Pariksha SaathiLesson 7 of 8 · Science and its Pedagogy (Paper II)
Approaches to Teaching Science: Inquiry, Discovery, Experiment, 5E Model, Projects and Concept Maps
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Inquiry and discovery
In inquiry-based teaching, children ask a question, plan how to find out, collect evidence, explain it and share their findings, while the teacher acts as a facilitator who asks 'What do you think will happen if...?' and 'How can we find out?'. Inquiry ranges from structured (the teacher gives both the question and the procedure) through guided (the teacher gives only the question) to open (children frame their own question). Discovery learning, associated with Jerome Bruner, lets learners find a principle themselves through active exploration, usually with guidance. The heuristic method of H.E. Armstrong, from a Greek word meaning 'I find', puts the child in the position of a discoverer; it builds independence but is slow and needs skilled teachers. Instead of telling Class VI that some substances dissolve, the teacher gives salt, sugar, sand and chalk and lets groups find out which dissolve in water.
Observation and experiment
Careful, recorded observation is the starting point: a moon diary kept for a month, a nature walk or a herbarium of local leaves. An experiment tests an idea under controlled conditions, changing one variable, keeping the others constant and comparing with a control. To show that sunlight is needed for photosynthesis, a potted plant is kept in the dark for about 72 hours to remove its starch, part of a leaf is covered with black paper, and after some hours in sunlight only the uncovered part turns blue-black with iodine. The laboratory method develops psychomotor skills and honest recording; activities come before definitions, and children record what they actually see.
The 5E model
The 5E instructional model, developed by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) in the late 1980s, applies constructivism. Engage: capture interest and bring out prior ideas, for example by asking why a torch does not light. Explore: groups handle a cell, a bulb and wires and try to make the bulb glow while the teacher listens and asks probing questions. Explain: children share what worked, and only now does the teacher introduce terms such as closed circuit, conductor and insulator. Elaborate: children apply the idea to a new situation, testing which classroom objects let current pass. Evaluate: children draw circuits and predict which bulbs will glow, while the teacher assesses throughout and children reflect on their learning.
Projects and problem solving
The project method of William Heard Kilpatrick (1918), a student of John Dewey, organises learning as a wholehearted, purposeful activity carried out in a social setting. Its steps are providing a situation, choosing and purposing, planning, executing, evaluating and recording. A Class VII project might survey how water is used and wasted in the neighbourhood, or grow a school kitchen garden. The problem-solving method rests on Dewey's reflective thinking: feeling a problem, defining it, collecting information, forming hypotheses, testing them and drawing conclusions. Both link science to real life and build cooperation, but need time, planning and resources.
Demonstration
A demonstration suits apparatus that is costly, scarce or dangerous, or a skill children must first see. A good demonstration is rehearsed beforehand, visible to every child, uses simple apparatus and safe practice, and involves the class. The Predict-Observe-Explain (POE) strategy of Richard White and Richard Gunstone asks children to predict the result, observe it and then explain any difference, which turns a demonstration into inquiry. In the lecture-cum-demonstration method the teacher explains while showing, which saves time and material, but children stay largely passive and gain no hands-on skill, so it should not replace their own activity.
Concept maps and organisers
A concept map, devised by Joseph Novak at Cornell University in the 1970s on the basis of David Ausubel's theory of meaningful learning, shows concepts in boxes joined by labelled links that form propositions, such as plants make food by photosynthesis. Maps run from general to specific, and cross-links show deep understanding; they are used to plan, revise, assess understanding and reveal misconceptions. Ausubel's advance organiser gives a general framework before the details. A KWL chart (what I Know, Want to know, Learned) tracks progress, and analogies such as water flow for electric current help when their limits are discussed.
Integrated approach
NCF 2005 recommends EVS at the primary stage, integrating science and social science, and science at the upper primary stage linked with daily life, health, the environment and other subjects. Thematic teaching follows one theme, such as water, through its properties, the water cycle, pollution, conservation, traditional stepwells and the mathematics of measuring rainfall. NEP 2020 asks for experiential learning, arts-integrated and sports-integrated education, and no hard separation between curricular and extra-curricular activities or between the sciences and the arts.
Innovation in teaching
Improvised low-cost and no-cost apparatus, such as Arvind Gupta's toys from trash made with straws, matchboxes and rubber tubes, makes science concrete where laboratories are scarce. Science clubs, fairs and exhibitions, field trips, role play (children acting as planets), cooperative learning such as the jigsaw technique, peer tutoring, ICT simulations and virtual labs all encourage creativity. For children with special needs, tactile models, Braille labels, audio description and work in pairs make science inclusive.
Key facts
- Inquiry levels: structured (teacher gives the question and procedure), guided (teacher gives only the question), open (children frame the question).
- Heuristic method = H.E. Armstrong ('I find'); discovery learning = Jerome Bruner; project method = W.H. Kilpatrick (1918); problem solving and reflective thinking = John Dewey.
- 5E: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate; developed by BSCS; technical terms come only at Explain, after hands-on exploration.
- Fair test: change one variable, keep the others constant, compare with a control; e.g. a destarched plant, a half-covered leaf and the iodine test.
- Project method steps: providing a situation, choosing, planning, executing, evaluating, recording.
- POE (Predict-Observe-Explain) of White and Gunstone turns a demonstration into inquiry.
- Demonstration suits costly, scarce or dangerous apparatus; its weakness: children stay passive and gain no hands-on skill.
- Concept map = Joseph Novak, based on Ausubel's meaningful learning; concepts in boxes, linking words form propositions; it also reveals misconceptions.
- Integrated approach: EVS at the primary stage; NEP 2020 - experiential, arts- and sports-integrated learning, no hard separation between sciences and arts.
- Innovation: toys from trash (Arvind Gupta), science clubs and fairs, jigsaw, ICT simulations, tactile models for children with visual impairment.
Quick revision
Inquiry: question, plan, evidence, explain, share; structured, guided, open; discovery = Bruner, heuristic = Armstrong; experiment changes one variable against a control; 5E (BSCS): Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate; project method = Kilpatrick 1918; problem solving = Dewey; POE turns demonstration into inquiry; concept map = Novak, based on Ausubel; integrated and thematic teaching; low-cost improvised apparatus.