A cultural divide exists in the classroom, with each participant (teacher and student) having rarely-coinciding objectives for a session. In this paper, the authors wish to reflect on the teaching and learning of science as a process of creating understanding from both sides of this cultural divide. Gary, the second author, describes the theoretical and social context of the teaching intervention and reflects on the outcomes for his pedagogy. Pip, the first author, presents the outcomes of his research into whether emotional mood is affected by music. Pip's research is far from perfect or conclusive. Rather, the manner in which the pedagogy has been applied has been successful in engaging Pip in the doing of science.