Challenging yet fun: Online Science in the Junior School

Teaching Science online to Junior School students during the learning from home period was challenging yet fun. Lessons were created which were hands-on and usually included an instructional video created by myself, the Junior School Science Coordinator.

In fact, during this lockdown period, I made more than 50 videos for the girls which demonstrated experiments and other activities that they had the opportunity to

complete at home. I based the ideas for the lessons on the units of work that would have been taught if we were at school. In many cases, this created amazing opportunities for the girls to do more extensive and individual experimentation that would have been more limited in the classroom environment.

Many of the instructional videos demonstrated experiments for the girls to carry out. I endeavoured wherever possible to ensure the experiment videos were personalised to our girls and not simply taken from YouTube. Some of the experiments included using cups to investigate sound amplification, the importance of water for blooming flowers and the effect of salinity on the growth and survival of plants. Model making was another task students participated in during online Science. Models are frequently used in Science to help understand complex concepts and as a learning tool. Models were presented to the students

to help understand adaptations of turtles and mangroves and also when experimenting to investigate how hair can prevent heat transfer. They also used paper clips on water to model how a large surface area is useful in spreading the force of a huge animal like a polar bear walking on ice. Sustainable energy production was also investigated and Year 4 students made their own model windmills to investigate the effect of blade size on energy efficiency. Cooking is a great scientific task too. When students cook they follow instructions (like a scientific method) and if they do this well, their product (results) should taste good. During online learning, various cooking tasks were carried out for Science by the students at home. Year 2 students had the opportunity to make butter and ricotta cheese whilst Year 3 students made their own chocolate spiders.

PLC Sydney is fortunate to have the wonderful expertise of the Animals Program. During online learning, Science and Technology classes had the opportunity to utilise this resource with Laura Howell producing videos to incorporate into lessons. One example was a wonderful movie for Year 6

During online learning, various cooking tasks were carried out for Science by the students at home. Year 2 students had the opportunity to make butter and ricotta cheese whilst Year 3 students made their own chocolate spiders.

“The depth of learning and engagement through these longer-term tasks was found to be ‘some of the best learning we’ve ever done’ as stated by several students.”

students in which she showed the environmental benefits and detriments of many invertebrates. This was highly engaging and a great way for the girls to reconnect with their school. Journals were introduced to some students as a way of recording scientific information and observations. Year 6 were learning about the sustainable production of food so they created field journals to document their own growing of tomatoes (from ripe tomatoes) in pots compared to those grown in terrariums (representing hydroponics). Year 5 students were learning about astronomy and our place in space. These students created their own astronomical journals which proved to be astronomical in content and quality. The depth of learning and engagement through these longer-term tasks was found to be “some of the best learning we’ve ever done” as stated by several students.

So, although learning Science at school in the classroom is a wonderful, quite unique opportunity here at PLC Sydney, the activities and lessons provided online were fun, high quality and engaging.

Mrs Annie Martin

Junior School Science Coordinator