At My Science Club we are big believers that the best way for children to understand the science they are learning is through practical experiences. But, in most cases the hands-on experience is enhanced when some data is collected and the ‘stories’ behind the data are explored.
All too often science in primary schools is very observational; the children do an experiment, observe what happens and draw some conclusions. However, if they collect some data from their experiment and analyse it, they can draw much more interesting conclusions, ask additional questions and deepen their understanding of the science.
Adding the maths to your science also helps children understanding the importance of maths in science and can help with long term engagement in science.
Collecting Data
Data can be collected from almost any experiment, or investigation, and doesn’t need expensive equipment to collect it. Work through the investigation you are planning and think about what data could be collected and how you could go about it. For example; if you’re doing an invertebrate hunt get children to count and record the numbers of different species they find in different places. This lets you build up a picture of the different ecosystems that invertebrates live in.
Experimenting with plants growing in different amounts of light. One set in the light all the time, one set in the dark all the time and one set getting 1hr of light a day. Measure the height change of each group of plants each week and create a graph with the whole classes data.
If you are investigating chemical reactions weigh out how much sodium bicarbonate you are adding to a measured volume of vinegar and time the length of the reaction. By adding different amounts of sodium bicarbonate and comparing the reaction times lets children discuss what the best amount to add is to get the longest reaction time.
If you are investigating air resistance time how long a sheet of paper takes to fall, then fold it in half and time it again, keep going until you can’t fold it any more. Repeat all the measurements to get more reliable data and combine the whole classes data. Timing the descent and analysing the data gives children a much better understanding of the effects of air resistance than just observing objects falling.
Analysing Data
The data analysis can be really simple and can be broken down into three stages.
Repeating results where possible is a really important habit for children to get into. Repeated results give scientists more reliable data and more confidence in their conclusions.
Calculating the mean average of repeated results is an important skill to learn and gives children a real-life context to practice within.
Graphing results is the final part of data analysis. Children might need lots of scaffolding and modelling to start with, but will become increasingly independent. I would always start with hand drawn charts and graphs and move onto using spreadsheet software (Excel or CODAP).
Finding the Stories
Once the data has been analysed, graphs drawn, then children can set about drawing conclusions from it – finding the stories.
What does the data tell us about what happened in our investigation?
We found 74 woodlice under the rotting log but only a few in other places – what conclusions can we draw about where woodlice like to live?
The plants in the light grew on average 12cm a week, the plants getting 1 hour of light a day grew 4cm a week, but the plants in the dark only grew 1cm a week. What conclusions can you make about the importance of light to plants?
10g of sodium bicarbonate in 50mls of vinegar reacted for 15 seconds. Doubling the amount of sodium bicarbonate gave a reaction of 30 seconds but doubling it again didn’t increase the reaction time. What would be the optimum amount of sodium bicarbonate to use to get the maximum reaction time?
As the paper was folded more and more times it descended at a faster rate. What does this tell you about the relationship between air resistance and surface area? From your graph how many folds do you need to achieve a descent time of 0.8 seconds?
Data sets online
As well as collecting, and analysing, your own data you can access some excellent data online that you can explore.
This Air Pollution resource from the Primary Science Teaching Trust is excellent. It allows children to access the UKs Air Data Archive and explore air quality data from different locations over time.
The Worldometer website gives a huge amount of live data on a wide range of topics from population to societal habits and from energy production to world health. It’s absolutely fascinating to explore the stories behind the data it displays.
The UK Energy Dashboard lets children explore exactly where we are all getting our electricity from at a given time. So they can see how much of our electricity is being generated by wind power, compared to fossil fuels. It also allows you to access historical data so they can see how electricity generation has changed over time.
EN-ROADS is a highly sophisticated climate change simulator allowing children to make changes in different key areas and measure the impact on carbon dioxide production.
Finally Gapminder is brilliant to use with older children to challenge their views about the world. It is packed with quizzes, data and explanations about why we are usually wrong about our views of the world. As a starting point check out this amazing video from Hans Rosling, founder of Gapminder.
If you have other excellent data sets, or live data sites share them with us via email hello@myscienceclub.com or @my_scienceclub on social media
Bryony and Paul
Founders and creators of My Science Club
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