Talking Their Way Into Science

Why do the leaves change color? How did the moon begin? Why are blood veins different colors? Will we ever be able to live on another planet?

These are some of the questions that Karen Gallas, the author of Talking Their Way into Science, asks her first and second grade classes as an integral part of their science curriculum.  This book was required reading for one of my education classes last fall and a jumping off point to conduct a science talk with some neighborhood children.

As part of a class assignment, I asked three neighborhood kids to participate in four science talks, using questions from the book as examples.  Three students, 5th grader Helen, 4th grader John, and 4th grader Solomon, my next door neighbor, wanted to participate (I’ve changed the names for privacy).  Helen and John are siblings and attend Catholic school; Solomon attends public school.

What are Science talks?  Science talks are discussions, formally scheduled, where students inquire into general, open-ended questions together.  Ideally the focus of the talks is on how children respond to a question, not on answering correctly, or being right or certain.  The point is for children to co-construct their ideas, to take risks expressing themselves, to disagree and to learn how to respectfully listen to their peers.  Science talks are about acquiring a discourse.  A discourse is an ongoing conversation. Acquiring means to possess through one’s own efforts. Questions are often created by the children themselves.

The author started these talks because of her own inquisitive itch, “How do young children talk about science?” She wanted to, “explore the language children naturally used before they had had much exposure to ‘school science’ ”.  She found that all students are naturally equipped to engage in scientific inquiry and that unfortunately, conventional schools often train “those natural abilities out of children.”

I agree—from my experience with the children I observed, children are naturally curious and will entertain all possibilities for the natural processes they see.  At our first meeting, I really didn’t know what to expect. I was nervous because I hoped they would like the whole idea of it. They were nervous too as the siblings didn’t know Solomon and vice versa.  At first they looked at me more than one another.  “Oh no”, I thought, “they’re supposed to be looking at each other.”  I knew this was normal, after all I had asked them to come, what did I have in store for them anyway?  So when I noticed this again later from Solomon, I told him to ask his peers instead. 

I was excited to listen to what they said, to see how they would talk about the questions, and to see how they would speak to each other.  I asked them 2 questions at each session and noticed that sometimes when they paused for a while or showed blank stares, I would help them, re-explaining it or making connections with what I thought might be prior knowledge for them.  I noticed that it was challenging for me to remain the silent, observant, non-intervening teacher.  This is what Gallas says is the excruciating part for teachers; we have to learn to let children talk it out, disagree, and build ideas between each other, yet also spotting misconceptions and rectifying those.

Helen especially had tons to say about every question.  When I asked if they thought we will ever be able to live on another planet, they spoke about Mars, The Tower of Terror ride at Disney World, and string theory. 

Solomon said, “The only way to live on another planet in the future is if we make a big balloon of oxygen and transport it to another planet to live inside.”

Then I asked, “Could we live in a different galaxy?”

Helen stated confidently, “I bet we could live in another galaxy.  But I’m not sure if anyone wants to spend their entire life trying to find another galaxy.”

By the third meeting, I asked them how they liked these talks because I noticed that here it was, 10:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning and they looked bright eyed, and seemed to anticipate what question I would ask them next.  Would it be about planets, or plants or the color of their blood in their veins?  The siblings said that they enjoyed coming and they would otherwise be lounging at home in bed watching cartoons.  Helen noted that she kinda liked getting up early and her brother agreed.  Solomon said that he liked coming and his mother told me over and over how much he loved the talks and that he couldn’t wait to come back the following week. On the last day that I saw them, Solomon and I had a second talk, just he and I, about his mother who was very pregnant at the time. 

“Its twelve days before the baby comes out.” He drew a picture of the baby. “Yes the baby is a boy, [she showed me] the first amnio pictures and the baby looked a little bit blurry, and it was hard to tell what the baby was at all.  On the second picture [which] is called an ultrasound, on the second amio, the picture was clearer, and I could see the head as separate from the arm. And it’s definitely a boy.”

I was impressed with his vocabulary and with his interest in comparing the clarity between the pictures.  It was tremendously important for him to express these findings to me.

The experience of these talks shows me how people can learn from each other so passionately and so openly.  I am noticing how pre-occupied I can be with knowing information, being right, having the answers, having and exerting control.  But lately this has become so boring to me. When did I forget the joyful spark of being inquisitive?  I am grateful for noticing as this is the first step for me to act differently.

I can understand why some children may find science boring, if it’s just another textbook to read or they may not have ownership over the activities they’re engaged with, if they don’t talk about their questions and observations.  The process of talking about an idea in a focused way seems to be an effective method not only for acquiring familiarity with a discourse for children, sure,  but for us adults,  It keeps us continually curious in newness and listening to each other. Gallas emphasizes that through reading her transcriptions of the talks,  it’s the children’s voices that resonate with us, “The tremendous potential for complex thinking that they embody when spaces are made for them to act in concert…”