Flipped Learning for Science Instruction - Softcover

Jonathan Bergmann was a classroom teacher for 24 years. He now works with teachers, schools and corporations to help them rethink educational practice. He co-founded the Flipped Learning Network and FlippedClass.com. He received the Presidential Award for Excellence for Math and Science Teaching in 2002.

Aaron Sams is an educational entrepreneur who co-founded the Flipped Learning Network and FlippedClass.com. He is adjunct professor at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and was a chemistry teacher in Colorado and California. He was awarded the 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching.

Chapter 4
flipping the lab
How many times have you asked students to do a pre-lab, and then on the day of the actual lab, had to spend most of the class time going over everything you wanted them to learn in the pre-lab? Have you been frustrated with your limited class time and wished your students had more time to conduct a lab experiment? Enter “Flipping the Lab.”
As science teachers, we know students never have enough time to finish their labs. Many science teachers have shortened class times, and this makes it difficult to fit in lab instructions, lab investigations, and then lab analysis in a typical class period. One way to deal with the time problem is to flip the pre-lab by creating a short video, which prepares students to start the experiment with little or no in-class direction from the teacher. To accomplish this, students watch a demonstration of the steps they will conduct during the experiment, and then conduct the experiment in class.
Flipping Lab techniques
One way to get more out of lab time is to have students watch videos about lab techniques beforehand. These videos are great for introducing students to some typical science practices, such as how to titrate, how to test the hardness of a rock, or how to use a scale. Note that many students will not have mastered techniques by just interacting with a video. This will simply be a way to introduce them to the technique with the intent that the students will develop the skill while using it in the lab. And, by using flipped videos to learn lab techniques, students will have more time in class to master the specific skill.
We created a video for teaching students how to use a volumetric pipet bulb. This skill is difficult for students to master, and it simply takes time. Having students watch it ahead of time allowed for more time in class to practice the skill. At first we had them practicing with water, and then eventually had them pipet chemicals for a variety of experiments. Using the instructional video gave students some basic background before attempting this difficult skill.
Flipping Lab safety
A good entry point to the flipped science classroom is to flip lab safety instruction at the beginning of the year. Jennifer Maze, a chemistry teacher in Colorado, starts the school year with a video showing her making several poor decisions in the lab. This humorous video illustrates to students not only the importance of lab safety, but also how to conduct oneself properly in the lab. Maze then follows this up with a typical lab safety quiz, which ensures that students truly understand the unique nature of safety in the science lab. An added benefit of flipping lab safety is that students who enroll in the class at any time after the beginning of the year can receive the same safety message as students who started the year in class.
student-Created Pre-Lab Videos
Another thing Maze does is to have students create pre-lab videos for other students. In her chemistry course, she has more than one level in the class at the same time. In each class, she has chemistry students and honors chemistry students. Typically, her honors students move at a faster pace through the content and are ready for labs earlier than some of her other students. One way she differentiates for her honors students is
to allow them to make a pre-lab video for the other students after they have completed a lab. She has found this to be very effective and motivating, both for her honors students and for those students who watch the pre-lab video later.
Record student experiments  and share with all students
Enoch Ng is a fifth grade science and math teacher in Singapore. He has 38 kids in a class and still is able to do labs. One thing he often does is have students conduct different experiments along the same theme and creates video summaries from each group. For example, his class was investigating factors that affect the rate of evaporation of water. Some groups explored heat, others wind, others surface area, and others the amount of dissolved particles. Students conducted different experiments to test these effects in small groups, and when they finished, Ng filmed quick summaries of each experiment for different factors. He then edited these summaries into one video and required students to watch the summary video. Although he did not have time or the resources for all students to do all of the experiments, students were required to know all of the factors that affected evaporation. This video was the key to making this requirement possible. Ng makes sure students explain not just what they did, but more importantly, how what they did led them to their conclusions. This is an excellent way to help students to think scientifically as they explain natural phenomena.
Have students Record  their experiments
Marc Seigel, a chemistry teacher in New Jersey, has his students document their own experiments on video. Not only does he have them film their processes in the lab, but he also requires the students to probe deeper into the topic. Students analyze the data, derive conclusions, and include their conclusions in the video. Seigel found that when students film themselves, the activity brings out their deeper thinking. He thinks it has to do with the public nature of the videos, as all students in his class will see the final products.