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Observation and the Scientific Method for Grades 2-4
Materials: Blackboards and chalk; 2 large sheets of paper and marker For younger students use Grow a Narcissus; for older students, divide into small groups to brainstorm independently of teacher Step 1: Get Ready! Explain to students that you'll be growing a plant in your classroom and learning about bulbs and flowers. Explain that this lesson gives students a chance to talk about (1) what they know about plants, (2) what they want to find out, and (3) how they can find answers to questions. Draw two big, blank webs on you blackboard—one for What We Know and one for What We Want To Know. Webs should look like big daisies, with plenty of room for questions and answers. Step 2: Find Out What You Know Give students a few minutes to think about what they know about plants. Brainstorm with them and write their responses on the What We Know web. When your web is filled, ask students to group responses into categories—for example, appearance, growth, food (older students); or what we see when we look and what we can't see (younger students). Step 3: Find Out What You Want to Know Ask students to think carefully about what they'd like to know about plants. Brainstorm and write responses on the second web. • How do plants grow? • What are plants made of? • What do plants eat? • What are leaves for? • Why are flowers different colors? • Why do flowers smell nice? When the web is filled, ask students to group responses into categories. Step 4: Make Predictions Ask students if they think that watching a plant grow will answer some of the questions on the second web. Help students select questions to answer through observation of their bulb. Write these on a big sheet of paper. • What will happen as you observe your bulb (roots, shoots, blossoms)? • Will it happen all at once—BOOM-RootsShootsLeavesFlowers—or one thing after another? • Will it happen fast or slowly? • How long will it take for the ROOTS to appear? • How long will it take for the first SHOOT to appear? • How long will it take for the first LEAF to appear? • How long will it take for the first FLOWER BUD to appear? • How long will it take for the first FLOWER bud to open? • How tall will your narcissus grow? • How many flowers (roots, stems, leaves) will it produce? • What will the flowers be like? Lead the class in making guesses or predictions about their bulb. Explain that predictions are not answers. REMEMBER: Right now there are no wrong or right predictions, just guesses. Ask students to make their guesses carefully, based on what they may have seen already. You will "test" your predictions by watching your bulb grow, naming its parts, counting, and measuring. Write some of your predictions next to the questions on your big sheet of paper. Step 5: Discover Learning! When you have finished, hang your list of questions and predictions in a place where students can refer to it easily. Check the accuracy of your predictions as your bulbs grow and bloom. (Use the Grow a Narcissus to guide your observations. Students may record observations in a Bulb Diary.) 
As students become involved in their investigation, they will discover that one question often leads to another and that learning fosters new questions. Return to the questions you didn't put on your first big sheet of paper. Lead a discussion of ways to find answers to these questions. Ideas might include research, reading, experimenting, observing plants outdoors or in a greenhouse, browsing on the Internet, or asking a reference librarian, a gardener, or a scientist. Write some of these questions on your second sheet of paper and list ways to begin finding answers. In coming weeks, divide class into small groups and assign one question each. If necessary, help students towards answers by giving them two or three suggestions. |
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