A lamb on the farm
0
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Working with Students
Further Resources
This task is about noticing things, and thinking about what you notice.
Look carefully at the picture.
Task administration:
Equipment
Digital recorder (optional); OHT, data show, interactive whiteboard or other IT tools to present photograph (optional).
Digital recorder (optional); OHT, data show, interactive whiteboard or other IT tools to present photograph (optional).
Carrying out the task
This task is intended to be an oral assessment. The intention is to encourage discussion between students so they can interact with and build on others' ideas.
The task can be carried out in small groups or as a class. Opportunity for all students to contribute should be provided.
The teacher asks students the questions on the task sheet and records the responses. The responses can be recorded directly on-line, recorded digitally, or hand-written.
The photograph should be presented in colour and in such a way that all students can see it easily.
The teacher may prompt students to encourage them to further explain their ideas, e.g.:
- Tell me more about that.
- What else do you notice?
- Why do you say that?
Refer also to the prompts for Question c).
Teacher prompt (Question c)
The purpose of Question c) is to investigate students' concept of risk. To what extent do they weigh up the notion of sevirity with likelihood?
During their discussion, prompt students to think about the big picture, long term impact of a particular event. Encourage them to think about a chain of events set off by one event.
Some prompting questions might be:
How likely is that to happen?
What would happen next?
What effect would that have on lambs that live there?
What would happen next?
What effect would that have on lambs that live there?
Copyright:
D. Johnson, 2011, www.virtualoceania.net/newzealand
Level:
2
Curriculum info:
Key Competencies:
Keywords:
Description of task:
Task: Make observations from a photograph, identify potential environmental problems giving reasons, decide which problem is the most important, and give reasons for the choice. Assessment focus: (1) observation, and (2) identifying and prioritising cause and effect relationships.
Curriculum Links:
Science capabilities
The capabilities focus is brought about by the conversations you have and the questions you ask.
The capabilities focus is brought about by the conversations you have and the questions you ask.
Capability: Gather and interpret data
This resource provides opportunities to discuss:
This resource provides opportunities to discuss:
- how scientists look very carefully, and describe exactly what they see.
- how our science understandings help us explain what we observe.
Capability: Engage with science
This resource provides opportunities to discuss risk, how likely it is for events to happen, and which are most important to manage.
Science capabilities:
Answers/responses:
| What to look for | |
| a) | Students notice the main features, e.g., details of the lamb and the surroundings (grass, stones, etc.). |
| b) | Students predict a problem or problems that being in this paddock might have on the lamb, e.g., problems caused by limited amount of grass, stones, etc. |
| c) |
Students recognise the danger to lambs to lack of access to sufficient food. More advanced thinking: Students talk about issues for the land if stock isn't managed properly. See Diagnostic and formative information for more details.
Students can assess how severe and how likely the risk they suggest is.
|
Teaching and learning:
The key ideas that are covered in this task are:
| Nature of science: Participating and contributing | Science knowledge |
| When making decisions about environmental issues, it is important to ask questions such as, “What could happen if …..” | Any event affects the environment and what lives there. |
Why are the ideas in this assessment task important for students to learn?
In making sound decisions about the environment and what lives in it, we need to be aware that all changes have a flow on effect to the environment itself and what lives there. Considering what effects an event might have, and deciding how likely and how serious the effects might be, assists decision-making about managing risk.
Noticing is an important prerequisite for making decisions. Students need to be aware of the different elements within any environment before they can think about how these things impact on each other. Noticing what is missing is also important.
Diagnostic and formative information:
Based on a sample of 8 Year 4 students.
Question a): Noticing
Trial students noticed:
Trial students noticed:
- features of the lamb (e.g., it still has a tail, it isn't very fat, it has a woolly tuft on its head, it has bare ears, black hooves, etc.)
- features of the paddock (e.g., lots of stones, very short grass, not a lot of grass).
They were more likely to focus on the lamb, and had to be prompted to look at the surrounds, but once they did they described details that were relevant to the lamb's survival.
None mentioned that they could not see a mother sheep.
Question b): Identifying problems
The trial students all identified the lack of grass being a problem, because it meant that the lamb would be hungry or might die.
Some students thought the stones could be a problem because the lamb might hurt itself on them.
Question c): Which is the worst problem?
Some students thought the stones could be a problem because the lamb might hurt itself on them.
Question c): Which is the worst problem?
The problem identified as the worst by all trial students was that the lamb might die from lack of grass. One student mentioned that lack of water might contribute to the fate of the lamb.
- Some students said that it was likely that the farmer would move it to a place where there was more food, or provide supplementary food such as hay. These students showed an awareness that the risk could be managed.
- Students with a farming background showed an awareness that sufficient food at this stage was a short-lived advantage, because once fattened the lamb would be butchered for meat. These students demonstrated they were able to identify long-term possibilities.
- No students suggested that the lamb might get milk from its mother.
-
No students talked about the effects of stock grazing on the grass, so they did not consider any environmental impacts of farming.
Next steps:
Close observation is an important skill to develop in science and is an aspect of Capability 1: Gather and interpret data. Noticing what is there is an important first step that may help students think about likely impacts of particular actions or events.
- In this activity, students should be able to observe the photograph closely and give detailed descriptions of what they see. Students may need practice with this. Encourage students to carefully describe what they see, rather than just label it. For example, if students say they can see a lamb, ask, “What does it look like? What is it doing? What sort of place is it in?”
- The stimulus for this resource is very focused on the lamb. Get students to compare this photo with the one for Cattle, which takes a more panoramic view. Ask, " What is missing from the lamb photograph that is shown in the cattle one?" Then ask them what questions they could ask about the wider picture of the lamb's environment that would help them think about problems for the lamb living there; e.g., Does the whole area look like this or is it just a small part? What else is in this environment? Is it part of a paddock? Is the lamb by itself or are there other sheep/lambs around?".
Science knowledge.
If students are to make accurate predictions of likely consequences they also need knowledge about the particular context. In this context, finding out about what lambs need to survive, what grass needs to grow, and farmers' role in managing these, helps students to better assess risks.
Vocabulary
Students need the language to explain cause and effect relationships. Asking “Why do you think that?” can encourage students to form better explanations.
To be able to make informed decisions about environmental issues, students need to develop a sense of probability and risk. One strategy could be to get students to brainstorm all possible consequences, encouraging students to be as creative as they can, and then get the class to debate which are the most likely scenarios and explain why. The class could also debate which would be the most damaging scenarios. Are there any scenarios that appear near the top of both lists? A scenario that is both likely and damaging is serious. Science in the real world is rarely “black and white” and the ability to weigh up and consider various alternatives is an important skill for students to develop.
Key Competency: Thinking
This task provides opportunities for students to think at a “systems level”, an important skill to science and the environment.
This task provides opportunities for students to think at a “systems level”, an important skill to science and the environment.
Before they can begin to consider how a particular action or event will affect a system they need some understanding of the individual parts of that system. The lamb, the grass, stones, weather and the farmer could be regarded as parts of a system in this context.
Discussing "what might happen if" particular scenarios are played out can support students to start developing systems thinking.. Students need to think about the scenarios both immediately and into the future, Some examples of "what if" questions in this context are:
Discussing "what might happen if" particular scenarios are played out can support students to start developing systems thinking.. Students need to think about the scenarios both immediately and into the future, Some examples of "what if" questions in this context are:
- What might happen if it rains/ there is a drought?
- What might happen if the farmer shifts the lamb to another paddock? (Consider effects on both the lamb and the paddock.)
- What might happen if the lamb's mother is nearby?
Provide opportunities to discuss "what if" questions in a variety of contexts.
Cause and effect relationships can be explored in many different contexts.
The following table shows Building Science Concepts books that have a focus on cause and effect.
The following table shows Building Science Concepts books that have a focus on cause and effect.
| Living World | Environment | Other |
|
3 Birds 6 Soil animals 21 Life between the tides 22 Tidal communities 53 Moulds and fungi |
1 Waterways 2 Weathering and erosion 12 Volcanoes 40 Earthquakes 43 Spring 44 Spring is a season 50 Storms 52 The land changes |
8 The Moon 9 Shadows 16 Sand, salt and jelly crystals 23 Fresh food 24 Preserving food 32 Introducing metals 33 Working with metals 34 Parachutes 37 Floating and sinking 38 Understanding buoyancy 42 Marbles 46 Keeping warm 47 Insulation 56 Bread 57 Eggs 58 Ice 59 Bikes |
Similar ARB resources in other contexts: