Scientific Protocol

Let's break down scientific protocol and work out how to teach it in a way our pupils will understand. 

What is Scientific Protocol?

How often do we complete science experiments just because they are fun? Scientific protocol can seem like a complex approach that our pupils aren't able to understand. But most of the time, the reality is, we just need to create the appropriate scaffold for them.

If we split up scientific protocol into the individual stages, we can make it more accessible.

The hypothesis - Making a prediction doesn't need to be complicated. What do you think is going to happen?

The experiment - Testing our hypothesis by following clear instructions.

The write up - Recording our results doesn't have to mean writing long sentences about what we did and what we could change next time. It simply needs to be a record of what happened.

Following a simple visual timetable like the one below guides our pupils through the stages of the lesson.

Making Predictions

Open ended questions like "What do you think will happen?" are complex and don't explain to our pupils what we are expecting of them. Try reframing your predictions to be fill in the gap sentences with clear options.

Let's say we are testing to see if a spoon and a rubber duck will float or sink. We might offer sentences like the ones below, then let pupils place images of the spoon and duck in the gaps.

For pupils who are a step ahead, we could give them a sentence with 2 gaps, one for the object and one for the action.

Too complex?

For some pupils, building a sentence might not be achievable at this time. But that doesn't mean they can't record their results. Using a sorting table like this, pupils can sort illustrations, photos or the physical objects after testing.

The Float or Sink module is a week's worth of materials created as part of our Accessible Curriculum. Whilst the full curriculum isn't currently available you can buy individual modules, like this one! Happy experimenting!

We hope that you've found today's email helpful. We hope to continue providing information in this format, so if there is a topic you want us to talk about make sure to let us know!

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