Dramatic Science

Inspired ideas for teaching science using drama ages 5–11

Debra McGregor, Wendy Precious

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781136277771
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Dramatic Science is an invaluable tool for any teachers and primary science leaders who have classes of 5 – 10 year olds. It provides the busy professional with a range of tried and tested techniques to use drama as a support and aid to the teaching of science to young children.

The techniques within this book offer innovative and creative strategies for teaching a challenging area of the curriculum and broadening teachers' own scientific knowledge and understanding.

All the strategies in this book have been shown to work effectively in a range of primary schools. The approaches described offer an inclusive and participatory way to teach science and the authors provide a pedagogical commentary on the ways that teachers have tried the techniques and how they have worked best. Reflective discussion on the strategies will include discussion about how the children have responded to these strategies and how the drama experiences have impacted on their learning.

This invaluable resource: -

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• Supports working and thinking scientifically

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• Develops critical and creative thinking

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• Scaffolds creative learning

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• Broadens teachers' scientific knowledge and understanding

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• Enhances children's understanding of science

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• Provides guidance on active and participatory learning

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• Can engage children and teachers at a variety of levels

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• Links science to real life

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• Heightens children's application of science to different situations

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• Develops problem solving and enquiry skills

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• Enhances and extends speaking and listening skills

Any teachers wishing to hone their practice to motivate children and improve their science learning and attainment will find this an invaluable resource. It will also be useful for science leaders, specialist teachers and other professionals who are involved in supporting schools to improve the quality of learning in science and other subjects, trainee teachers and NQTs interested in developing creative learning in their classrooms.

CHAPTER
1
		Introducing and defining dramatic science

The dramatic science approach can provide a lively, first hand opportunity for children to engage directly with scientific processes and concepts. There are varied opportunities to enact, explore, examine and question scientific ideas. Children, for example, could be asked to move like melting chocolate, create a ‘frozen’ moment in the germination of a seed or depict a skill they think Isaac Newton possessed as a young boy. The drama activities (in this book) are designed to encourage the development of curiosity and confidence in acting and talking about science in primary schools. They are intended to help to develop excitement and participation in learning. There are activities presented where the children are invited to improvise to represent a process or product, follow general guidance to demonstrate happenings or events or even recite from a script. For some strategies the children are required to mime; for others talk and discussion is vital. All the drama approaches, though, are designed to help to foster a sound understanding of, and about, science.

The approaches described in this book are designed to:

1. enable pupils to experience and observe phenomena;

2. allow pupils to look more closely at the natural and humanly-constructed world around them;

3. encourage pupils to be curious and ask questions about what they notice; and

4. help pupils to develop understanding of scientific ideas by using different types of scientific enquiry, such as:

■ answering their own questions;

■ observing changes over a period of time;

■ noticing patterns;

■ grouping and classifying things;

■ carrying out simple comparative tests;

■ finding things out using secondary sources of information;

■ using simple scientific language to talk about what they have found out; and

■ communicating their ideas in a variety of ways.

(Department for Education (DfE) 2013)

Overview (and intention) of the book

Each chapter in this book has been written with the reader very much in mind. Although we set out to provide very ‘standardised’ formats for each chapter, as the writing unfolded, the ways that our ideas were noted did not ‘fit’ a highly prescribed framework rigidly imposed to describe each drama convention. Some conventions are more straightforward and easy to describe (e.g. modelling in Chapter 7), others are much more complex (e.g. mini historical play in Chapter 9). Some approaches were also much easier for the teachers to (spontaneously) try out, for example, modelling and miming movement. Others required more preparatory work and planning, for example dressing up to engage in the monologues and mini historical plays.

Each drama convention, though, is introduced in a chapter, with explanations and illustrations about how it was intended to work. There are also photographs of the ways in which the strategies were used by the teachers, as well as some reflections and indications about the context in which they worked best. There is also discussion about the kinds of scientific skills and/or concepts the children appeared to develop or understand through engagement with particular drama strategies.

Towards the end of the book, there are suggestions about the different ways that the conventions can be utilised to deepen and broaden children’s learning in science. Used in particular combinations, sequences or progression (see particularly Chapters 10 and 12) the different strategies can impact more intensely on the children’s immersion in, and engagement with, the science activities.

This is not a complete account of all of our conventions, resources and ideas. It is, we hope, a rich description of some of the work-so-far that will prove useful for teachers to refer to and dip into for creative ideas about how to teach science.

Science and learning

Learning science is important for young children; as Harlen (2012) says, it is of value to them as individuals and of value for society.

Some of the different ways it can help children are briefly outlined below:

1. Beginning to understand the real world around them, to appreciate how things work (e.g. How does electricity make lights come on?; How does heat change substances?; or How do trees grow?). Alexander (2010: 149), asking children about their views of learning, found that they reiterated wanting to know ‘how things work in the world’, but that they also indicated they would like to know more about looking after animals and growing fruit and vegetables. These are the kinds of ‘knowing about science’ topics covered through the drama activities in this book. This aspect of learning in science can help to develop scientific literacy and lay foundations for grasping key concepts in science.

2. Understanding scientific aspects of everyday life that help inform the making of good personal choices about healthy living (e.g. What type of food helps growth and repairs of the body?; What kind of exercise, and how much, is needed to stay fit and healthy?; How much water should we drink each day?) and about caring for the environment. Being ‘green’ and contributing to sustainability for the planet (e.g. knowing what kind of rubbish, such as paper cups or plastic plates, can be recycled and how things, such as waste food, can be reused; knowing that leaving heating or lighting on when not needed is wasteful). This kind of scientific appreciation helps to develop better scientific citizenship.

3. Engaging in scientific activities and enquiries that offer the chance to act and think like a scientist can support learning science. Projects such as growing vegetables in the school grounds, caring for pets or surveying year six opinions on school lunches can provide suitable learning opportunities. These kinds of activities can aid comprehension of, and support understanding about, how to think scientifically and work scientifically.

a. Thinking scientifically can include:

i. being able to answer challenging questions;

ii. being able to ask good questions;

iii. being able to see connections between things;

iv. being able to discern trends or patterns in data;

v. being able to interpret and/or process information;

vi. being able to use what you know to explain something new;

vii. being able to devise a plan to investigate a question; and

viii. being able to see flaws in arguments or ideas.

b. Working scientifically can include:

i. applying instructions to make something work;

ii. carrying out an experimental plan;

iii. being able to measure accurately using different equipment;

iv. recognising how what you did influenced what you found out;

v. being able to make reasoned judgements about the quality and reliability of data collected in experiments; and

vi. being confident about making conclusions when evidence is trustworthy.

Effective science teaching that promotes enquiry can pique pupils’ interest and stimulate their curiosity to want to find out more (Ofsted 2013).

4. Appreciating that scientific knowledge we benefit from today has accumulated over a long period of time. Understanding how what we know and can do scientifically and technologically has often resulted from personal human endeavours and persistence over time.

All the above features can be brought to bear through appropriate use and development of the mini historical plays and scientists’ short speeches (monologues). For example, after listening to a scientist’s story, reflecting about what it means and applying that thinking to inform how to then investigate an idea connected to the scientist’s discovery or invention requires all the above characteristics to be successful. See Chapter 9 for a more complete description of this.

The value of children thinking and working scientifically

Effective learning in science is needed because young children may intuitively think that magnets have a special glue, or are attracted to all metals. They may have overheard adults saying that plants need a drink because they are thirsty! Successful learning in science should help children to make observations, t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of appendices
• List of figures and tables
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introducing and defining dramatic science
• 2 On the table
• 3 Spontaneous role play
• 4 Hot seating
• 5 Miming movement
• 6 Freeze frame and tableau
• 7 Modelling
• 8 Mind movies
• 9 Mini historical plays and monologues
• 10 Thematic approaches
• 11 Assessment
• 12 Conceptual understandings developed through the dramatic approaches
• 13 Evaluation
• 14 Conclusion
• Appendices
• References and further reading
• Index