamplesthatforcestudentstoobservepropertiescarefully,andthatwillcreatediscussionaboutdefinitions.

• Tryoutyouractivityandreportbackonit.AlhambraTheAlhambratilingisacomplexrepeatingpatternmadefrommanydifferentshapes.Participantsmaybeaskedtosketchtheindividualtilesthatwentintoconstructingit.Twosmalltileswilldo,asshownbelow.Couldthepatternbemadefromonesmalltile?

CubeofcheeseAskparticipantstodescribealltheshapesthatthey'see'asthecheeseiscut.Initiallyasmalltriangleisformed,butthismaybeofanytype,dependingontheangleoftheknife.Aslargerandlargercutsaremade,participantsmaybesurprisedto'see'allkindsofquadrilaterals,pentagonsandhexagons.Theymaywanttosketchdiagramsandworkonthisfurtherastheydiscuss.Encouragethis,butonlyaftertryingtoworkmentally.

Suspensionbridgecables

Differentwaysofseeingleadtodifferentsequencesandalgebraicexpressions:

Youmayalsobeabletoseethediagramasthedifferenceoftwocubes:

1,7,19,.....

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Handout1:Observingandvisualisingactivities

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ACTIVITYB:CLASSIFYINGANDDEFINING

Timeneeded-30minutesClassificationanddefinitionclearlyplaykeyrolesinScienceandMathematics.Herewearenotonlyconcernedwithlearningclassificationsanddefinitionsdevisedbyothers,butalsowithstudentsengagingintheseprocessestogainanunderstandingofhowScientificandMathematicalconceptscomeabout.Intheseactivities,studentsexamineacollectionof'objects'carefully,andclassifythemaccordingtotheirdifferentattributes.Studentsselecteachobject,discriminatebetweenthatobjectandothersimilarobjects(whatisthesameandwhatisdifferent?)andcreateandusecategoriestobuilddefinitions.Thistypeofactivityispowerfulinhelpingstudentsunderstandwhatismeantbydifferenttermsandsymbols,andtheprocessthroughwhichtheyaredeveloped.

• WorkonsomeoftheactivitiesonHandout2.• Whatkindsof'objects'doyouaskstudentstoclassifyanddefineinyourclassroom?• Trytodevelopanactivityusingoneofthesetypesforuseinyourownclassroom.Tryto

deviseexamplesthatforcestudentstoobservethepropertiesofobjectscarefully,andthatwillcreatediscussionaboutdefinitions.

• Tryoutyouractivityandreportbackonitinalatersession.

Thetypesofactivityshownheremaybeextendedtoalmostanycontext.InMathematics,forexample,theobjectsbeingdecribed,definedandclassifiedcouldbenumerical,geometricoralgebraic.InSciencetheycouldbeorganismsorelements.Theactivityhereisforteacherstotrytoexploretherangeofpossibilities.

SimilaritiesanddifferencesIntheexamplesshown,studentsmay,forexample,decidethatthesquareistheoddoneoutbecauseithasadifferentperimetertotheothershapes(whichbothhavethesameperimeter);therectangleistheoddoneoutbecauseithasadifferentareatotheothersandsoon.Propertiesconsideredmayincludearea,perimeter,symmetry,angle,convexityetc.Inthesilhouettes,studentsmayconsidermanyaspects:wheretheanimalslive,howtheymove,reproduceetc.Participantsshouldtrytodevisetheirownexamples.PropertiesanddefinitionsNoneofthepropertiesbythemselvesdefinesthesquare.Itisinterestingtoconsiderwhatothershapesareincludedifjustonepropertyistaken.Forexample,whenthepropertyis"Twoequaldiagonals"thenallrectanglesandisoscelestrapeziaareincluded-butisthatallthecases?Takentwoatatime,thenresultsarenotsoobvious.Forexample,"Fourequalsides"and"fourrightangles"definesasquare,but"diagonalsmeetatrightangles"and"fourequalsides"doesnot(whatelsecouldthisbe?).CreatingandtestingdefinitionsParticipantsusuallywritearathervaguedefinitionof"polygon"or"bird"tobeginwith,suchas:"Ashapewithstraightedges"oran"animalthatflies".Theythenseethatthisisinadequateforthegivenexamples.Thiscausesthemtoredefinemorerigorously,like"aplanefigurethatisboundedbyaclosedpathorcircuit,composedofafinitesequenceofstraightlinesegments".Definingisadifficultarea,andstudentsshouldrealisethattherearecompetingdefinitionsforthesameidea(suchas"dimension",forexample).Classifyingusingtwo-waytablesTwo-waytablesarenottheonlyrepresentationthatmaybeused,ofcourse,andparticipantsmaysuggestothers.Venndiagramsandtreediagramsarejusttwoexamplesusedbothinscienceandmaths.

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Handout2:Classifyinganddefining

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ACTIVITYC:REPRESENTINGANDTRANSLATING

Timeneeded:20minutes

MathematicalandScientificconceptshavemanyrepresentations;words,diagrams,algebraicsymbols,tables,graphsandsoon.Itisimportantforstudentstolearnto'speak'theserepresentationsfluentlyandtolearntotranslatebetweenthem.Itishelpfultothinkofeachcellinthegridbelowasatranslationprocess.Sometranslationsaremorecommonthanothersinclassroomactivities.Forexample,weoftenaskstudentstomovebetweentablesandgraphs.Thisislabelledas'plotting'.

from\to words pictures tables graphs formulaewords pictures tables plotting graphs formulae

• Whichrepresentationsdoyouusemostofteninyourclassroom?• Whichtranslationprocessesdoyouemphasisemost?Whichreceivelessattention?• DiscusstheexamplesshowninHandout3.

Asparticipantsworkontheactivitiestheymaybegintorealisethatsomeofthesearelesscommonintheirclassroom.Somenotesoneachactivityaregivenbelow:JobtimesThewordsdescribeaninverseproportion,suchasthefollowing.Numberofpeople 1 2 3 4 5 6Timetakenin

hours24 12 8 6 4.8 4

RollercoasterAsuitablegraphisshownbelow.Itisinterestingtonotehowdifficultsomestudentsfindthis,particulalywhentheymisinterpretthegraphasapictureofthesituation.

Wordsandformulae

Studentsenjoytryingtoconstructtheseandmakingthemasdifficultaspossible!

TablesandgraphsThisparticularexamplefocusesongraphsketchingratherthangraphplotting.

Tournament

Thediagramshowsthestructureofthesituation.Therearen2-ncells.

PenguinsTheweightisproportionaltovolume,thendimensionalanalysisshouldsuggestthatweightisproportionaltothecubeoftheheightifthepenguinsaregeometricallysimilar.Thisturnsouttobeareasonableassumptionandanapproximatemodelis: w=20h3wherehistheheightinmetres,andwistheweightinkg.

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Handout3:Translatingbetweenrepresentations

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ACTIVITYD:MAKINGCONNECTIONS

Timeneeded:20minutes

TheactivityinHandout4isintendedtoencouragestudentstodiscussconnectionsbetweenverbal,numeric,spatialandalgebraicrepresentations.Forthefollowingactivity,participantsshouldworkinpairsorthrees.Theyshouldbeginbycuttingoutthecards.

• CutoutthesetofcardsonHandout4.• TakeitinturnstomatchCardSetA:algebraexpressionswiththeCardSetB:verbal

descriptions.Placepairsofcardsside-by-side,faceuponthetable.Ifyoufindcardsaremissing,createtheseforyourself.

• Next,matchCardsetC:tablestothecardsthatyouhavealreadymatched.Youmayfindthatatablematchesmorethanonealgebraexpression.Howcanyouconvinceyourselforyourstudentsthatthiswillalwaysbetrue,whateverthevalueforn?

• Next,matchCardsetD:areastothosecardsthathavealreadybeengroupedtogether.Howdothesecardshelpyoutoexplainwhydifferentalgebraexpressionsareequivalent?

• Discussthedifficultiesthatyourstudentswouldhavewiththistask.

Thefinalmatchingmaybemadeintoaposter,ashasbeendonehere.Thenextactivityencouragesparticipantstocomparetheirownthinkingwithanepisodeoflearningfromtheclassroom.Thestudentsonthe5minutevideocliparealllowattaining16-17yearsoldwhohavehadverylittleunderstandingofalgebrapreviously.

• Watchthevideoclip.• Whatdifficultiesdothestudentshavewhileworkingonthistask?• Howistheteacherhelpingstudents?

Finally,participantsmaybegintoconsiderhowthistypeofactivitymaybeappliedtorepresentationsthattheyteach.

• Deviseyourownsetofcardsthatwillhelpyourstudentstranslatebetweendifferent

representationsthatyouareteaching.

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Handout4: RepresentingandmakingconnectionsEachgroupofstudentsisgivenasetofcards.Theyareinvitedtosortthecardsintosets,sothateachsetofcardshaveequivalentmeaning.Astheydothis,theyhavetoexplainhowtheyknowthatcardsareequivalent.Theyalsoconstructforthemselvesanycardsthataremissing.Thecardsaredesignedtoforcestudentstodiscriminatebetweencommonlyconfusedrepresentations.

Swan,M.(2008),ADesignerSpeaks:DesigningaMultipleRepresentationLearningExperienceinSecondaryAlgebra.EducationalDesigner:JournaloftheInternationalSocietyforDesignandDevelopmentinEducation,1(1),article3.

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ACTIVITYE: ESTIMATING

Timeneeded:20minutes.

Estimationproblemsinvolvestudentsmakingassumptions,thenworkingwiththeseassumptionstobuildchainsofreasoning.Itisoftenthecasethat,individually,studentsfeelunabletocopewithsuchproblemsbutwhentheyworkcollaboratively,theyaresurprisedathowmuchknowledgetheycanbuildon.

• Inpairsorsmallgroups,worktogetheronthetreesproblemonHandout5.• Wheneachgrouphasproducedareasonedanswer,takeitinturnstoexplainyour

solutions,describingalltheassumptionsyouhavemade.• Inwhichsolutiondoyouhavemostconfidence?Whyisthis?

Thefollowingshowsjustoneapproachthatteachershaveadopted:

1. Estimatethenumberofteachersinthecountry.2. Estimatethesizeoftheaveragefamily.3. Estimatethevolumeofatypicalnewspaper.4. Assumingthateachfamilybuysonenewspaperperday,estimatethetotalvolumeofnewspaper

consumedperday.5. Estimatetheradiusandheightoftheuseablepartofasuitabletree.6. Calculatethevolumeofthetrunk.7. Assumingthatthetotalvolumeofthetrunkisconvertedintonewsprint,useyouranswersfrom(4)

and(6)toestimatetherequirednumberoftrees.

Thefollowingdatawassuppliedbytheforestrycommission,andmayprovideausefulindependentcheck:"Theexampleassumesthatthewholetreegoesforpaper.Inrealityonlythesmallerendwouldbeused.Approximately2.8kgofwoodwillmake1kgofnewsprint.1cubicmetreofwood,freshlyfelled,assuppliedtoapulpmill,weightsabout920kg.ThisisbasedontheSitkaspruceandistheaveragethroughouttheyear.Atthetimeoffellingattheageof55years,eachtreewillhaveavolumeof0.6cubicmetres,includingthebark.Thediameterat1.4metresfromthegroundwouldbe27cm."

• Makealistofestimationproblemsthatwouldbeaccessibletooneofyourclasses.• Discusshowyoumightorganisealessonbasedonanestimationproblem.

Apossiblelistofquestionsmightbe:• Howmuchdoyoudrinkinoneyear?• Howmanyteachersarethereinyourcountry?• Howlongwouldittakeyoutoreadoutallthenumbersfromonetoonemillion?Wouldthis

bedifferentindifferentlanguages?• Howmanypeoplecouldstandcomfortablyinyourclassroom?• Howmanytimesdoesaperson'shearbeatinoneyear?• Howmanyexercisebooksdoyoufillinyourschoolcareer?• Howmanypetdogsarethereinyourtown?

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Handout5 Estimating

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ACTIVITYF: MEASURINGANDQUANTIFYING

Timeneeded:20minutes.

Oursocietycreatesandusesmeasuresallthetime.Wecreatemeasuresforfundamentalconcepts(e.g.length,time,mass,gradient,speed,density)andmorecomplexsocialconstructs(e.g.academicability,wealth,inflation,jobperformance,qualityofeducation,sportingprowess,physicalbeauty).ScientistsandMathematiciansdevisemeasuresinordertoseekpatterns,relationshipsandlaws.Politiciansusemeasurestomonitorandcontrol.Alleducatedcitizensshouldrealisethatmanyofthesemeasuresareopentocriticismandimprovement.

• Whatkindsofmeasuredoyoumeetinyoureverydaylife?MakealistonHandout6.• Whatkindsofmeasuredoyourstudentsexperience?

OnHandout6,twotypesofactivityaresuggestedforstudents.

• Workonthemeasuringslopetasktogether.• Trytoarriveataconvincingexplanationastowhyheightofstep÷lengthofstepisthe

bettermeasureforslope.• Canyouthinkofotherexamplesofalternativemeasuresforthesameconcept?

Theratioheightofstep÷lengthofstepisbetterthanthedifferenceheightofstep-lengthofstepbecausetheratioisdimensionless.Thismeansthatifyougeometricallyenlargeastaircase,theratiowillnotchange,whereasthedifferencewill.Thefinalactivitysuggestsdevisingameasureforaneverydayphenomenon.Participantsmayliketostartthisbythinkingabout"compactness":

Overrecentyears,geographershavetriedtofindwaysofdefiningtheshapeofanareaofland.Inparticular,theyhavetriedtodeviseameasureof'compactness'.Youprobablyhavesomeintuitiveideaofwhat'compact'meansalready.Ontherightaretwoislands.IslandBismorecompactthanislandA.'Compactness'hasnothingtodowiththesizeoftheisland.Youcanhavesmall,compactislandsandlargecompactislands.

• Drawsomeshapesandputtheminorderofcompactness.• Trytoagreewhatismeantbytheterm.• Isarea÷perimeteragoodmeasureofcompactness?Whyorwhynot?• Trytodeviseseveralwaysofmeasuringcompactness.Trytomakeyourmeasuresrange

from0to1,where1isgiventoashapethatisperfectlycompact.• Afterwards,compareyourideaswiththoseusedbygeographersonHandout7.

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• Finally,considerothereverydayphenomenaandconsiderhowyouwouldmeasurethem(returntoHandout6).

Handouts6and7 Measuringandquantifying

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Reference:Selkirk,K(1982)PatternandPlace-AnIntroductiontotheMathematicsofGeography,CambridgeUniversityPress.

ACTIVITYG:EVALUATINGSTATEMENTS,RESULTSANDREASONING

Studentsthatareactivelylearningareconstantlychallenginghypothesesandconjecturesmadebyothers.Theactivitiesconsideredherearealldesignedtoencouragethiskindofbehaviour.AskparticipantstoworktogetheringroupsoftwoorthreeusingtheactivityofHandout7.Inthisactivity,youaregivenacollectionofstatements.

• Decideonthevalidityofeachstatementandgiveexplanationsforyourdecisions.Yourexplanationswillinvolvegeneratingexamplesandcounterexamplestosupportorrefutethestatements.

• Inaddition,youmaybeabletoaddconditionsorotherwiserevisethestatementssothat

theybecome‘alwaystrue’.

• Createsomestatementsthatwillcreateastimulatingdiscussioninyourclassroom.

Thiskindofactivityisverypowerful.Thestatementsmaybepreparedtoencouragestudentstoconfrontanddiscusscommonmisconceptionsorerrors.Theroleoftheteacheristopromptstudentstoofferjustifications,examples,counterexamples.Forexample:Payrise:"OKyouthinkitissometimestrue,dependingonwhatMaxandJimearn.CanyougivemeacasewhereJimgetsthebiggerpayrise?Canyougivemeanexamplewheretheybothgetthesamepayrise?"Areaandperimeter:

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"Canyougivemeanexampleofacutthatwouldmaketheperimeterbiggerandtheareasmaller?""SupposeItakeabiteoutofthistriangularsandwich.Whathappenstoitsareaandperimeter?"Rightangles.Canyouprovethisisalwaystrue?BiggerfractionsYouthinkthisisalwaystrue?Canyoudrawmeadiagramtoconvincemethatthisisso?Whathappenswhenyoustartwithafractiongreaterthanone?

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Handout7:Always,sometimesornevertrue?

©2010UniversityofNottingham 17

ACTIVITYH:EXPERIMENTINGANDCONTROLLINGVARIABLES

Timeneeded:40minutes.

Twoactivitiesarepresentedhere.Oneinvolvestheplanningofanexperiment,theotherinvolvesacomputerappletthatispresentedwiththisunit.StartbydiscussingthefirsttwosituationsonHandout8.

• ChooseoneofthescientificquestionsshowninDevisingafairtest.• Workontheexperimentaldesigninasmallgroup.• Ofteninscienceclassrooms,theteacherdesignstheexperimentsandstudentscarrythem

out.Handingovertheexperimentaldesigndecisionspresentsmanychallengesforbothteachersandstudents.Forexample,studentsmayaskforequipmentthatyoudonothavereadilyavailable.Whatotherchallengesarethere?Makealist.

NowaskparticipantstoconsiderthefinalproblemBodyMassindex.

• WorkontheBodyMassIndexprobleminpairs,usingthecomputerapplet.• Notedownthemethodyouadopt.• Nowwatchthevideoclipshowingalessonwithstudents.

o Howdidtheteacherorganisethelesson?Whatphasesdiditgothrough?o Whydoyouthinksheorganiseditthisway?o Howdidtheteacherintroducetheproblemtostudents?o Whatdifferentapproacheswerebeingusedbystudents?o Howdidtheteachersupportthestudentsthatwerestruggling?o Howdidtheteacherencouragethesharingofapproachesandstrategies?o Whatdoyouthinkthesestudentswerelearning?

Itiseasytofindtheboundariesatwhichsomeonebecomesunderweight/overweight/obeseifonevariableisheldconstantwhiletheotherisvariedsystematically.Theboundariesoccurat: BMIUnderweight Below18.5Idealweight 18.5-24.9Overweight 25.0-29.9Obesity 30.0andAbove

Inordertofindouthowthecalculatorworks,itisbettertoforgetrealisticvaluesforheightandweightandsimplyholdonevariableconstantwhilechangingtheothersystematically.Forexample,ifstudentsholdtheheightconstantat2metres(notworryingifthisisrealistic!),thentheywillobtainthefollowingtableand/orgraph:Weight(kg) 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130BMI 15 17.5 20 22.5 25 27.5 30 32.5 Underweight Idealweight Overweight Obese FromthisitcanbeseenthatthereisaproportionalrelationshipbetweenweightandBMI.(Ifyoudoubleweight,youdoubleBMI;HereBMI=Weight/4)

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Handout8: Experimentingandcontrollingvariables

TheBMIactivityistakenfromSwan,M;Pead,D(2008).Professionaldevelopmentresources.BowlandMathsKeyStage3,BowlandTrust/DepartmentforChildren,SchoolsandFamilies.AvailableonlineintheUKat:http://www.bowlandmaths.org.uk.ItisusedherebypermissionoftheBowlandTrust.

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ACTIVITYI: PLANALESSON,TEACHITANDREFLECTONTHEOUTCOMES

Timeneeded:

• 15minutesdiscussionbeforethelesson• 1hourforthelesson• 15minutesafterthelesson

Chooseoneoftheproblemsinthisunitthatyoufeelwouldbeappropriateforyourclass.Discusshowyouwill:

• Organisetheclassroomandtheresourcesneeded.• Introducetheproblemtostudents.• Explaintostudentshowyouwantthemtoworktogether.• Challenge/assiststudentsthatfindtheproblemstraightforward/difficult.• Helpthemshareandlearnfromalternativeproblem-solvingstrategies.• Concludethelesson.

Ifyouareworkingonthismodulewithagroup,itwillbehelpfulifeachparticipantchoosesthesameproblem,asthiswillfacilitatethefollow-updiscussion.Nowyouhavetaughtthelesson,itistimetoreflectonwhathappened.

• Whatrangeofresponsesdidstudentshavetothetask?Didsomeappearconfident?Didsomeneedhelp?Whatsortofhelp?Whydidtheyneedit?

• Whatdifferentscientificprocessesdidstudentsuse?Sharetwoorthreedifferentexamplesofstudents'work.

• Whatsupportandguidancedidyoufeelobligedtogive?Whywasthis?Didyougivetoomuchortoolittlehelp?

• Whatdoyouthinkstudentslearnedfromthislesson?

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FURTHERREADING

Swan,M(2005)ImprovingLearninginMathematics:ChallengesandStrategies,DepartmentforEducationandskillsanddowloadablefrom:

http://www.nationalstemcentre.org.uk/elibrary/resource/1015/improving-learning-in-mathematics-challenges-and-strategies

REFERENCES

Millar,R.(1994).Whatis'scientificmethod'andcanitbetaught?InR.Levinson(Ed.),TeachingScience(pp.164-177).London:Routledge.

Wood,D.(1988).HowChildrenThinkandLearn.OxfordandCambridge,MA:Blackwell.Wood,D.,Bruner,J.,&Ross,G.(1976).Theroleoftutoringinproblemsolving.Journalofchild

psychologyandpsychiatry,17,89-100.