Take, shape and create
View Sequence overviewStudents will:
- identify ways wood can be physically changed.
- predict the effects of specific changes on wood.
- compare their predictions to results.
Students will represent their understanding as they:
- contribute to the creation of an accurate data table within which to record data.
- contribute to class discussions to reach consensus.
In this lesson, assessment is formative.
Feedback might focus on:
- the claims students make about how wood can be changed, and which changes are possible in a classroom environment.
- Are students able to determine what thicknesses of wood might be suitable to use when designing and building their sculpture, and which would not be suitable?
Whole class
Class science journal (digital or hard-copy)
Optional: Demonstration copy of Changing wood Resource sheet
Each group
3 different pieces of wood to test how wood can be changed:
- 1 x thin, flexible wood such as a thin stick or skewer
- 1 x medium thick wood such as a thicker stick or pop-stick
- 1 x thick piece of wood such as a branch or ruler
Pair of standard classroom scissors
Sandpaper
Each student
Individual science journal (digital or hard-copy)
Optional: Changing wood Resource sheet
Lesson
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkRe-orient
Recall the previous lesson focusing on the effect that bending, twisting and tearing had on the plastic items.
Review the meaning of the terms ‘flexibility’ (ability to bend without breaking) and ‘elasticity’ (ability to return to original shape).
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkIdentifying and constructing questions is the creative driver of the inquiry process. It allows students to explore what they know and how they know it. During the Inquire phase of the LIA Framework, the Question routine allows for past activities to be reviewed and to set the scene for the investigation that students will undertake. The use of effective questioning techniques can influence students’ view and interpretation of upcoming content, open them to exploration and link to their current interests and science capital.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to spend some time considering the mindset of students at the start of each Inquire phase. What do you want students to be thinking about, what do they already know and what is the best way for them to approach the task? What might tap into their curiosity?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkWhat can we do with wood?
Discuss wood and its uses.
- Where does wood come from?
- How are wood and plastic the same and different?
- During the discussion make sure to touch on wood being a natural material and plastic being man-made.
- Do we sometimes use wood and plastic for the same purpose?
- How is/has wood been used, both now and in the past?
- Consider referring back to the sculpture gallery shown in the Launch phase and focusing on any objects made of or containing wood.
- What are some ways we can change wood?
- Scratch it, burn it, paint it, cut it etc.
Refer back to any questions about wood in the students asked in the Launch phase.
Pose the question: What happens when we bend, twist, sand, or change wood in other ways?
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkThe Investigate routine provides students with an opportunity to explore the key ideas of science, to plan and conduct an investigation, and to gather and record data. The investigations are designed to systematically develop content knowledge and skills through increasingly complex processes of structured inquiry, guided inquiry and open inquiry approaches. Students are encouraged to process data to identify trends and patterns and link them to the real-world context of the teaching sequence.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider the diagnostic assessment (Launch phase) that identified the alternative conceptions that students held. Are there activities that challenge these ideas and provide openings for discussion? What content knowledge and skills do students need to be able to complete the final (Act phase) task? How could you systematically build these through the investigation routines? Are there opportunities to build students’ understanding and skills in the science inquiry processes through the successive investigations?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkInvestigating changes to wood
After selecting three different pieces of wood of varying thickness, students undertake an investigation to answer the question: How can we change wood?
Examine the samples of wood and discuss student predictions about how each piece of wood might be changed, if they can be changed easily, and if they can all be changed in the same way.
List student suggestions on how wood might be physically changed. If students haven’t suggested it, examine the sandpaper and discuss what it is and how it can be used.
Use the Changing wood Resource sheet or create your own sample data table for students to record result.
For example:
In collaborative teams students test different ways wood can be changed, including by cutting with scissors and by sanding.
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkFollowing an investigation, the Integrate routine provides time and space for data to be evaluated and insights to be synthesized. It reveals new insights, consolidates and refines representations, generalises context and broadens students’ perspectives. It allows student thinking to become visible and opens formative feedback opportunities. It may also lead to further questions being asked, allowing the Inquire phase to start again.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider the diagnostic assessment that was undertaken during the Launch phase. Consider if alternative conceptions could be used as a jumping off point to discussions. How could students represent their learning in a way that would support formative feedback opportunities? Could small summative assessment occur at different stages in the teaching sequence?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkDoes wood bend or twist?
Share and discuss results as a class. Focus on how easy it is to change the wood and if the thickness of the wood had an impact on the changes that could be made.
- Did the wood you tested bend or break?
- Was there a difference between how easy it was to change the thicker wood and the thinner wood? Why do you think that is?
- What differences do sanding and cutting make to wood? In what ways are these kinds of changes used in real-life? Why are they used?
- What do you think about the ‘dust’ that is created when you sanded the wood? Is it still wood?
- This is called ‘sawdust’ or ‘wood dust'. It is very small chips of wood.
- How flexible do you think wood is?
- Can you think of any examples where flexible wood is used in real life?
- Bird nests, some woven baskets.
- How do people change the size and shape of thick pieces of wood so they can use them? Can we test these types of changes in the classroom? Why/Why not?
- How would you describe wood and different thicknesses of wood?
- How might wood be used in a sculpture? What types of wood will you be able to use easily, and how might you change it?
- How might you change the colour of wood?
- If we change the wood’s size, shape, colour etc., is it still wood?
Reflect on the lesson
You might:
- add to the class word wall vocabulary related to wood and how it can be changed.
- review the questions students asked about materials and add any new questions students have.
- re-examine the intended learning goals for the lesson and consider how they were achieved.
- consider how our knowledge of the way wood can be changed and used has grown and developed over time. Consider how First Nations Australians used wood for tools, shelter, clothing, and what types of woods they would have used for each purpose. Consider uses of wood in modern shelter building, and the different ways it is changed to make it suitable for use.