MTS P3 SCIENCE PARENTS WORKSHOP

CONDUCTED BY SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

Agenda

1. Using hands-on activities, you will learn about the following science process skills to better guide your child.• Classification skills

• Stating the aim of an experiment

• Identifying the changed, measured and constant variables

• Stating the relationship between the variables

2. How to support your child at home using SLS and textbook

Developing children’s curiosity in Science

• Do and learn Science together with your

children.

• Provide them with positive science learning

experiences by encouraging them to think

about and interact with the world around them.

• They enjoy and learn better when doing

activities which allow them to use their senses

of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell.

Developing children’s curiosity in Science

• Experiential learning or meaningful concrete

experiences are essential in helping children

to grasp more complex and abstract

concepts.

• Create informal Science learning opportunities

by seizing teachable moments such as at

home or outdoors, in the kitchen, at the

supermarket, at the beach or even walking

along the road.

Developing children’s curiosity in Science

• Through simple hands-on activities and

purposeful conversations about daily

happenings, parents can enhance children’s

understanding of Science knowledge and

develop their thinking skills and positive

attitudes for scientific inquiry.

• Hands-on science activities can help children

think critically and gain confidence in their

own ability to solve problems.

Developing children’s curiosity in Science

• Encourage them to play an active role

in making observations, asking

questions, solving problems,

interpreting data and communicating

their learning to others.

• Many of these skills are also important

for other careers and in daily life.

Developing children’s curiosity in Science

• Train children to think. Lead them to think

further by using open-ended questions such

as “Why do you think so?” or “How do you

think it happens?” .

• These open-ended questions will stimulate

their mind and curiosity and help them to

acquire the good habit of observing things

and asking questions to further explore.

Classification Skills

To start with, you must be familiar with the topic and concept that your child is learning:• Read through the Science Textbook with them to get familiar with

science literacy (e.g. definite volume; gain heat; lose heat; expansion)

• Read through their worksheets which contain questions that are related with daily life applications.

P3 Classification

Allow your child to help out in various household chores, for example,

• Sort clothes by colours, by types (t-shirts; long or short pants, etc)

• Sort cutleries

• Sort toys

P3 Living and Non-living things

When outdoors, keep your child occupied by observing things around with them.

For example:

• Look at this plant, what happens when we touch it?

• Why does this plant grow towards the left?

• Look out for ferns that grow on trees.

• Look out for fungi on grass.

P3 Fungi and Bacteria

Show your child

• the food that has gone bad.

• shoes/bags/clothes that are mouldy.

• what you did to keep them clean (put silica gel to absorb moisture).

• how you store food in the refrigerator.

Classification example 1The diagram below shows how some things are classified based on characteristics P and Q.

Possible headings for P and Q:• Living things and non-living things• Can grow and cannot grow

Things

P Q

cat

bird

coconut tree

toy car

coin

balloon

Classification example 2 (lower primary)

The diagram below shows how some living things are classified based on characteristics D and E.

We cannot use “animals and non- animals” or “plants and not plants” as headings. “Non-animals” does not necessarily mean plants.

A possible heading for D is “animals” and for E is “plants”.

Living Things

D E

lion

monkey

penguin

ferns

hibiscus

rose

Classification- example 3 (Upper Primary)

We cannot use “not wind” and “not animals” as the headings for A and C respectively because these headings do not clearly specify the dispersal method.

1) Stating an aim of an experimentAn experiment was set up to find out if the amount of water given to a plant affects the growth of the plant. Four similar potted plants, P, Q, R and S were placed in the garden with different amount of water given daily.

Plant P Plant Q Plant R Plant S

Plant Amount of water

given daily (ml)

Height of the plant

at the start (cm)

Height of the plant

at the end (cm)

P 30 15 16

Q 50 15 17.1

R 70 15 18.2

S 90 15 19.4

Stating the aim of an experiment

Ting Ting wanted to find out how well materials W, X, Y and Z can absorb water. She placed each material into a beaker of 200ml of water.

At the end of the experiment, the materials were removed and the amount of water left in each container was recorded in the table below.

Material W X Y Z

Amount of water left in the container (ml)

200 170 150 175

2 0 0 m l o f

w a t e r

table

cover

200 ml of water

How to identify the experiment aim

• Start with “It is to find out if ________________(changed variable) affects _______________ (measured variable)”.

• The changed variable in this experiment is the type of material. Do not state simply “the material” as it is unclear.

• The measured variable is stated in the table- The amount of water left in the container.

• Suggested answer:

• It is to find out if the type of material affects the amount of water left in the container.

Identify the changed, measured and constant variables

An experiment was set up to find out if the amount of water given to a plant affects the growth of the plant. Four similar potted plants, P, Q, R and S were placed in the garden with different amount of water given daily.

Plant P Plant Q Plant R Plant S

Plant Amount of water

given daily (ml)

Height of the plant

at the start (cm)

Height of the plant

at the end (cm)

P 30 15 16

Q 50 15 17.1

R 70 15 18.2

S 90 15 19.4

measured variable

changed variable

Variables kept constant in the experiment

“Similar potted plants” (phrase given in the question, with reference to the given diagram)

1. Type of plant

2. Pot used for each plant

3. Location where the experiment was conducted, i.e. in the garden

4. Starting size of the plant

5. Amount of soil in each pot

6. Type of soil used for each plant

Ting Ting wanted to find out how well materials W, X, Y and Z can absorb water. She placed each material into a beaker of 200ml of water.

At the end of the experiment, the materials were removed and the amount of water left in each container was recorded in the table below.

Material W X Y Z

Amount of water left in the container (ml)

200 170 150 175

2 0 0 m l o f

w a t e r

table

cover

200 ml of water

changed variable

measured variable

Variables kept constant

With reference to the given diagram, the following variables should be kept the same.

1. Amount of water in the beakers at the start of the experiment

2. Size of the beakers used

3. Size of W, X, Y and Z

4. Type of cover

5. Size of cover

State the relationship between variables

An experiment was set up to find out if the amount of water given to a plant affects the growth of the plant. Four similar potted plants, P, Q, R and S were placed in the garden with different amount of water given daily.

Plant P Plant Q Plant R Plant S

Plant Amount of water

given daily (ml)

Height of the plant

at the start (cm)

Height of the plant

at the end (cm)

P 30 15 16

Q 50 15 17.1

R 70 15 18.2

S 90 15 19.4

Plant Amount of water

given daily (ml)

Height of the plant

at the start (cm)

Height of the plant

at the end (cm)

P 30 15 16

Q 50 15 17.1

R 70 15 18.2

S 90 15 19.4

What is the relationship between the amount of water given daily to the plant and the height of the plant at the end?

As the amount of water given daily to the plant increases, the height of the plant at the end increases.

follow what is stated in the question

increases increases

How to better support your child at home

Student Learning Space (SLS)

• An MOE portal with curated contents that promotes Self-directed Learning.

• Students can learn at their own pace, revisit concepts and read up on other areas of interest.

Use of the textbook to guide your child

• Let’s Find Out

• Key concepts

• Titbits

• Think and Talk

• All mapped out

• Bird’s eye view

• Let’s explore

Let’s find out

Encourages a purposeful pursuit of knowledge by listing Key Learning Outcomes which are posed as questions to promote inquiry.

Key concepts

Usually bolded to bring the students’ attention to important concepts.

Highlighting and other annotations are strongly encouraged to help students better understand and remember these concepts.

Titbits

Excites students and extends their knowledge beyond the main lesson with intriguing nuggets of information.

Think and Talk All mapped out

Think and Talk - A checklist of important words and phrases in the chapter.

All mapped out – Helps the students to consolidate important concepts in the chapter using a Concept Map.

Bird’s eye view

Provides a broader view of how concepts in each chapter are related to other chapters using a Concept Map.

Let’s explore

Fosters interpersonal and communication skills as students apply concepts and skills learnt in a different context through questions and group activities.

Thank you for working along with us!Have a nice weekend ahead!