I’ve been reading the literature on the value of play in learning. I do give my students unstructured activity time in science class, but I’m not sure they’re getting anything out of it. For example, I gave each group of students a board and several toy cars. They began playing with them, and when I later asked what they learned or discovered about motion, the silence was deafening! I know they had fun “playing” with the cars, but I wanted them to learn something, too. How can I make this a better experience?

—D., Idaho

Unfortunately, some students (and adults) look at fun and learning as mutually exclusive: If we’re learning, it can’t be fun, and if we’re having fun, we can’t be learning.

This dichotomy was illustrated in an action research study conducted by a colleague. He asked his students to list the most fun things they did in class. The fifth-graders mentioned science activities, role-playing, word games, drawing, working with their peers, computer simulations, and more. He then asked what class activities best helped them learn. He assumed the answers would be the same, although ranked in a different order depending on the student. He was surprised when most of the students said worksheets and tests. When he discussed these results with his students, they mentioned that the worksheets and tests were graded and they had to stay in at recess if they missed one. They concluded that these were more important than the “fun” activities since they were used to calculate their grades as a summary of their “learning.” Reflecting on the results, the teacher concluded he needed to be more explicit in describing the learning goals of the activities and debrief more with the students on what they learned or discovered.

Exploration (I prefer this term to “playing”) is an important part of science, regardless of the age of the students. It provides open-ended opportunities without the concern of finding a single correct answer. It provides students with common experiences and helps the teacher identify misconceptions. During the rest of the lesson, students can build on these experiences, although the teacher may have to remind students of what they did. For students who are used to being told exactly what to do and how to do it, this can be a new and perhaps frustrating experience as they wonder, “But what are we supposed to do?”

During the activity, circulate through the class, observe their explorations and ask questions about what they are thinking. (You’ll also want to be sure they’re focused and working safely). Encourage students to describe what happens in their notebooks. Afterward, instead of asking generically what they learned, use more focused discussion-starters such as What happened when…? What was different? Did that happen to everyone? What surprised you? What else could we explore? I wonder what would happen if…? If you had more time, what else would you do?

I encourage you to look at the BSCS 5E Instructional Model, in which Exploration is one of the phases, along with Engagement, Explanation, Elaboration, and Evaluation.  Within the context of this model, exploration becomes an integral and essential part of the lesson.

NSTA’s K-12 journals have many examples of lessons that follow this model.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fontplaydotcom/504443770/