Water Play as a Tool for Learning: Exploring the Impact of Pedagogy on Maths and Science

This article explores the impact of pedagogy associated with water play and its role in clearing certain principles of maths and science. It discusses the three contexts of water play and how they can be used to promote learning. The article also covers the importance of observation and formative assessment in the teaching exercise.

Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Development of the Contexts dependent on the water as the base of learning..........................4
Context 1................................................................................................................................4
Context 2................................................................................................................................5
Learning Tray for Sinking and Floating properties............................................................5
Context 3................................................................................................................................6
Responsive Pedagogy of the three contexts in a nutshell..........................................................7
Context 1................................................................................................................................7
Context 2................................................................................................................................8
Context 3................................................................................................................................9
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................11

1.
Introduction
Every child is curious about the world around him. He is constantly exploring new elements
and adding them into his memory. Psychologists across the world laid emphasis on the fact
that the learning capacity of a child is higher in comparison with an adult. However, it is
difficult for them to focus on certain subjects because they are unfamiliar with them. An
intentional focus imbibed with water play activities can become a great way to satiate the
quest of the kids. This eternal quest is described by Piaget where he says “kids want to find
out about the world and interaction with water creates the concept of a small world within the
world for them (Whiteboard, 2012, p. 20).
Whenever any teacher apply this wisdom of the procurement of tasks and the development of
curriculum into lesson charts and pedagogy associated with the teaching of science and maths
then it brings them closer to an interesting hypothesis. This hypothesis says that "can they
introduce certain practical aspects in the pedagogy of scientific lessons to add a new flair in
the learning?
While dealing with subjects like Mathematics and science, one has to make sure that they are
covering the practical aspects of the subjects predominantly. Water play as a tool to explore
the practical side of certain mathematical and scientific concepts like Volume, capacity, area,
buoyancy, and properties of light is an effective medium (Milford, 2015).
In order to serve and verify the truth behind the hypothesis and surrounding streams of
knowledge, the assignment of exploring the impact of pedagogy associated with the “water
play” and their “role in clearing certain principles of maths and science is administered.
Educationalist Albert Bandura expressed about the importance of “Modelling of the wisdom”

and” learning while observing (Slevit, 2017) .” While imploring “Water Play” as the tool of
“intentional focus” any reader will explore some of his notes and figure out three contexts.
The selection of the water as a tool for learning is an idea derived with the help of the
cognitive development theories developed by Piaget (Bashrin, 2015). His water tests are an
effective way to consume water as a tool to play way learning among the kids (Ritter, 2017).
Development of the Contexts dependent on the water as the base of learning
According to Piaget young children thinks in an entirely different manner when anyone
compare them with pre-schoolers (Ahmad, 2016, p. 72)." For them, it is a journey from a
known destination to an unknown destination of knowledge and information. When someone
deal with kids and toddlers, this fundamental become even more important because the world
view of kids is not widespread enough. Water serves as day to day need for the kids they
identify it very thoroughly. This familiarity of water with the kids allows us to promote it to
the next level where it can become a tool for scientific and mathematical learning
(Hammond, 2017). In order to explore certain topics, anyone can use three contexts based on
the activities associated with the water.
Context 1
Water’s interaction with flour can be utilized to add a sense of creativity among the kids.
They can be given the assignment to make wet flour toys. They can also pour water in
various shapes and sizes. The interaction with the flour and water can help them in exploring
sensory pursuits. (Lillard, 2011). This exercise can be divided into two processes; in the first
step, a teacher will give them water and flour to mix. A teacher will share an objective that
they need to make certain shapes of flour, the first lesson that they will learn here is related
with the change in the properties of flour after its interaction with the water. It will give them
an idea that how matters change their properties (Whiteboard, 2012). This exercise will also

benefit them with many aspects of play way learning like team building exercise, motor skills
and other features of value play where the kids face a challenging environment (Miller,
2015). It will also help them in the department of the EYLF development. When they will
create some shapes with the help of flour. It will help them in understanding more about
sensory perceptions.
Context 2
Flour and water to explore the sense of measurement from a physical point of view and counting
them to support the numeracy
In the second context, teacher will allow a quantity of flour to each of the participants and tell
them to mix it with flour and then make five shapes of equal size (Cline, 2016). This exercise
will give them a sense of measurement. It will help them in the development of numeracy,
first, they need to count the objects for a correct answer. Second, they will learn about the
division of a mound into particles. Third, they will learn the basics of adding and subtracting.
This exercise will also introduce them to the dimensions associated with a certain volume.
They will come to know about the equity of shape and size and its association with the
corresponding volumes (Danneman, 2017). This exercise will also give them a few lessons
about measuring the objects and compare them on the merits of the volume and size. The
efforts that they will make in order to equalize the size will help them further when they will
learn to anticipate the results prior to the beginning of a task.
Context 3
Learning Tray for keeping similar sized flour and water made objects
In this activity, a teacher can arrange a few trays, each corresponding to a different size of an
object made with the help of water and flour. He can carry out this activity in two phases. In
the first phase of the activity, teacher will tell the kids to make certain flour mounds of
different sizes and keep them in the right tray (Hammond, 2017). Once they will arrange all

the flour mounds in the corresponding tray then teacher will tell the kids to fill the trays up to
the brim with water. After it, he will tell them to remove the mounds from the tray and empty
the trays in different bottles. The amount of water will be different in every vessel. With the
help of this exercise, he will tell them about the concept of the displacement of the water.
(Cline, 2016).
The performance of the kids can be judged on the merits of Scientific Indicators, this activity
will help the kids in understanding the concept of weight, hollowness and its role in buoyancy
(Gross, 2012).
Context 3
In the third context, class will need a weighing scale, flour, and two vessels. In the first step,
teacher will fill a vessel with water and place it on one side of the weighing scales (Gross,
2012). After it, he will put an empty vessel on the other side of the scale and tell the kids to
fill it with an equal amount of flour so that the weighing scale found a balance. This exercise
will help the kids in understanding the concept of weight and relative density between
different forms of the matter. This exercise will help them in co-relating, weight (Numeracy)
with density (scientific indicator) and shape (EYLF). It is a versatile activity which is slightly
complex in nature (Hammond, 2017).
After striking the balance he will tell the kids to fill the second vessel with water. The weight
of the water and the flour will bow down the scale once again. In this step, the kids will pour
water in the first vessel and try to equate the weight (Nilsson, 2016). With the help of this
exercise, a teacher can gain two objectives, first, he will introduce the kids with the concept
of measurements and second, he will tell them that measurements belonging to different types
of matters can be equated (Butcher, 2016). This activity will also support their visual sensory
perceptions where they will be able to judge the volume of any shape ahead of its shape. This

exercise has the potential to open a new window of learning in the kids, where they will be
able to compare and quantify two different mediums (Zosh, 2016). This activity will
certainly present a challenging environment in front of them where they will be able to learn
a few things about the application of their knowledge in real-world conditions (McLean,
2017).
Responsive Pedagogy of the three contexts in a nut-shell
Context one is very effective to explore the power of cognitive learning and learning by
observation or apparent learning. For instance, kids can watch each other and follow the steps
of the leaders (Rice, 2014). In general most of the water play activities give an opportunity to
the teachers where they can exercise modeling and actively participate in the process of
question-solving. It allows the kids to ask certain questions in the form of an open inquiry. In
the introduction section of this assignment the author talked about the distinctive nature of
education it serves as a journey from a known to an unknown destination. Context one and
other water play activities expand the horizons of a kid because they can ask questions more
vividly because of a familiarization level attached to the water as an integral part of their
identifiable world (Wright, 2016).
All the activities also promote the opportunity of applying the technique of scaffolding. A
teacher can directly involve himself in the activity by practically demonstrating the right
method. He can motivate the kid to repeat the act. While doing it he can tell him about the
numeracy based knowledge and other aspects of the knowledge (Worth, 2011).
The concept of the “Hundred Languages” can also be applied to Context one. Context one
presents an opportunity in front of the kids where they can run their imagination wild with an
intention to explore the creative world. Ideally, a teacher has to keep a gauge on the kid in an
observational fashion and sometimes try to restrict them if they are going tangent from the

purpose of the lessons (Danneman, 2017). The practice of a hundred languages can change
the response pattern of the kids. This is the time when the strategy of restrictive control can
be practiced. While dealing with a pre-school kid, it is important to step into his or her shoes
and bring him back into the class if he is wandering. As a teacher, it is essential for an
individual to throw away certain questions from time to time. Sometimes these questions can
become a tool to restrict the wandering of the thoughts of a kid (Cline, 2016).
The concept of "content meaning interpretation" and "interpersonal meaning interpretations"
is an important aspect. Over-familiarity with water and flour can restrict the thought process
of the students and bring down the curve of learning. This is where a teacher can play the role
of a mediator and keep a check on the learning process. This interpersonal meaning
interpretation can also give rise to a gap in learning. After the identification of the gaps in the
learning, a teacher can come up with supplementary lessons or experiments to complete the
circle of knowledge for a kid (Hammond, 2017).
The settings of the place where they are conducting this class are very important; a teacher
should try to create the environment of a research place. It is his responsibility to arrange and
provide sufficient amount of learning materials and other equipment that are essential for
experimentation and learning. Ideally, he can create an ambiance where the kids may feel that
are working in a scientific lab. In general, the teachers forget about two very important
questions associated with the psychology of a kid (Lillard, 2011). They always want to know
why they are learning any particular topic and how a teacher need to present it so that he can
get positive motivation. The setting of a research lab will help them in developing serious
learning attitudes and help them in grasping the knowledge from an objective point of view
when they will attend such type of classes in the future. A lab like an environment also allows
a teacher to practice the technique of show and tell. When they study something in a book
then it can sometimes seem like a burden, the show and tell technique always has this

potential to convert a dull classroom into a lively classroom and add some elements play way
learning into it.
The third exercise involves an exercise where the kids are required to go for visual modeling.
Here they are required to make some choices after calculating a few things on different
scientific manner. One of the most important aspects of Pre-school learning is not associated
with direct learning of the subjects. It is more about the development of a learning attitude in
an individual. The third context of our water play plan covers this quest of inflicting a
learning attitude with great detailing this modeling can help a kid in storing the information
in the form a picture and pictorial memory always leaves a lasting impact (Slevit, 2017).
A supervisor can also define a role for the teacher in all the three contexts he has to act as a
facilitator by providing the right equipment, tools, and toys. He can act as a mediator to
introduce some techniques like answer first and question later. Finally, he can act as an
omnipresent observer and help the kids in solving the quests for best results in the term of
education and wisdom (Worth, 2011).
Observation and Formative assessment
Observation and formative assessment is an integral part of the teaching exercise. it can
become difficult for a teacher to keep a record of the observations that he made during a
water play activity. While going for a lesson with notes and other techniques, a teacher can
follow a checklist. However, the dynamic nature of the water play activity can sometimes
make it difficult for a teacher to collect notes about the resultants of each activity over the
kids (Zosh, 2016).
Documentation of the performance can be done by jotting down a chart of learning
objectives. A teacher can utilize his block time to prepare a chart or a checklist. He can divide

all the three exercises into three parts. In the first part he can demonstrate the activity, in the
second part he can involve in the act of the modeling and participate with the kids to fulfill
various learning objectives. All three contexts also leave scope for the final results. These
results can be considered as the assessment results (Bento, 2017).
In general practice, a teacher plays the role of a facilitator during the activity and then checks
the result to award the grades. Exercises related to water play are dynamic in nature. The
technique of observation formative assessment can be very useful here. The process of
documenting the documentation can create records for the other teachers to access the
performance of the kids prior to future activities.
In order to introduce a methodology for the exercise of observation and formative
assessment, a teacher has to think about the synchronization of the processes that he is
handling. It is very important for them to understand the dynamic nature of water flour
activities. All three activities correspond to multiple skills. Physics, science and the traits of
EYLF go hand in hand. It means while going for a formative assessment a teacher has to
keep a check on the multiple aspects of the growth and development. Kids are co-relating two
or three different parameters in a single exercise. Apart from it, a playground like an
environment is also giving them an opportunity to explore others and learn from their models
as well. A teacher can adopt two different methods here. The first method is the method of
the learning response logs and the second method is the method of visual assessments. The
results of visual assessment may vary from student to student. The results of the learning
response logs can be presented in the form of a table.
The method of the learning response logs can be utilized in the context three, a teacher can
come up with a list where he will jot down the desired objectives. The filling of these logs
will take place in three steps. In the first step, the teacher will mark his observations in a

column under the title of response. It will help him in finding out the fact that the kid is well
aware of the objective. In the second step, the teacher will once again check the performance
of the kid and mark the areas of the difficulty. For instance, in the third context, the motor
skills of a kid can be an area, they might find it difficult to pour the right amount of water in
the right trays placed on the weighing scale. The third area is the area of the final assessment
where they will examine the results.
Context one promotes the concept of the visual assessment. Here a teacher can become a
partner in the discovery. Where he can raise a question related to the shapes and their sizes.
After setting up a single example he can tell the kids to complete the rest on their own.
The exercise of the observation and formative assessment will go hand in hand in this case.
While dealing with the pre-school kids a teacher should never forget about the attention span
of these kids. Most of these kids follow “touch it once” principle. Adults and teenagers can
follow the “on and off” models, where they can shift their focus back on any issue. Kids often
find it difficult, this is why it is important to understand and resolve their queries in a single
step.
In the case of the context that the author have mentioned in this assignment, the exercise of
the formative assessment will follow the exercise of the observation. It also means that a
teacher has to spend some quality time with every student during the classroom. The findings
of the logs can be utilized during the course of awarding the grades to the students.

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