AbstractOutdoor science trails can be used to explore a widerange of topics in science at primary school level, butare often viewed as being relevant to the moreenvironmental and biological topics. Here wedescribe some science trails developed for childrenaged 5­7 that prompt the children to think aboutelectricity, energy, sound and light. The use ofdiscussion before, during and after the trail and theimportance of planning are described. Havingundertaken the trails and built up a range ofexperiences and photographs, these young learnerswere better equipped to understand topics such aselectrical circuits.

Keywords: Electricity, sound, light, heat, outdoors

IntroductionResearch suggests (e.g. DeWitt & Hohenstein,2010) that visits to science centres and museumsencourage teachers to engage in more open­endedquestions and allow students to exert more controlover experiences that can lead to affective andcognitive gains. In an outdoor setting, childrenhave even more freedom, potentially, to exploreand investigate their surroundings. It is oftenreported that children are more enthusiastic onsuch outdoor trips than in a classroom setting and,provided that suitable support, scaffolding andtime is given, these students can engage in deeplevel learning. One key aspect that facilitates this isallowing discussion and talk­based activities eitherat the site or back in the classroom, where this ismost effective when some rules for discussion havebeen established (e.g. Mercer et al, 2004).

We experience ‘forces’ constantly and yet they aredifficult to see and understand for many types oflearners, not just the young learners addressed inthis paper (e.g. Danielsson & Warwick, 2014). Weuse electricity on a daily basis, in the UK at least,

but what is it (e.g. Summers et al, 1998)? Weobserve the change in light levels on a daily,seasonal and yearly basis and use light and soundto explore the world around us, but what do weknow about these important science concepts (e.g.Parker & Heywood, 1998)? We note that thesescience concepts (energy, light and sound) areoften associated with physics and so we havegrouped them together under that banner, butother groupings of topics in science would workequally well and science trails can be devised for awide range of topics and concepts. Here, we wantto show how topics associated with physics can beexplored outdoors. In the ‘Let’s go Science Trails’project, we have used the outdoor environment toidentify and develop children’s emergent scienceunderstanding and investigative skills in a range ofscience topics and, in this particular study, we havefocused on children aged approximately 5­7 years.

It has already been noted that the outdoorenvironment provides and encourages pupils’engagement and investigative learning and has apositive effect on teacher­child relationships andpupil attendance (e.g. Dillon et al, 2006).

There is a positive correlation between time spentoutdoors and general health and wellbeing, andthe fostering of responsible attitudes to theenvironment (Vitale, 2011). Indeed, Ofsted (2008)notes that a well­planned and implementedoutdoor learning experience makes a significantcontribution to raising standards and improvingpupils’ personal, social and emotionaldevelopment. The outdoor environment has alsobeen shown to promote learning, in particularamongst students who are native speakers, and tobe an excellent stimulus for class discussion (e.g.Osborne, 2010). Irrespective of whether the schoolis based in an urban or rural location, the outdoorenvironment can be used to develop scienceunderstanding and investigative skills.

Let’s go and investigate physicsoutdoors at Foundation and Key Stage 1 level (4-7 year olds)

l Jeannette Morgan l Sophie D. Franklin l Dudley E. Shallcross

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The development of a science trailThe ‘Science Trail’ concept is a culmination of theexperience of several highly experienced primaryschool teachers of science who have seen the manybenefits of investigating topics using the outdoorenvironment. Much planning is needed to developa trail and refinements and adaptations will alwaystake place but, in summary, all trails described inthis study follow the same development, formatand implementation.

First, a particular topic or science concept is chosenas well as the age range that will undertake the trail.Second, appropriate locations are identified wherethe pupils will encounter many real world examplesof this topic. Third, teachers investigate the potentialtrail themselves to enable pre­trail materials to bedeveloped (e.g. stimuli such as photographs),complete a health and safety analysis and identifyresources needed to prepare for the trail, while onthe trail and then back in the classroom.

ElectricityDuring the primary school years, pupils will look atelectrical circuits, but what do they know aboutelectricity in the (England education system) early

years and at Key Stage 1 (approximately ages 4­7)?In the classroom, before the trail was undertaken(the timing varied from school to school and groupto group, but was typically during the week beforethe trail), the teacher and pupils discussed the usesof electricity, what electricity might be and that itcan be used to produce light, sound, movementand heat (or a change in temperature). On thisscience trail, the pupils were divided into groupsand asked to find electrical appliances thatproduced sound, produced light, causedmovement, or produced heat or a change intemperature. The results from these investigationsare summarised in Table 1.

Table 1 shows that the sets of electrical appliancesthat were identified under the different categorieswere different, and only one item, the coffeemachine in the food store, was reported to haveproduced sound, light, movement and heat. It hada light on the panel and produced hot drinks, whichis why the children agreed that it was generatingheat, and the cup dropped down, which was whythey reported that it produced movement. Thenumber of electrical appliances that were thoughtto produce heat and light was much smaller thanthe number for the other two categories.

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Dry Cleaners Food Shop Launderette

Sound Alarm Conveyor belt Tumble dryerVacuum cleaner Fridge Washing machineTill Till Change machine(Ticking) clock Printer (Ticking) clockFan Coffee machineSewing machine Lottery machineRadio

Light Lights Light at till LightsCoffee machine

Heat Vacuum cleaner Coffee machine Tumble dryer

Movement Fan Conveyor belt Tumble dryerVacuum cleaner Coffee machine Washing machineTill Till Change machine(Ticking) clock Printer (Ticking) clock Sewing machine Lottery machine

Table 1. Items identified by children that use electricity and produce sound, light, movement or heat.

Apart from lights themselves, only the coffeemachine was recorded as a producer of light. Onlythree items were recorded as producing heat: thecoffee machine, the tumble dryer (because itwarmed up the clothes), and some children knewthat vacuum cleaners produced heat (fromexperiences at home). However, one of thedrawbacks of the trail was the adherence to healthand safety, in that touching potentially hot objectswas prevented and so the children did not have aneasy way to determine whether heat was beinggenerated. So, just these three items wererecorded as producing heat. Back in theclassroom(s), there was much discussion aboutwhether some of the other electrical itemsproduced heat and light. The children rememberedthat it was warm in both the dry cleaners and thelaunderette, and a very interesting discussionfollowed: although most children assumed that theheating was on in both shops, there were a fewchildren who thought that it was warmer becausethe shops were much smaller than the food shop. Itmay be that some children thought that some or allof the machines were generating heat, but they didnot make that connection in the discussion or didnot want to suggest this out loud. Some did knowthat the vacuum cleaner was warm to the touch.

However, children remembered that the food shophad parts that were warmer and certainly parts thatwere cold (‘where the ice cream was’) and said thatthe fridges were making those parts colder. Somechildren then started a discussion about why someof the fridges were open and some had slidingdoors, and a few noted that the food that was inthe ‘closed’ fridges was colder. Although not all thechildren would have used the word ‘energy’, mosthad a concept that electricity was essential to theoperation of the appliance and that it generatedsound, light, heat or movement, or combinationsof these. The children went on two other trails toinvestigate sound and light in more detail.

SoundThe sound trail saw the children embark on a trailthat incorporated the environs of the school andalso a local park or equivalent location. The childrenwere asked to record the various sounds that theycould hear and to identify, if they could, the sourceof the sound. The children had sound meters withthem, which recorded decibel levels.

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Figure 1. Key Stage 1 children (aged 5­7)investigating electrical appliances in a row of shops in their local environment.

In the parkThese young learners were able to identify anumber of sounds arising from animals, dogsbarking, birds making a variety of noises andinsects buzzing, for example. Other sounds thatthey were able to identify included the windrustling through leaves, people talking, cars drivingby, music from a person’s music player, someoneplaying tennis, a splashing fountain, a street­cleaning cart, and the noise from a train.

Around the school and on the High StreetThere were many sounds identified, including froman ambulance, buses, traffic lights bleeping,someone banging on a glass window and peopletalking. The children used the sound meters andthese confirmed the children’s ideas that theenvirons of the school and High Street were noisierthan the park and, in certain places, much noisierthan the park. Through discussion, the childrencategorised the sounds into those caused byhumans and those that are not, and noted that theonly place that they heard non­human sounds wasin the park. Some children suggested that it was sonoisy on the High Street that they probably couldn’thear any animals and that, apart from dogs, mostanimals would avoid the High Street. A later in­classdiscussion investigated how sound is generatedand, given access to resources in the class, the

children identified a range of musical instruments.There was evidence that children were thinkingabout why these instruments generated sound.

LightSome children also investigated light on the sameor similar trails but, rather than look at objects thatproduce light, they were asked to record placeswhere there were different light levels and had alight meter to help them. In the park, severalgroups of children noted (using the light meterrecordings of lux) how much darker it was in theshady part of the park under the trees and how itwas quieter there too. Here were examples wherethe use of meters added greatly to the explorationand discussion. With help, the children could usethe meters to demonstrate how dark or how quietan area was compared with another. On the HighStreet, they noticed that some parts were inshadow (from tall buildings), but there was noobvious change in noise levels along the streetcompared with the park. The children discussed thedifferences and concluded that, in the park where itis darker, animals are quieter so that they can hearother animals and that they need to use theirhearing more because it is hard to see.

Summary The various trails proved to be a very positiveexperience for the early years and Key Stage 1students. Firstly, they were more aware ofelectricity, sound, light and energy in the worldaround them and started to sort these into naturaland human­made sources. Secondly, giventraining, the use of meters was a positive, asstudents could demonstrate and quantify tothemselves that there was a difference in theamount of sound and light from one place toanother. Thirdly, they started to make someinteresting connections at various parts of the trail,for example, that darker places in the park thatwere shaded by trees were also much quieter.Fourthly, there were the beginnings of the ideathat electrical appliances generate heat, but further(safe) experiments are required to show this. Asimportant, the teachers themselves found that thisactivity built their confidence. They worked ontrails together and, with several schoolscontributing, had feedback and trialling of the trailsby other children and their teachers. Early years

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Figure 2. Key Stage 1 children (aged 5­7)investigating sound in a variety of outdoor settingsusing a sound meter.

and Key Stage 1 science can be difficult to teach,but using the trail idea provides an opportunity forchildren to make connections, stimulates goodscience discussions and can determine what thechildren already know.

AcknowledgementsWe thank the Primary Science Teaching Trust(formerly the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust)for financial support for the work contained in thispaper. We thank the following schools in theHaringey area of London and their teachers fortheir support and contributions: Alexandra Primary,Campsbourne Schools, Crowland Primary, FerryLane Primary, Muswell Hill Primary, Stroud GreenPrimary, Tiverton Primary, The Green C of EPrimary, Welbourne Primary and Weston ParkPrimary. The studies described in this paper arebased on work carried out in the Haringey projectonly. For more information about the Science Trailsproject, please contact Jeannette Morgan or visitthe PSTT website (www.pstt.org.uk).

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Jeannette Morgan is a primary school teacher and Fellow of the Primary Science Teaching Trust College. Dr. Sophie D. Franklin is Cluster Director of thePrimary Science Teaching Trust and a researchassociate in Science Education at the University of Bristol. Professor Dudley E. Shallcross is a Professor ofAtmospheric Chemistry at the University of Bristoland also CEO of the Primary Science TeachingTrust. E­mail: dudley.shallcross@pstt.org.uk

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