Exploring Water Absorption with Innovative Teaching Tools: A Guide from Teacher Wang Dong
Wang Dong, a master’s student, is a first-level science teacher at Shiqi Central Primary School in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province. He won second place in the national primary and secondary school experimental teaching competition in 2015, first place in the Guangdong Province secondary school physics and primary school science teacher experimental operation and innovation skills competition in 2019, and the innovation experiment award in 2019, as well as first place in the Guangdong Province primary and secondary school young teacher teaching ability competition finals.
“Do All Papers Absorb Water?” is the content of the third unit, lesson 9 of the first-grade science textbook published by Guangdong Education Technology. The key difficulty of this lesson is to allow students to observe and compare the water absorption speed of different papers through experiments using pipettes or spray bottles. Through teaching practice, it was found that this teaching design took too long, the effects were not clearly distinguishable, lacked interest, and the experiments were not rigorous.
The innovative teaching tool for observing the speed of water absorption uses Arduino Nano as the core for custom tool development. It employs a water droplet sensor to accurately detect the water absorption of paper, and uses current indicators with lights and sound alarm modules to react when the paper’s absorption reaches a preset value, providing efficient and intuitive detection of the absorption speed of different papers. Additionally, it utilizes Mind+ to achieve real-time interaction between software and hardware, designed as a game interface to increase engagement.
Red ink, 4 different types of paper, tape, scissors, clips, acrylic board (or KT board)
Arduino expansion board; water droplet sensor; buzzer; RGB module; Dupont wire
Mixly, Mind+
Select several common types of paper for preliminary water absorption testing. Detect the sensitivity of the water droplet sensor and set the water quantity threshold that the sensor can detect.
Use Dupont wires to connect the Arduino expansion board, water droplet sensor, RGB module, and buzzer. Edit the program so that when the water droplet sensor detects a certain amount of water, it can send an electrical signal to the effectors RGB module and buzzer, which will light up and sound an alarm to indicate that a specific amount of water has been detected.
Left Image: Design of RGB module and buzzer
Right Image: Program written in Mind+
To enhance the fun of the experiment and stimulate students’ enthusiasm for learning, a fun game interface was created through programming. In the interface, four monkeys of different colors represent different types of paper. When a certain paper reaches the water absorption threshold, the corresponding monkey immediately crosses the finish line, displaying the time taken.
The entire teaching tool is designed in the shape of a colorful flower, with the RGB module and buzzer placed at the center of the flower. Students find the tool beautiful and cute, and they are curious about which flower will “bloom” first.
Overall Front View of the Teaching Tool
Step 1: Cut four equal-sized pieces of different paper, attaching each to the water droplet sensor, secured in place with clips and a fixing board.
Step 2: Pour the same volume of red ink into a cup.
Step 3: Place the water droplet sensor fixed on the horizontal rod into the slot and start the race of the four monkeys.
Step 4: Groups cooperate to observe the water absorption of the paper attached to the water droplet sensor while paying attention to the lighting of the RGB module and the buzzer alarm, recording data in real-time.
Step 5: Observe the order in which the monkeys cross the finish line and record their rankings and times.
Step 6: Draw conclusions from the experiment.
(1) When attaching the paper, ensure that it is secured with the fixing board and clips of the same size.
(2) The water droplet sensor must be placed in the same position on the horizontal board.
(3) When placing the water droplet sensor, keep it horizontal to ensure that different papers enter the red ink cup simultaneously, maintaining fairness in the experiment.
(4) Group roles should be clear, with each student responsible for a detection item, recording data promptly.
The custom teaching tool based on Arduino can quickly, accurately, and visually detect the water absorption speed of different papers. It achieves the expected operational and teaching effects. The innovations and advantages are summarized as follows:
(1) Efficient and precise, effectively overcoming key difficulties;
(2) Enhances students’ curiosity and desire for knowledge;
(3) Students show strong interest in exploration and high concentration, becoming more engaged;
(4) Fully mobilizes students’ coordination of eyes, hands, mouth, and brain, improving scientific inquiry abilities;
(5) Full cooperation within groups, more communication, and active participation of every group member;
(6) Students complete tasks quickly, with less time needed;
(7) Clear experimental effects and results;
(8) Students experience the completed inquiry process, enhancing confidence in scientific exploration;
(9) Teachers successfully achieve teaching objectives.
This issue’s review expert: Feng Yusheng
Senior Secondary School Teacher
Head of the Primary School Section of Zhongshan Education Research Institute
Primary Science Researcher at Zhongshan Education Research Institute
Vice Chairman of the Primary Science Education Professional Committee of Guangdong Province Education Society
Teacher Feng Yusheng:The water absorption experiment is the third teaching content of the third unit of the first-grade science textbook published by Guangdong Education Technology, primarily aimed at letting students understand that different papers absorb water differently and that different papers have different properties. Traditional experiments require students to select different papers themselves and spray or drip water on them, which poses challenges for first-grade students who are relatively inexperienced in hands-on activities: their motor skills are weaker, making it difficult to control the amount and speed of water sprayed or dripped, leading to unfair experimentation and unclear results. Teacher Wang’s innovative experiment uses a water droplet sensor to accurately detect the water absorption capacity of various papers, providing visual feedback through lights and sounds, making the experimental phenomena more apparent. By utilizing Mind+ for real-time interaction between software and hardware, a game interface is designed to increase the fun of the experiment and enhance students’ interest in learning science; the integrated experimental equipment simplifies the experiment, saving a lot of time, allowing students ample time for in-depth exploration of paper absorption; through comparative experiments, students master scientific thinking and realize the importance of fairness in exploratory experiments. Given the wide range of grades in primary school, teachers should pay attention to the characteristics of students in different grades when designing exploratory experiments, focusing on cultivating students’ scientific attitudes, literacy, and interest in learning science.
Compiled by: Wang Dong, Zhang Jianjie
Submission:[email protected]
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