2 Methods and benefits of using groupwork

Mrs Vimala was teaching her class about floating and sinking, and wanted them to have a chance to predict which objects would float or sink before they tested their predictions in groups.

I have 43 children and only enough equipment for four groups, so I decided to teach the class in two halves. I hoped that by working with half the class (21 students) I could give them more time to talk, think and share ideas with their classmates.

While I did the floating and sinking activity with half the class, the other half did some research work in groups on another aspect of our topic using a sheet of information that I had prepared. They had to answer some questions and solve a problem that they wrote up in their books. I would look at this work when the whole class finished the floating and sinking activity.

I sorted out four sets of similar objects and called the first half of the class to the front half of the classroom while the others were working at the back.

At the front I divided the students into four groups, gave them their collection and asked them to predict the ‘floaters’ and ‘sinkers’ by filling in a sheet [see Resource 2]. I encouraged them to reach a consensus if possible, but if there was any disagreement they should put objects they were not sure of in the ‘not sure’ circle. As they discussed their ideas I went around the back half of the class and helped any students who needed support before returning to the front of the class and listening to the students talking about what floats. I only intervened if they were really confused, or I asked simple questions like ‘Why do you think that?’, so that they had to think more about why they think objects float or sink.

When all the groups had finished I gave them each a bowl of water [Figure 2]. I used old washing up bowls and a big empty tin, as we do not have much equipment in school. I give them five minutes to test their ideas and record their results by ticking those that did what they predicted and leaving the others unmarked. Out of all the objects they tested, the students suggested that a stone, a coin, a piece of concrete, pieces of wood, a piece of metal, a spoon, a pan, a dish, a feather, some paper and a pencil would sink.

Figure 2 Students predicting what will float or sink.

Next I asked the students to discuss in their groups why they thought things sank or floated. I listed their key ideas before I then asked them to take one object that sank and work out a way to make it float. After giving them time to discuss this, I ask for volunteers to come out and try to make their sinkers float. One student put his coin on a piece of wood that floated and the coin ‘floated’ because it was on the wood. I asked whether this was true floating, which prompted much discussion. For their homework I ask them to write their own ideas about why things floated or sank.

At the end of the session I was very pleased at how interested the students were and impressed at their level of thinking about why things float or sink. My next lesson will help the whole class clarify their ideas when they have all completed the task. What pleased me most was the way that some students who very rarely speak in whole class lessons participated much more in the smaller groups – and they had much to say.