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Science question: What makes a great scientist?

Year Group: 5 / 6

Science topic: Microorganisms

Type of scientific enquiry: Fair test

Overview: The children start the task by forming an opinion on the qualities of great scientists. They will then look at the work done by different scientists whose work has made a marked contribution to the development of medical thinking in the last 300 years. Once they have understood the importance of scientific investigations, the children will plan their own experiment into how microorganisms spread. Then having carried out their investigations, they will reflect again upon the qualities required of an outstanding scientist, and to what extent they display these skills and characteristics.

Lesson 1

Learning objectives

Sc1 objectives Pupils will learn: 1a that science is about thinking creatively to try to explain how living and non-living things work, and to establish links between causes and effects (for example, Jenner‟s vaccination work) Pupils will learn to: 2a ask questions that can be investigated scientifically and decide how to find answers.

2c think about what might happen or try things out when deciding what to do, what kind of evidence to collect, and what equipment and materials to use.

Success criteria Pupil will be able to: A. decide what the qualities of outstanding scientists are plan an effective and reliable fair test investigation AA. give their opinion, using scientific reasoning

use scientific knowledge to plan an effective fair test BA. describe what a scientist does plan an investigation with support

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Learning objectives

Lesson 2

Sc1 objectives Pupils will learn: 1b that it is important to test ideas using evidence from observation and measurement. 2d to make a fair test or comparison by changing one factor and observing or measuring the effect while keeping other factors the same.

2e to use simple equipment and materials appropriately and take action to control risks.

Success criteria Pupil will be able to: A. identify the safety implications of your experiment carry out a reliable investigation take accurate readings and measurements AA. identify key factors to be considered, giving reasons

BA. carry out an investigation with support

Learning objectives

Lesson 3

Sc1 objectives Pupils will learn: 1b that it is important to test ideas using evidence from observation and measurement. Pupils will learn to: 2j use observations, measurements or other data to draw conclusions.

2k decide whether these conclusions agree with any prediction made and/or whether they enable further predictions to be made.

2l use their scientific knowledge and understanding to explain observations, measurements or other data or conclusions.

2m review their work and the work of others and describe its significance and limitations.

Success criteria Pupil will be able to: A. draw conclusions consistent with the evidence AA. relate conclusions to scientific knowledge and understanding BA. say what they have found out and whether it matches their predictions

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Learning objectives

Lesson 4

Sc1 objectives Pupils will learn: 1a that science is about thinking creatively to try to explain how living and non-living things work, and to establish links between causes and effects (for example, Jenner‟s vaccination work) Pupils will learn to: 2k decide whether these conclusions agree with any prediction made and/or whether they enable further predictions to be made.

Success criteria Pupil will be able to: A. understand how advances in science have affected people

consider the importance of creative scientific thinking AA. reflect on what makes an excellent scientist with examples

BA. describe some advances in science that have affected people

Sc2/3/4 objectives Sc2 Pupils will learn: 5f that micro-organisms are living organisms that are often too small to be seen, and that they may be beneficial [for example, in the breakdown of waste, in making bread] or harmful [for example, in causing disease, in causing food to go mouldy]. Breadth of study During the key stage, pupils should be taught the knowledge, skills and understanding through: 1a range of domestic and environmental contexts that are familiar and of interest to them. 1b looking at the part science has played in the development of many useful things. 2b recognise that there are hazards in living things, materials and physical processes, and assess risks and take action to reduce risks to themselves and others. ICT objectives to support science: National Curriculum - Developing ideas and making things happen Pupils will learn: 2a how to develop and refine ideas by bringing together, organising and reorganising text, tables, images and sound as appropriate (for example, desktop publishing, multimedia presentations) National Curriculum - Exchanging and sharing information Pupils will learn 3a how to share and exchange information in a variety of forms. 3b to be sensitive to the needs of the audience and think carefully about the content and quality when communicating information.

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APP focuses: AF1: Thinking critically AF2: Understanding the applications and implications of science AF4: Using investigative approaches AF5: Working critically with evidence

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Science question: What makes a great scientist? Year Group: 5 / 6 Assessment - use this sheet to note down evidence of how children meet the assessment criteria

APP references Evidence - children‟s responses

APP Focuses: Lesson 1 Level 4: AF1: Identify scientific evidence that is being used to support or refute ideas or arguments. AF4: Select appropriate equipment or information sources to address specific questions or ideas under investigation. AF4: Decide when it is appropriate to carry out fair tests in investigations. Lesson 1 Level 5: AF1: Identify the use of evidence and creative thinking by scientists in the development of scientific ideas. AF4: Recognise significant variables in investigations, selecting the most suitable to investigate. AF4: Explain why particular pieces of equipment or information sources are appropriate for the questions or ideas under investigation. Lesson 2 Level 4: AF4: Make sets of observations or measurements, identifying the ranges and intervals used. AF4: Identify possible risks to themselves and others. Lesson 2 Level 5: AF4: Repeat sets of observations or measurements where appropriate, selecting suitable ranges and intervals. AF4: Make, and act on, suggestions to control obvious risks to themselves and others.

Evidence has been collected in a variety of formats including written responses, verbal responses and video interviews Written evidence: LA pre-experiment, LMA pre-experiment, HMA pre-experiment, HA pre-experiment, LA conclusion, LMA conclusion HMA conclusion HA conclusion G T conclusion LA Success criteria = “what happend, tell us something for fouter, Sumry of what happend” HMA Success criteria = “Explanation of what happened, How the experiment helps us in real life, What we could of improved” HA Success criteria = ” Explanation of what happened, What you found out, How could this help you or anyone in the future” Video evidence: Ref: planningexp01 planningexp02 planningexp03 reviewexp01 reviewexp02 whatmakesagreatscientistBEFORE

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Lesson 3 Level 4: AF5: Identify scientific evidence they have used in drawing conclusions. AF5: Suggest improvements to their working methods, giving reasons. Lesson 3 Level 5: AF5: Draw valid conclusions that utilise more than one piece of supporting evidence. AF5: Evaluate the effectiveness of their working methods, making practical suggestions for improving them. Lesson 4 Level 4: AF2: Describe some simple positive and negative consequences of scientific and technological developments. AF2: Identify aspects of science used within particular jobs or roles. Lesson 4 Level 5: AF1: Identify the use of evidence and creative thinking by scientists in the development of scientific ideas. AF2: Indicate how scientific or technological developments may affect different groups of people in different ways. AF2: Link applications of science or technology to their underpinning scientific ideas.

whatmakesagreatscientistAFTER Q.” Do you think bacteria are already in the milk and are growing or do you think they come from the environment onto the milk?” A. “I think actually it is both because if you think about it, it‟s impossible for bacteria to be nowhere so it kind of has to be somewhere and everywhere.” A. “I think it‟s in the air and then the bacteria in the air... we get bacteria from the air and pass it on to someone else ...something else. Planning an experiment Teacher. “So K. Is going to tell us what she is doing for her experiment into how bacteria grow. A. “We will have 4 pieces of bread all with the same sell by date because if they don‟t have the same sell by date then it will be an unfair test. We will put one piece on a plate without any wrapping, one piece on a plate with tin foil or cling film, one in a bread bin without any wrapping and then we will have one piece in a bread bin with cling film or tin foil on it and then we will see which one lasts the longer. We will be able to tell by if we just touch it we can tell if it‟s gone hard then it‟s stale. We don‟t need to taste it or anything because we can tell by the feel of it.” Teacher. “So we want to have a think about what this experiment is likely to show you and if you find out for example that the bread that you wrap up stays fresh for longer what does that actually prove?” A.“Well it proves that there‟s kind of more bacteria in the air because if you cover it up then nothing can get into it but if it didn‟t have the wrapping on it and it staled, it proves that the bacteria was in the food already.” Reviewing statements activity “My statement – if Edward Jenner said, “Don‟t think try,” Do you think that this is a good approach to learn in science? Well first we thought ‟ No‟, because you can‟t just try something unless you... it‟s never going to work, you need to look at the different odds but then we thought actually it is quite sensible and good because you can‟t just sit back and think about anything if you‟re never going to try it.”

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Q. “Do you think you can learn from failure in science?” “Yes, I think that if you are a scientist you need to fail to learn. So then you can learn from your mistakes, and then if you do fail, then you can see what you need to do next time when you experiment. Also a scientist needs to be imaginative.” Q “Why is that?” “Because if you‟re not imaginative then you‟re never going to get any ideas like how to save people...” “Our statement is „If you have a prepared bank do you have more chance to be successful?‟ and we agree with Louis Pasteur because we think that if you are prepared for things you have more of a chance at succeeding at them because if you don‟t try anything .... it‟s the same as work, if you don‟t try anything you have the chance of getting a lower mark but if you do try and think of something really hard then you have more of a chance at getting a higher mark. Q. “Do you think that sometimes scientific discoveries can just be made by luck, good luck?” “Sometimes.... no I don‟t think so because it is made by luck then a lot of other things can be made by luck but nothing really is.” What makes a great scientist?” Q. “What do you think are the qualities that make a great scientist?” A. “We worked out they think about what their discoveries show them we think that a scientist has to think really deeply and not just look at one option, look at all the different options. At the bottom we put they never question the thinking of another scientist. We didn‟t think was very important because maybe other scientists might be right because they just looked at the different options. Q. “How important is it for a scientist to be imaginative?” A.”I think it‟s quite important because a scientist has to think deeply, you have to be imaginative so you can think of lots of other things. Teacher – “Can you explain how you have ordered the statements?” A.”We just thought what a scientist would do and our top one is „they are determined to help people.. because the scientist need to want to do the job and help people. The bottom

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one is, „their predictions are always accurate......predictions do matter but it doesn‟t matter if they are inaccurate but it does matter about results of the test.” “I think what makes a great scientist is to not always be successful because you need to learn to make mistakes and not always give up because you need to know how to help people.” “I think a great scientist is a person who stands out and does everything, not a person who stands in the background.” Photographic evidence

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Science question: What makes a great scientist? Year Group: 5 / 6

Context rich

The work is all set in a real-life historical context, and the children are made aware of the critical importance that scientific thinking can have on peoples‟ lives. By setting the children a challenge that was faced by an actual (and very famous) scientist, the children are particularly motivated by potentially making the same scientific discovery as a legendary scientist. The children start the task by forming an opinion on the qualities of great scientists. They will then look at the work done by different scientists whose work has made a marked contribution to the development of medical thinking in the last 300 years. Using the videos and concept questions as prompts, they will then have to devise an investigation to discover where decaying matter comes from – an investigation originally run by Louis Pasteur. Once they have drawn conclusions from their findings, the children will then compare their findings to those of Pasteur, and see how his work fits in to the development of scientific theory. They will finish the task by then reflecting on their strengths as scientists, and re-assessing (based on their experiences) what they think the most important qualities of an outstanding scientist are.

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Science question: What makes a great scientist? Year Group: 5 / 6

Active rich Key questions and vocabulary to support science

Use of ICT and other resources to support science

The heart of the project is based on designing, running and analysing an experiment to answer an important scientific question. The children will see clear evidence of the different stages of decay. Lesson 1 Say that we will be doing a series of lessons about micro-organisms, in which the main focus will be on thinking about and developing the skills that we have as scientists. Establish what a micro-organism is (a living thing that is very small; too small to be seen by the naked eye).

Give children „qualities of an outstanding scientist‟ cards. In pairs, they have to order these statements from the most to the least important skills that a scientist should have. They need to blue tack these statements onto a piece of paper, so they can be reviewed at the end of the series of lessons.¹

Do some feedback on their selections. This could be done as a whole class, noting significant patterns or variances, with children justifying their choices and giving examples. Alternatively, they could be asked to view each others‟ choices, and justify and compare their selections with their peers.

Show „Issues Throughout History 1‟ video.²

Children look at „scientific explanations for decay‟ sheet, which asks the children about what causes milk to

What is a microorganism?

How do scientists work?

How do they collect evidence?

Can you name any famous scientists?

What are they famous for discovering?

Why do they collect evidence?

What personal qualities does a scientist need to have?

Why does a scientist need to have that skill?

What difference have scientific discoveries made?

What is the most /least important skill?

How, and why, have you ordered your statements?

How does your list compare with another group?

Supporting resources: Issues throughout history 1 (video file) Issues throughout history 2 (video file) microorganisms_supporting_info.pdf qualities_outstanding_scientist.pdf reflection_statements.pdf understanding_decay.pdf scientific_conclusion_statements.pdf scientific_conclusion_writeup.pdf ICT Whiteboard and projector to present the video to the class.

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decay. There are a range of opinions presented, and the children have to decide which perspective they agree with. They must justify their opinions using scientific reasoning, writing down their ideas on the sheet³. These responses will be reviewed at the end of the series of lessons.

Next, using the concept cartoon as the stimulus, the children in groups will plan how they will carry out the following investigation: „Investigation into what Affects the Speed of Food Decaying‟. The purpose is that they will be able to understand what causes decay, and use the findings to help 19th Century scientists to understand microorganisms.⁴

Children feedback on their plans for the investigation. Identify the variables that have to be controlled, which variable is to be varied and how each group will record their results. ¹Children may want to rank some factors as equally important, which is acceptable so long as they can justify their selections.

²The video highlights the health consequences that mankind has endured because they didn‟t understand about microorganisms. It also notes the significant progress made by scientists such as Edward Jenner, and it introduces the next task for children.

³The decay is caused by microscopic organisms feeding on the milk. The temperature, amount of water and acidic conditions can affect how quickly the milk will become mouldy. It isn‟t something within the milk itself that feeds on it, but an external agent. The speed in which a foodstuff will go off can be affected by whether it is covered, the temperature of the environment or the moisture of the environment. Decay can also be slowed by the use of an antibacterial spray. Idea based on „Concept Cartoons in Science Education‟ by Stuart Naylor and Brenda Keogh.

⁴ The children should select a food to use which will go off quite quickly and quite noticeably. Note that the input to the lesson was about the health of human beings, and the

How will you control the variables in your experiment?

How will you know what affects the speed of food decaying?

Which of the qualities of an outstanding scientist have you displayed?

What precautions do we need to take when setting up this investigation?

How can you ensure that this investigation is reliable

Vocabulary

Decay

Microorganism

Microbe

Bacteria

Compare

Justify

Reliability

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experiment is about food going mouldy. It will be important to establish the link between microorganisms affecting food and microorganisms affecting people, especially in operations. Lesson 2 Discuss the safety implications of dealing with decaying food, and other relevant safety implications for the experiments. Children to take relevant precautions. Set up investigations as planned in the previous session. Children to control variables as identified in planning session. Children to take readings from their investigations over the next few days, possibly on a daily basis. It is important to establish how they will measure the amount of decay, as there is no simple measurement for how much food has decayed. Lesson 3 Give children „scientific conclusion statements‟. They have to decide whether each statement would be a part of a scientific conclusion or not, explaining why.¹ As a class, list the success criteria for writing an effective conclusion. Note the importance of evaluating the reliability of their investigation as part of the conclusion. Children complete „scientific conclusion write-up‟ sheet, using the success criteria. Include suggestions for how to improve the quality of their investigation, and where possible describe the implications for 19th Century scientists (for Gifted &Talented specifically). As a class, discuss the implications for 19th Century scientists. Note that decay is caused by things in the environment, and does not come from within the food. This will not only help people to understand about how to store food, but will also help the medical profession. Illnesses can often be caused by microorganisms coming

How will you make the test fair?

What variables will you change?

What variables will you keep the same?

What variable will you measure?

What will you use to measure?

What other things will you have to measure?

Why?

How could we use computer sensors?

Why do we need to take precautions

How can we make the investigation safe?

What are the features of a good conclusion?

Does your conclusion meet your success criteria for a conclusion?

If not, how could you improve you conclusion?

How does your conclusion compare with that of Louis Pasteur?

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into the body from the environment. It was previously thought that illness must always come from within the body. As a consequence, doctors never used to wash their hands before an operation. It was always thought that nothing microscopic could damage the body, as the human body was so relatively big. Note that this isn‟t the case, and that microorganisms can be very powerful, even though they are microscopic! Children complete „key recommendations‟ onto their write-up.

¹Note that some statements will be appropriate for a conclusion, but they are poorly written, e.g. „the felt worked the best‟. Model how to improve these statements, using precise scientific language.

Lesson 4 Show „Issues Throughout History 2‟ video. Note that by questioning how what he had learnt from thinking about decay on milk and beer, Louis Pasteur was able to apply what he had learnt to other areas. Discuss with the children the enormous impact of scientific discovery, on both the lives of people at the time and ourselves nowadays. Also, consider how the work of one scientist will often build on the breakthroughs that someone else had made. Say that today we will reflect on what makes an excellent scientist, and we will think about the role of science in our society. Split the children into five equal groups, and give each group a statement to discuss from „reflection statements‟. Children make notes on their thoughts, and feedback to the class. Now, look back at „qualities of an outstanding scientist‟ statements from lesson 1. Would the children re-order any of these statements after their experiences? Copy out their final choices into their book, explaining choices fully. Conclusion:

Lesson 4

How do we use what Louis Pasteur discovered in our everyday lives?

Refer to „reflection statements‟ as stimulus for discussion and questioning.

Have your opinions about what makes a great scientist changed as a result of this series of lessons?

How?

Why?

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The children should show an appreciation of science as a discipline, used to improve the lives of people, which is taken forward by great figures throughout history. They should also understand about microorganisms, having been able to plan, run and evaluate an investigation into how they develop. Finally, they will be able to reflect upon to what extent they display the qualities of a great scientist in the way that they work. Risk Assessment: Children need to take precautions to avoid harmful spread of bacteria, including wearing gloves and disposing of decaying matter in an appropriate manner. Refer to safety guidelines Be safe! 4th edition ASE https://secure.ase.org.uk/membersarea/shop/details.asp?id=130 Adult Support: Adult support required to take periodic readings from experiment.

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Science question: What makes a great scientist? Year Group: 5 / 6

Response rich

Lesson 1 „qualities of an outstanding scientist‟ cards „Issues Throughout History 1‟ video „Investigation into what Affects the Speed of Food Decaying‟ Lesson 3 „scientific conclusion statements‟ „scientific conclusion write-up‟ Lesson 4 Issues Throughout History 2‟ video „qualities of an outstanding scientist‟ ICT Use of video camera to record observations and reflections. Digital camera to capture images. Easi speak microphones to record individuals and group conversations.

Talk tracker to record group discussions. Photo story to present research findings.