The Learning Cycle Model of a Science Lesson

First, I want to point out that the following is not based on research. This essay is based on the
analysis of my own teaching, reading, and experiences with students and colleagues.
Secondly, a premise. As scientists and as science teachers we often deal with models of physical
systems. We understand that each model has strengths, weaknesses, and will most likely change
over time. I would like you to think of the following model of a science lesson in the same open
way you might think of the Ideal Gas Law. Thus, I present this model to you realizing that it is
neither perfect nor static.
A well-known model of science teaching and learning is called the The Learning Cycle or by
an alternative model is called The Five Es model. Robert Karplus wrote the first reference to
this as part of the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS) in the 1960s.

The Components of the Learning Cycle Model

of a Science Lesson
COMPONENT 1.
COMPONENT 2.
COMPONENT 3.
COMPONENT 4.
COMPONENT 5.

Explore

ENGAGE - "WOW"
EXPLORE - "Activity"
EXPLAIN - "Link to other concepts"
EXTEND, ELABORATE - "Apply Learning"
EVALUATE - "Feedback"

Explain

Extend

Engage

Engage

Evaluate
Figure #1 Learning Cycle Model of a Science Lesson
1.

ENGAGE is the component of the lesson during which the teacher tries to get the
attention and interest of the student (i.e., "get them in the tent" so to speak.) This can
often be done with a demonstration of a discrepant event. One such event is to fill a few
identical glass bottles with varying amounts of water. Label the bottles A, B, C, D, etc. as
the amount of water in the bottles increases.
If you blow across the mouth of the bottles from A to B and so on, the pitch gets higher.
If you hit the glass bottles in the same order, the pitch gets lower. For many, this is

Jim Nelson, University High School, Orange County Public Schools nelsonjh@ix.netcom.com

counter intuitive, and thus a discrepant event. The goal of the demonstration is not to
explain rather it is to pique the students interest.
There are many examples of this type of demonstration. I think it is the most powerful
instructional use of a demonstration. I have come to realize that demonstrations typically
do not teach. Often students enjoy a demonstration, but as a result of viewing a
demonstration students do not necessary learn new concepts. The second use of a
demonstration is to review what is already known, and thereby help to fix the lesson in
the mind. When reading the professional literature, I am constantly looking for ideas for
this type of discrepant event demonstration.
2.

EXPLORE is the second component of the lesson, and is often a laboratory activity that
a team of students do. For example measure the depth of the water and the pitch
electronically and look for a mathematical relationship. The teacher acts as a guide, but
permits students to explore and find answers to questions that have been raised. To
accomplish this the teacher often selects among three strategies.
A.
answering the students question,
B.
pointing the student in a particular direction, or
C.
asking the right question to help the student decide how to proceed.
This skill comes with experience. As a young teacher, I delighted in providing the
answer. It was years before I realized that this was great for my ego, but often clipped the
learning wing of my students. Eventually I was able to support my ego just as well by
realizing I was a better teacher when I encouraged the students to seek their own answers.
Elsewhere I had tried to list the defining characteristics of a laboratory activity1.

3.

EXPLAIN is the component of the lesson during which the teacher leads the student
toward connecting the results of the activity and/or tropic to other topics already
understood (i.e., Making sense of the activity.) Here the lecture/discussion format plays
an active role in order to take advantage of the teacher's knowledge and experience. This
is the time when teachers share their insights with the students by asking probing
questions that allow students to move toward personal understanding and scientifically
accepted explanations. In the quest for hands-on science, it is a temptation to omit this
component, but science lessons must also be minds-on.
Here is a delightful quote from DeGraffs School-Room Guide2
Definitions should be very sparingly introduced, and never in the first
stages of a subject. If given at all, they should sum up knowledge already
attained. They should be as brief as possible and should be carefully
prepared for by a process at once inductive and objective. . . . In every
stage of the lessons, with the exception of a few indispensable definitions,

CharacteristicsofaLaboratoryActivity,FloridaScienceTeachers,J.Nelson,Fall1992
DeGraffSchoolRoomGuide,Page324,Davis,Bardeen&CO.,Publishers,Syracuse,NY,K8,1878

Jim Nelson, University High School, Orange County Public Schools nelsonjh@ix.netcom.com

the language used by the pupil should be entirely his own, and all set
forms of words should be carefully avoided.
DeGraffs School-Room Guide, 1878
The emphasis here is to let the definitions and other concepts arise out of the experience
rather than from the reading. Although everything cannot be learned in this manner, a
science lesson is an excellent vehicle for students to gain experience at constructing their
own understanding. Such efforts also helps students evaluate what they learn from
indirect experiences such as reading.
My interpretation of set forms of words is standard or book definitions as opposed to
definitions fabricated by the students.
4.

EXTEND is the component of the lesson during which students are engaged in
applications of the knowledge gained. Here the creative ability of the student becomes
important. During this component the student could invent a musical instrument or
devise a method of determining the amount of water in a glass container by measuring
the pitch. As a teacher, I developed the concept of the EXTRA for each of the
laboratory activities we did. I have expanded on this in Role of the Laboratory in
Introductory Physics3 that is available from AAPT. The expectation was that the student
would develop the question, the experimental procedure, and find the answer. To be sure,
I often had to help make suggestions to some students, and at times, the students
trivialized the process. For example the question was, How would this laboratory
activity turn out underwater? However, when students visited me after graduation, this
was an aspect of the course that seemed to be important and memorable for them.

5.

EVALUATE is not only an ongoing component of the lesson, but also an important
component during which the student reflects on the topic a final time. As a young
teacher, I looked at evaluation as only an end of unit pencil and paper test. It was a long
time before I realized that assessment could be ongoing, and involve many aspect (e.g.,
homework assignments, in class assignments, written laboratory reports, oral laboratory
reports, projects, posters presentations, in class discussions, public presentations, pencil
& paper, poster, model, written reports etc.) I now understand that evaluation can and
should take many forms and that as the teacher I am responsible for helping students see
the shortcomings in their understanding.
In the best scenario, the evaluation will lead to a new topic, and a new ENGAGE. And
on we go. Thus the phrase, Learning Cycle. See Figure #1 above.

Clearly, this model is not appropriate for every science lesson, and every lesson does not have
the full complement of all five components. Often one or more of the components is missing;
nevertheless, this model does give reasonable, realistic and usually reachable characteristics of a
science lesson, and it is a useful model for teachers to consider.
3

RoleoftheLaboratoryinIntroductoryPhysics,AmericanAssociationofPhysicsTeachers,1995,J.Nelson,ISBN
091785361X

Jim Nelson, University High School, Orange County Public Schools nelsonjh@ix.netcom.com

Regardless of the age of the student, the ENGAGE component of the lesson seems to be very
important. This is what provides motivation for the students. Did it work for you? Having an
interesting and engaging start for the lesson will get the student started, and helps to keep the
student moving forward through the remaining components of the lesson. In a sense, the
ENGAGE component of the lesson provides the inertia to keep going.
For students is grades K-5 (and perhaps grades 6-8) it may be appropriate to omit or simplify the
EXPLAIN component of the lesson. This component of the lesson requires connecting the
present lessons concepts to previous lessons and/or concepts held by the student. However,
younger students many not have the experiences or maturity to deal with a thorough EXPLAIN
component of the lesson in an abstract way. Simple, concrete, and yet not incorrect explanation
of empirical rules may be enough at an early age.
Students may be taught to mouth the words, but this has little to do with understanding the
meaning of the words. When my daughter, Lisa, was very young, I taught her to say, All
objects in the universe attract each other with a force that is proportional to the product of their
mass, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers of mass.
She would enjoy saying this for company, but I was never under the illusion that she understood
the meaning of the words.
Consider for example doing activities on magnets, a K-5 student is generally able to deal with
the pattern of likes poles push apart and unlike poles pull together, but would not be expected to
develop an explanation of this based on magnetic domains. They could certainly not be expected
to understand or develop an explanation based on electron spin. In a similar manner, a K-5
student might develop rules for attraction and repulsion of charged objects, but would not be
expected to explain this in terms of small charged particles residing on the charged objects.
When I did these activities with some teachers in a workshop they were very good at stating the
rule, Likes Repel and Opposites Attract, but they often confused magnetic and electric effects.
In addition some teachers where not able to articulate, what is it that is alike or opposite? They
were not able to develop the word for charge or to understand what it means to be charged.
When asked, Like what? they typically responded with the word force. They did not see at
first that this was essentially a redundant statement. This motivated me to develop a set of
lessons4 in which the teachers were given either a + or a - sign and asked to follow the,
Likes Repel and Opposites Attract rule. Varying the relative number of + and - led to
some interesting discussion and understanding of the concept of a charged object.
For beginning teachers, it is important that they are well founded in scientific fundamentals
before they reach the classroom. Like a physician, teachers should do no harm to the
patient/student. It is very difficult to undo the lessons of youth. Preservice education of
teachers is such an important job that it should not be left to a single department, but should be a
joint responsibility of the Arts and Science and the Education Departments of universities that
prepare future teachers.

PTRA,KarenBouffardgavemethisdelightfulsuggestion.

Jim Nelson, University High School, Orange County Public Schools nelsonjh@ix.netcom.com

On the other hand, for graduate students the ENGAGE component of the lesson may be less
important. Hopefully the students have set themselves on a path of study based on interest and a
future goal. For these students the Explain and Extend components of the lesson are most likely
paramount. They have learned a great deal and connecting concepts together is of primary
importance.
Although EVALUATION is listed as the finally component. It should be blended into all the
other components, and thus it is shown as underlying the entire model in Figure #1 above.
EVALUATION may be thought of as an all-pervasive and constant process.

Jim Nelson, University High School, Orange County Public Schools nelsonjh@ix.netcom.com