Learning to See: Learning to See: Observing Children’s Inquiry in Science
Professional Development Videos
Guiding youth in their open explorations with materials is a very challenging part of doing inquiry. Knowing when to step back and observe and when to provide guidance requires closely observing the behavior and talk of youth as they manipulate materials. Understanding what is genuine exploration and what are random manipulations requires careful judgment based on reflective practice. Studying videos of youth in the act of exploring can be an engaging way of interpreting behavior and providing a common set of experiences for educators to discuss productive ways of guiding this behavior.
Originally released in 1996, this re-release of Learning to See is a series of DVDs that show youth ages 10–14 in authentic explorations. This series offers eight scenarios in a minimally edited format. During viewing of these DVDs, one can observe how youth generate questions, produce analogies, and carry out systematic observations. The videos on these DVDs can be used in study groups, workshops, and professional development institutes. Accompanying each DVD is a transcript of the behavior and talk with suggested discussion questions. There is also a separate facilitator’s guide providing ways of using the videos in different kinds of professional development situations and a framework for structuring the viewing and discussion of the different scenarios.
Explorations with Balls and Tracks: Generating and Testing Hypotheses (33 min)
Two youth (ages 8 and 11) roll different kinds of balls down a ramp made from plastic molding. They bend the track into different configurations, making up simple games. During these games they discover relevant variables. A short discussion at the end reveals prior knowledge about objects in motion. download transcript
This video is particularly useful for observing how youth will make up simple games that resemble experiments and how they readily use prior knowledge when explaining what they have observed.
Explorations with Bubbles: The Origin of Questions (23 min)
Two 11-year-old boys blow bubbles on a table top with drinking straws and dishwashing soap solution. They make very large bubble domes. At times they try to stick wet objects and their hands into these very large bubbles. This action prompts one boy to fantasize about being in a bubble as large as a room, prompting a discussion about gravity and what is inside a bubble. download transcript
This video illustrates the multiple manipulations that youth can do with simple materials and the role that manipulations play in evoking interesting authentic questions.
Explorations with Siphoning: The Tenuous Growth of a Concept (29 min)
Two 10-year-old boys explore the use of a special arrangement of a bottle with two pieces of tubing. The boys can suck or blow on the end of the pieces of tubing to get water to flow in or out of the bottle. Although they appear to discover and understand what variables determine the flow of water in and out of the bottle, later manipulations reveal they only have a tenuous understanding of what is happening. download transcript
This video is especially useful for observing how challenging it is for youth to fully master new discoveries of what appears to be happening in a simple system.
Mapping Water Currents with Food Coloring: Variable Exploration (14 min)
Two girls (ages 10 and 11) drop food coloring into a special solution in a tray that reveals in detail any movement of the solution. One girl over a period of 10 minutes systematically drops food coloring at different parts of the tray and moves a stick through this color to observe how different fluid patterns form. download transcript
This video shows how some youth can be very systematic in their explorations and operation aesthetic impulses.
Salad Dressing Physics: Spontaneous Generation of Metaphors (35 min)
A boy and a girl (ages 11 and 12 years) first observe a set of mystery bottles that, when turned over, show an appealing movement of liquids. The children try to identify the liquids and figure out what is happening with them. Then they are given similar liquids and containers to see if they can duplicate what is happening in the mystery bottles. At one point in the mixing of the liquids, the boy spontaneously utters an interesting analogy that combines his current observations with past experience. download transcript
This video is particularly useful for observing how the manipulations of materials can stimulate useful analogies for development of basic science concepts.
The Mystery of the Bubbles That Wouldn’t Move: Finding and Testing Variables (26 min)
Two girls (11 and 12 years) start off blowing bubbles on a wet table top. The adult working with them at one point presents a problem for them to solve: Why can a small bubble hemisphere be moved by blowing on it when on one part of the table but cannot be moved by blowing on it when on another part of the table? The girls spend the next 25 minutes trying a variety of simple experiments to test different variables without coming up with a satisfactory explanation. download transcript
This video illustrates how a simple question can move students to carrying out different kinds of tests to answer a question.
The Mystery of the Moving Can: Problem Solving (33 min)
As two girls (11 years old) blow bubbles on a table top, they come upon the mysterious movement of a can. When the can is placed on the table where there is a puddle of soap solution, the can moves a short distance without any push. The girls try out various manipulations with the can and other containers to determine what factors may be causing this movement. download transcript
This video shows how a question can arise from the manipulation of materials and how youth can be guided in attempting to answer this question.
Water Dances and Water Stories: A Study in Different Styles of Exploration (36 min)
Two 10-year-old boys explore the movement of water by dropping food coloring into a solution of highly diluted white latex paint and moving a stick around in the mixture. The resulting patterns are very attractive and reveal properties of fluid motion. One boy acts out his reactions to these patterns using his body while the other verbally conjures up fanciful images illustrating different styles of exploration. download transcript
This video is particularly useful for observing how youth vary and refine their manipulations and observations.
To order a copy of any of the DVDs above, please fill out the attached PDF order form and send it, with a check for the appropriate amount (payable to Education Development Center, Inc.), to: Kerry Ouellet |
If you have questions about this product, contact Bernie Zubrowki at bzubrowski@edc.org
If you have questions about ordering, contact Kerry Ouellet at kouellet@edc.org.
