Duration: 2:53
A teacher inquiry which utilised digital technologies for science.
Virginia Kung: Over the last two to three years, we’ve been looking at science as part of professional development within our staff. So we looked at different elements of science.
Student 1: We did a brainstorm of what we all knew about science and what we would like to learn about science.
Virginia Kung: Some of the things that came out were to do with experiments because that’s what they thought science was all about, and children started to get really interested in it.
Student 2: We came up with doing electricity in groups. We had kits that we made electrical circuits with.
Student 3: It helped us understand how electricity works and what happens when you add stuff together, like wires, and you add a battery, and then you add a light, then you’ve got a circuit.
Virginia Kung: They used some of the digital technologies like iPads to film each other.
Student 2: We videoed how our fans worked and took pictures of us working on it.
Student 1: After we watched our video on the Apple TV, we wrote a reflection on it, on what we could improve and what our next steps were.
Student 3: Watching the video has made me realise my next step to put the wires in the right place on the battery.
Student 1: Then we typed it up and did a voice-over and Mrs Kung put it up on YouTube.
Student 3: In my reflection, I have learnt that electrons go around in a circuit. I have learnt that DC means direct current, and AC means alternating current.
Virginia Kung: Sonya van Shaijik suggested we could make some connections with some role models and through Twitter she found LightUp , which is a company that has been established by two young entrepreneurs, Josh and Tarun. They’ve created an electrical module for schools and it was talking about how you can learn through science.
Sonya van Shaijik: I thought it would be great for them to meet other young people who were just starting out but were already beginning to make a success of it.
Virginia Kung: We then Skyped Josh and Tarun in San Francisco and the children all had questions for them, it was really exciting.
Student 2: After Skyping Josh and Tarun, I learnt that if a bird stands on one electric wire it won’t get shocked, but if it stands on more than two wires, it will get shocked.
Virginia Kung: It was good that they were able to see through other technologies about how we can make connections, not just within our school and community, but globally as well.