OuiSi · Science

Form and function

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Grades 3–5 Teaching 40 min Plus 4 to set out, 3 to clear Class any size Set any — OuiSi Nature is ideal Prep pick 12 cards per group you could guess a job for

set out 4′ Two words 6′ Sort by form 8′ Now sort by function 10′ Same job, different shape 11′ Close 5′ clear 3′

Goal: Children sort by what something looks like, re-sort the same cards by what it does, and find that two things can look nothing alike and still do the same job.
Materials: One OuiSi Photo-Card set. About twelve cards per group of four. Paper for the lists.

Grade 3: Both sorts, then close. One pair that share a job — about 29 min.
Grade 4: Add step 4, including how you would check — about 40 min.
Grade 5: Two different-looking pairs, and say which guess has more evidence behind it — the full 40 min.

1 · Two words

6 min

Hold up one card with something clearly structured in it — a leaf, a shell, a wing, a wall.

Form is what it looks like. Function is what it does.

Tell me the form of this. Now tell me the function.

Children find function harder and often have to guess. Say that the guess is the work, and that it is where science starts rather than where it finishes.

2 · Sort by form

8 min

Groups of four, about twelve cards.

Sort these by form. Round things, flat things, branching things, layered things — you decide the piles.

Each group writes their pile names on paper and leaves the list beside the cards.

3 · Now sort by function

10 min

Same cards. Sweep them together and sort again — this time by what the thing does.

Holds something. Protects something. Moves. Catches light. Keeps water out.

Keep a not sure yet pile. If you cannot tell what something does, it goes there — and a card can sit in two piles if you can say why.

Without the pile children invent a job to finish the task. Not sure yet is a real answer — name it as one.

Which cards ended up with different neighbors the second time? Pull those out.

A card that sorts one way by form and another by function is the interesting case.

Grade 3 finishes here, so ask for the pair before you close.

Find two cards from different form piles that you put together by function. What is the job they share?

4 · Same job, different shape

11 min

Find two cards that look nothing like each other but might do the same job. Put them side by side.

What can you see on each one that makes you say that?

A shell and tree bark, both covering something soft. A web and a net, both catching. Watch for pairs that only look alike — a wing and a leaf are both broad and flat and do entirely different jobs.

Then the question that keeps it science.

Model it once, with your own pair, and then leave it up.

We think these two both ______, because we can see ______, and we could check by ______.

Model it, do not drill it. Groups explain in their own words and you prompt for whatever is missing, usually the check. Saying how you would check does not make you right — it makes the claim one somebody could settle.

5 · Close

5 min

Which card did your group argue about most? Was the argument about its form, or its function?

Nearly always function. Form is there to be seen, function has to be worked out, and that is why it is arguable.

Watch for

Function collapsing into naming. It is a leaf is a name, not a function. Keep asking what it does until the answer is a verb.
I don't know what it is. Not a barrier. Form is fully visible, and a reasonable guess at function from the form is exactly the skill.
Cards that have no obvious job. Plenty of cards are texture, light, or landscape. Those belong in the form sort and not the function one, and saying so is honest rather than a failure. Keep a few clearly structured cards back to hand out if a group stalls.
Skipping the comparison. Step three only pays off if both pile lists are still on the table. Make them write the first one down.

Adapt

Grades 4–5 — ask for a second pair, then which of the two guesses has more evidence behind it.
OuiSi Nature — scan the codes after step five and look for anything that supports or contradicts a guess. Some will not be settled either way, and saying so is the honest result.
Multilingual learners — function is a verb, so accept the verb in any language and supply the English.
Children who sort precisely — a very literal form category is a correct one. Let a strict rule stand rather than asking for a looser one.
Tie to a unit — name the function categories yourself to match what you are teaching.

Curriculum links. Distinguishing form from function · Sorting by a self-chosen attribute · Re-sorting the same set against a second criterion · Recognizing that unlike structures can share a job · Supporting a classification with visible evidence.
Standard codes vary by state and district — these are the skills exercised, for you to map to your own.

For grades 1–2 see What it does, which runs the same two sorts with fewer categories and no checking step.
Screen-free unless you use the OuiSi Nature codes in the extension.
Pairs well with Looking closely, which is the same observe-then-conclude move on a single card.