The science teacher
Area
Sciences
Duration
50min
Dimension of the advised group of students
Please indicate the number of people with which the activity should be carried out
Specific objectives
develop a deep conceptual understanding of scientific ideas
motivate students to study science
identify food chains from food webs
explain why biomass is lost through a food chain (i.e. humans not being able to digest cellulose)
Needed Materials
Computer and internet connection
Software
To interact online with students use:
-online communication platform, such us: zoom, google meets, etc
-tools to deliver the training and working in groups: mentimenter, jamboard, slido, kahoot, etc.
Description
Thescienceteacher.co.uk offers free science teaching resources to assist teachers in introducing important biological, chemical, and physical topics to students aged 11 to 16. The science teacher helps students with the acquisition of scientific concepts. The website suggests challenging exercises that demand students to think carefully about the "right things" in order to have a profound conceptual grasp of scientific concepts. Students are motivated by the engaging exercises because they feel competent when they succeed and teachers are also able to quickly assess student understanding and guide students in the classroom.
The activities on the science teacher are accompanied by pages that support pedagogy, curriculum and assessment. The majority of the science teaching resources are for students aged 11 to 16 studying science.
The site could be used with students at risk of demotivation because the activities are completely adapted to this kind of students using non formal education methodology and its activities could be adapted to fully virtual or blended.
Procedure on how to put in practice
Duration: 50 min
No of Participants: 10-30
Methods used: discussion, presentation
Communication in mother tongue.
Step-by-step description:
1. The teacher introduces the topic, elicit from students what they know about it and invite students to watch a clip from the Lion King and write down all concepts they associate with food chains and nutrient cycling.
2. After watching the clip, students can construct food chains and consider why big, fierce creatures are rare. Challenge students to build the longest food chain – why can a food chain not go on indefinitely?
3. Invite students to explore habitats and organisms (the site provides videos for students to explore the animals of the Serengeti park and also handouts with a series of questions on the topic. For example, why don’t humans eat grass? Why are big, fierce creatures rarer than small cuddly ones? Compare and contrast two food chains. How are they similar, and how are they different? Alternatively, teachers can use these questions as homework).
4. Students can work on their vocabulary related to ecology and also improve their reading scientif texts, reading for meaning by unpicking the meaning of specific words.
Debriefing question: what advice would you give teenagers to engage in studying science?
