Differentiation/Document
Practical Classroom Strategies
The following is a summary of the work of a group of science teachers who worked in groups to consider two differentiation strategies. The first was differentiation by task, the second was differentiation by outcome.
- Differentiation by task
Teachers identified self-sustained activities, tasks which they believed students could manage with little or no teacher support. Through this strategy tasks could be matched to the needs of individual students and teachers would be able to work with individuals or small groups of students.
Context – Plants
- Observation and discussion
- Tracing drawings of plants
- Copying drawings of plants
- Making observational drawings from real plants
- Identifying real plants using books
- Labelling drawings of plants from memory
- Labelling drawings of plants using a book
- Writing about the function of parts of plants from memory
- Writing about the function of parts of plants using a book
- Writing about the function of parts of plants using a plant
- Planning an AT1 type activity
Context – Food chains and webs
- Sorting and grouping creatures according to what they ear
- Card sorting creatures according to what they eat
- Filling in gaps in simple food chain/webs
- Extending food chains/webs
- Devising food chains/webs
- Constructing food pyramids
- Answering questions on chains/webs/ pyramids
- Making up questions on chains/webs/ pyramids
Context – Energy
- Using food/joule tables to work out intake from meals
- Using food/joule tables to work out specific diets
- Carrying out the burning peanut experiment to calculate its energy value
- Planning the burning peanut experiment to calculate its energy value
- Planning to burn other foods to calculate energy value
Context – Periodic table
- Labelling and colouring in metals and non-metals (m/mn) in the periodic table
- Identifying elements as m/nm by physical examination
- Identifying elements as m/nm by conductivity
- Labelling and colouring in solids/liquids/gases (slg) in the periodic table
- Identifying elements as slg by physical examination
- Test tube chemistry of group 2 elements
- Test tube chemistry of transition metals
- Reading historical background of the development of periodic tables
- Differentiation by outcome
Teachers identified activities which were sophisticated enough to allow progress and achievement at a number of levels. They then tried to identify a hierarchy of achievements within that activity.
Context – Varieties of soil
- Looking at three samples with:
the naked eye,
a hand lens,
a binocular microscope
a monocular microscope
- Drawing what they see
- Predicting plant growth in each type of soil
- Explaining such predictions
Context – Soil composition and profiles
- Watch a relevant video
- Answer a hierarchical question sheet based on the video
- Investigate soil composition by shaking samples with water
- Draw/write about soil composition from investigations
- Read about soil profiles in a book
- Make notes, drawings and summaries about soil profiles
- Read about soil structure in a book
- Make notes, drawings and summaries about soil structure
Context – Heat transfer, a circus of activities
- Tacks are stuck to a rod with wax, one end of the rod is heated , the order in which the tacks fall of is noted
- This activity is repeated with three rods of different materials
- Both experiments are offered but the time taken for each tack to fall is recorded and the results graphed
- A candle is place under a small horizontal windmill and it is lit
- A small crystal of potassium permanganate is placed at the bottom of a beaker of cold water, a localised source of heat is introduced to the beaker, near the crystal
- A metal box with a glass front has two chimneys. A candle is placed under one chimney. A smoking paper is placed above the second chimney.
- A radiating source is place equidistant form a white and black test tube of water. The temperature of each tube is recorded and graphed
- A metal cube has white, black and silver faces. It is heated and the temperature is recorded opposite each face
- Cooling curves are plotted for a number of substances as they solidify
Context – Starch in leaves
- Participate in the practical activity
- Draw and write about the activity
- Understand some details of leaf structure. e.g leaves have cells
- Remember what the test means
- Remember how to do the test
- Some understanding of the relationship of the test to the photosynthesis
- Detailed understanding of the relationship of the test to the photosynthesis
Colleagues recognised the details of differentiation by outcome in the starch test but also felt that all students should be able to carry out a starch test and know what the positive and negative results meant. In this sense, tests like this one are an example of differentiation unnecessary.
