Science Talks

At the beginning of the equity course we were each asked to come up with our own equity question to investigate. Examples of some of our questions are:
- Do students participate more if the science lesson caters to their learning style?
- Which gender, boys or girls, are earning the higher report card grades in my seventh grade science classes?
- Who takes the leadership role during small group work, boys or girls?
- How do lower level students compare to the other students when it comes to participating in class and doing labs?
- Do girls or boys have the scientific knowledge and attitude needed when they enter a departmentalized 4th grade science classroom?

In addition to collecting classroom data, we’ve also been on the search for related articles to help support our findings. Information we find pertaining to our question often leads to pondering more questions. Cindy Ballenger mentions something similar in her article titled One View of “Does a Plant Grow Every Day?” The focus of the article is on “science talks,” which are whole class discussions based around questions that arise from the children. They are not questions that have a definite answer; rather they are speculative and lead children to “trying to imagine phenomena, to connect a variety of events or experiences, to theorize about why and how.” Throughout a science talk, students use their prior knowledge as they draw upon their ideas and engage in a meaningful conversation with their peers. As mentioned above, “any questions they answer usually lead to more questions.”

One of the features of a science talk that makes it such a success is that the teacher’s main role is to facilitate student turns. Some teachers are more involved than others, but generally the teacher is not the main participant. Other teachers may feel that by being more involved they can guide the students in the direction they want and can interject with questions as they please. Another important feature of a science talk is that “students talk to each other and in a manner that is more associated with social situations outside of school.” In their discussion about whether or not plants grow everyday, a student in Ballenger’s article (3rd or 4th grader) commented that “I think I can kinda’ see myself grow because one day I putted on my socks and they was too small for me so I can fit in my mom’s socks now.” She made a connection between a plant’s growth and her own growth. Personally, I would like to incorporate more science talks into my lessons next year. Students who are less likely to raise their hand may contribute something to the conversation they would otherwise be more hesitant to say. Ballenger mentioned that these children “often add significant depth to the learning taking place.”