Do The Fun Stuff First

If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to ask for your participation in a learning demonstration.  I’m going to ask you to spend six minutes learning about two different fundamental science topics I recently taught to my sixth graders.  Each learning experience consists of two short videos on the same topic.  Watching them will help me illustrate one of the biggest breakthroughs I've ever made in my teaching practice - one that has made my science class both more effective and much, much​ more fun.
​

​Lesson #1 - The Coriolis Effect

​First watch this:

Then watch this:

Lesson #2 - Convection Currents

​First watch this:

Then watch this:

After six minutes, which of the two topics do you feel more prepared to learn going forward?

I’d be willing to bet the answer is convection currents (lesson #2), and it probably isn’t even close.  Am I right?

The reason for this isn’t a matter of the quality of the videos you saw.  All four videos are well made, have thousands of views, are at the top of the list when you search for their topic, and come from channels I use with my class all the time.  The difference in your learning in this brief experiment wasn’t a matter of the quality of the teaching you received.

The difference was in the order.

Here’s what was going on in your brain during this sequence:​

In my planning, I casually call this “do the fun stuff first.”  In the official educational jargon, it is called “explore before explain.”  Adhering to it really works wonders for learning.

Before I learned this, I used to plan like this:

1. Teach the concepts and vocabulary as carefully as possible
2. Do labs, simulations, and other hands-on demonstration if time allows

Now I plan like this:

1. Do labs simulations, and other hands-on activities
2. Teach concepts and vocabulary by referring back to #1.

I’m sure we can all look back on science labs we followed step-by-step, did perfectly, had fun, and never learned a single thing from.  Labs, demonstrations, and simulations are much better suited for introducing science than for reinforcing it.  They're great for exploring, but not so great for explaining.  Having those experiences first, however, give students an anchor for further learning later.

What’s particularly great is that this not only yields far better results, it also assures that we have more fun!  Labs, demonstrations, and simulations are what kids look forward to in science.  Doing them first means we do more of them and they have a bigger impact on meaningful learning.

This past week, my class learned about unequal heat transfer.  Following the “do the fun stuff first” sequencing, we started with a lab/investigation on Monday:

On Tuesday, I wasn’t with the class, so I made them a video transitioning from the investigation (explore) to the vocabulary and content (explain):
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On Wednesday, we did a tough day of vocabulary and concept attainment.
​

On Thursday, we planned further investigations based on the new knowledge.
​

Finally, we’ll finish next week with connecting this concept to the formation of wind in the atmosphere.

Organizing it this way makes the hands-on activities introductory explorations of concepts rather than rigid applications of them.  They also give students an anchor to learn vocabulary.  Most of the time, when I teach students new science vocabulary, I’m just naming it.  “Remember in yesterday’s activity how the heat lamp warmed the sand and water without touching it? That’s called radiation.” 

“You already know what it is, now here’s what it’s called.”

One simple switch for better learning and a great classroom culture.  Just change the order.  Investigations, hands-on activities, simulations, put them at the beginning.  

Do the fun stuff first.

These are the slides from the presentation of this post on 6/10/24

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