Practical work Approach: Surveys

To use Practical work approach I linked the strategy of surveys to an investigation/experiment based Science lesson on Plant Growth. My intention remained to encourage the students to gather first-hand information through surveys. For the research based learning student’s first choice is internet that although provides them with  detailed information and clarity of idea as well as concepts but building up long lasting understanding comes through application of knowledge learnt from real life situation. Therefore, I wanted to provide an opportunity for my students to use Practical Work Approach enabling them to learn on their own by observing, deducing answers and to be able to explain the information as their personal experience.

A set Qualitative Survey was made for the whole class based on five basic questions about plants. Open ended questions were given in the survey to meet the attempting skill/ understanding of the different ability group students. The language of survey was very simple and of precise nature keeping the level of ease in mind. Questions were related to the basic information about plants they had in their homes. The plant’s name, height and general condition was asked in first two questions. While the remaining three questions asked about the amount of Sunlight and Air received by their plant. Along with the number of times it is being watered on weekly basis.

Survey Form 1: Interview from a gardener

Survey Form 2: A higher ability Student's work

Survey Form3

Picture of the plant with form 3

Survey Form 4

Picture with Survey form 4

A few students who did not have any plants at home were given a field work task. They were asked to observe the plants growing in their vicinity. The ones who had gardens nearby were asked to interview the gardener working there and take their insight on the same survey.

Aim of the activity was to investigate the amount of various factors necessary for plant growth and show to the children that the factors described in the lesson plans actually impact plant growth in real life on the plants located in their homes and gardens. Based on this the students will be able to plan and set up their investigation and finding results to prove the effect of one of the factors on healthy plant growth through. (seed germination)

I kept the task similar for all the ability group students because I wanted to gauge their understanding through their capacity of answering the questions. I wanted to see my HA students to provide reasoning and look for scientific processes. MA students could relate their answers to the habitat of plants. LA students were able to answer all the questions with clarity. I gave enough margin to the students to enjoy doing the surveys and gather information. Instead of asking them to research online which they at time become unable to recall and reflect in real life situation.

Survey Evaluation Form 1 

Survey Evaluation Form 2

Survey Evaluation Form 3

Survey Evaluation Form 4

I received a very positive response from the students (shown above) saying that they found it interesting, they could relate and observe plants in real life and how they take care of them. The students who did interviews gained confidence. Students appreciated the fact that survey was very easy and they could answer it without any restriction of a set pattern by observation only instead of looking for answers on internet. They also wanted to use this strategy again.

Student sharing his experience of taking interview with gardener

Student sharing how her selected factor will effect plant growth

Students planning for their plant investigation

Sharing excel charts based on the findings of student's surveys

The students although had good clarity on the factors necessary for plant growth and how can they prove it in investigation still they were unclear on how to write their planning in the notebooks. Since this was the very first investigation lesson for year 6 students in this academic year so students were taking a lot of time to recollect their prior knowledge on how to write their investigation in particular format. Next time I will try to give students detailed task cards with clear instructions to go by every step.