EXPLAIN

5E Instructional Model, the Explain phase is the “Sense-Making” stage. It serves as the bridge between the students’ hands-on exploration and the formal language of the subject matter.

EXPLAIN

The Explain phase consists of two parts. First, the teacher asks students to share their initial models and explanations from experiences in the Engage and Explore phases. Second, the teacher provides resources and information to support student learning and introduces scientific or technological concepts. Students use these resources and information, as well as ideas of other students, to construct or revise their evidence-based models and explanations. In engineering, students design solutions to problems based on established criteria.

The Explain phase is where students have the opportunity to verbalize their understanding of the concepts they just explored. The teacher then introduces formal terms, definitions, and explanations to help students process their findings.

• Studentsexplain their observations and trial-and-error results.
• Teachersprovide direct instruction to clarify misconceptions and “name” the concepts.

2. Types of “Explain” Activities

This phase balances student expression with teacher guidance:

• Student-Led Presentations:Groups share their data, posters, or digital findings from the Explore phase with the class.
• Interactive Mini-Lectures:The teacher uses short, targeted presentations (PowerPoints, diagrams, or videos) to define technical terms.
• Reflective Journaling:Students write summaries or “exit tickets” explaining what they think happened during the investigation.
• Concept Mapping:Creating visual webs that connect the new vocabulary to the actions performed in the Explore phase.

3. Approaches to the Explain Phase

To keep this phase from becoming a boring lecture, successful teachers use these approaches:

• “Students First” Rule:Always ask students to explain their findings before giving them the textbook definition.
• Evidence-Based Claims:Teachers require students to use “Because…” or “I noticed that…” when explaining their ideas.
• Scaffolded Clarification:The teacher uses “probing questions” to help students arrive at the correct conclusion themselves rather than just giving away the answer.

4. Merits and Demerits

Student Behaviors

• Shows models, explanations, answers, or possible solutions, to other students
• Listens critically to and questions explanations offered by others
• Explains using evidence from investigations
• Uses labels, terminology, and formal scientific language
• Compares current thinking with former thinking
• Records ideas and current understanding
• Adjusts ideas, models, and explanations as new evidence or reasoning is presented

Teaching Strategies

• Encourages students to explain concepts and definitions in their own words
• Asks for justification (evidence) and clarification from students
• Formally provides definitions, explanations, and information through mini-lecture, text, internet, or other resources
• Builds on student explanations
• Provides time for students to compare their ideas with others and if desired revise their ideas

3. Explain: The third stage, Explain, is the point at which the learner begins to put the experience of the activity into a communicable form. Students may need to articulate the process they used, the sequence of events, their thought processes, and results. Communication may occur within the learner, with peers, or with the teacher. Sometimes even all threeideas, questions, and to articulate their learning.

Stage 3 – Explain At the second stage, students have engaged in the learning activities and through mutual interactions discovered the knowledge (scientific facts, concepts, generalizations and procedures) and constructed. Expressing this abstract knowledge through communicable form is the purpose of the third stage. Students can express the constructed knowledge in different ways as follows:

• Explain the constructed ideas
• Construct and explain a model
• Represent ideas through pictures/figures/graphs
• Represent information through symbols
• Present a summary based on the data
• Present the data through patterns
• Present oral and written reports
• Review and criticize solutions

In Lesson  ACTIVE LEARNING BUILDING BLOCKS

• EXPLAIN through Modeling (Reading the story and discussing as youread);
• demonstrate and Show (For the concept of “change”, you may showimages of a baby.
• Child, youth, adult and elderly person.)