How does a candle burn?
One good example of open teaching is the
study of how candles burn (Theophel, 1995). To start
this practical activity students were given the
question ‘How does a candle work? Students were
given candles, asked to light them, and then asked to
observe and draw a candle flame. A class discussion
followed where students described a candle flame.
During the discussion the tutor gave the class no
direction or information, but used questioning to
make students observe the candles more closely and
to describe what they saw. Can you see anything
else? What about the wick? What about the wax?
Although students started out with rather simple
descriptions, by this questioning a more detailed
description began to be drawn out.