Teaching Life Sciences

Scientific Process Skills

 Scientific Process Skills
 Formulating hypotheses (predict)
 Using time relationships

 Observation

 Communication

 Measurement

 Experimentation

 Classification
 Formulating Hypotheses

 Possible explanations for a particular

event or problem
 Informed guesses

 Hypotheses can be tested by means

of experiments
 Formulating Hypotheses -
Activity
 You enter your room in the dark, switch
on the light – nothing happens.
 Immediately you start thinking of possible
reasons.
– List some of these reasons.
 How would you go about testing these
hypotheses?
– What would you do first and why?
Formulating Hypotheses (e.g.)
 During a lesson don’t always provide the correct
answer – provide opportunities for learners to
find their own answers.
Question Opportunity
to find answer
What happens when a plant wilts? ?
Where do the drops on the outside of ?
a cold object come from?

Why does the torch not work when I ?

switch it on?
Why do beans not grow if we keep ?
them in the bags which we buy them
in?
 Time Relationships
 Learning to put events in order
 Making simple clocks
 Using time units such as the minute,
the week, the month, the year
 Telling the time
 Timing events
 Space and time are sometimes
closely related for example: an
object moving through space
 Observation
 Observation is more than just “seeing”
 Identify what is important from that which
is unimportant
 All senses should be involved when
observing – use the 5 senses

 People see many things but they do not

always observe, for example: they see
many birds but do they observe that
there are different kinds of birds e.g. how
they look differently.
 Communication

 Findings must be communicated

clearly
 Communicate by means of:
– Tables, graphs or histograms
– Drawings, diagrams or models
 Share ideas with others
 Real learning takes place ONLY when
the learner communicates new
understanding to the teacher or
friends
 Measurement
 We often need to compare things:
– Size of objects
– Time taken for certain events
– Areas, speed, weight, temperature,
volumes etc.
 Unitsof measurement – cm or kg,
only to be introduced to learners in
higher grades.
 Experimentation

 Not only scientists do experiments

 Experiment is to test by practical
investigation
 Ideas are tested by “trail and error”

 Encourage learners to design their

own experiments by asking leading
questions such as:
 Experimentation

How can we….

– find out that torch cells need to be
linked in a specific manner in order for a
current to flow?
– determine what soil type is best for
water retention?
– demonstrate that water has a thin
surface layer?
 Classification
 Recognize and identify similarities
and differences between objects
 Sort and arrange these objects

 Learn to recognize their properties

 Classify according to size, color,

shape, texture, smell and many
more.