Teaching Science Process Skills
Teaching science process skills is a vital part of helping students become good scientists.
By Jennifer Sinsel
In order for students to work as scientists in the classroom, they must be able to utilize science process skills. Being able to observe, infer, measure, predict, classify, and communicate is vital to doing science well, and teachers often neglect to spend enough time on these important skills.
Sometime during the first week of school, students walk into my room to find a photo of an old shoe in the middle of an empty highway posted on a screen at the front of the room. Directions at the bottom of the screen prompt them to list as many things about the photo as possible in their science journals. After five to ten minutes, students take turns sharing ideas from their lists and writing them on the board. Some sample ideas might include things like:
- The shoe is white and red.
- The shoelaces are untied.
- Someone probably lost it out of the back of a truck.
- The shoe is dirty.
- Someone threw it out the window because they didn’t want it anymore.
Working in small groups, I ask students to circle the items that can be directly determined using one or more of their five senses. After some discussion, I tell them that these items are called “observations,” and that they are a very important part of being a good scientist. Most of the other items are explanations for what we observe, and these are called “inferences.” For example, we observe that there is only one shoe on the road. We could infer that, since there isn’t a matching shoe anywhere in the picture, it fell out of a box while someone was moving. Other inferences might also be plausible.
After defining the terms in our journals, I give each student another item, such as an insect, leaf, or shell to observe. They must list as many detailed observations as possible, making sure to list only those things that can be directly observed with their five senses. If no one asks, I suggest the use of a ruler, classroom scale, or other measurement device to make students’ observations even more detailed. Depending upon the age and ability of your class, you can also introduce qualitative and quantitative observations during this activity. For more ways to teach science process skills, try the following lesson plans.
Science Process Skills Lesson Plans:
Observing Mealworms & Earthworms
In this lesson students observe earthworms and mealworms in student-built habitats. They do experiments in which they find out how worms react to changes in temperature, light, etc . . . They observe the transformation of mealworms to beetles.
This lesson has students make predictions about a disease using data provided. In this lesson students focus on the measles in Cuba, and predict how many cases there might be in the future.
In this lesson students practice measuring in both centimeters and meters. They measure objects in their classroom.
Students practice classifying objects by identifying common characteristics and devising their own classification methods. They practice sorting objects, such as leaves and buttons. This lesson provides opportunities for students to use graphic organizers, journals, and technology.
