How was it used?

I used the Convection Currents animation to encourage year 10 pupils to talk about Physics in creative ways.

The animation shows particles moving around a room heated by a radiator. As they move towards the radiator the particles gain kinetic energy and expand, so they rise. They will then fall to the ground when their energy is transferred as they move away from the source of heat energy (the radiator). I use this resource without the running commentary and with a toy microphone I go around the class pretending the students are the “Particles” family and that they are in a Talk Show. I then pause the animation in different places, e.g. when the particles are at their lowest energy, and ask individual members of the class (e.g. Mr Particle) to explain what they went through at that particular time of their life. I might even interview “Mr Radiator” and ask him questions like: “Why did you wear a white coat and not a black one? Wouldn’t it make it easier for these poor particles, if you had a black coat?...”

Since the children will have to think outside the box to fit the part of the members of a family, they will respond in ways that could surprise their teacher. In fact, getting in the part usually helps students to learn the concept of convection currents in a more memorable way, whilst developing Thinking, Communication and Literacy Skills.

However, I wouldn’t start convection with this animation, but with more conventional demonstrations, like the box with double chimney glass, the burning tea bag, etc...

Impact and Outcomes

• This activity helped my pupils to visualize how particles move in a convection current and at the same time to express themselves and think about Physics in creative ways. This developed Literacy Skills in the process.
• The whole setting scene of a Talk Show was helpful to engage students who normally would find Physics more difficult, because they were learning about the subject in ways that are closer to their learning style, e.g. for some girls Drama was a great passion and they really responded positively to this approach.
• More able and talented pupils were able to use humour and sophisticated scientific explanations to consolidate their understanding of Convection Currents.
• This type of activity gave also opportunities for Peer Assesment and AfL. In fact, as the teacher was moving around the classroom interviewing different pupils, the learners were interacting with each other’s contributions in the responses they gave. For example, some pupils started their interview saying something like: “As Mr Particle said...”, or “Actually, unlike Mrs Particle, I think...”
• Using other hands on demonstrations before going into this animation was very effective, because it allowed the children to think of a model for themselves before providing one for them and discussing it. In this way, some learners underwent a process of metacognitive conflict which was resolved through the Talk Show, and again this consolidated their understanding and confidence.

Learner Feedback

‘I have really enjoyed being Mrs Particles, because it helped me understand what was going on and the teacher’s questions as I explained my “life” at the bottom helped me see the misconceptions I had about convection!”

‘This was a cool activity and it was very funny to pretend to be part of a Talk Show. It was different from what we normally do in Science.’

Other Resources

I used the double chimney and food colouring in hot and cold water columns, like in this article.

Lesson Learnt

It is more effective, if you use a large toy microphone, as it makes the whole thing more childish and the children are more inclined to play along with you.

It can be quite difficult to lead the session if your pupils are not responsive at the beginning, so have some jokes ready and keep it humorous at all times, even if some children start misbehaving, or you could risk to lose momentum.