Teaching Primary School Science

Scientific enquiry involves a range of skills that children need to develop and practice throughout their primary education. This lecture looks at the different skills that children should be using when doing scientific enquiry.

Children may use different skills at different stages of an investigation, and may revisit or revise their questions, predictions, plans, or conclusions as they progress. The skills also vary in complexity and sophistication, depending on the age and ability of the children, and the nature and context of the investigation.

This lecture will help you gain an understanding of the different enquiry skills, how they progress across the years, and how to track them.

The nature of the scientific investigation will vary according to the type of question being explored. The most common type seen in schools is the ‘fair test’, but this is not the only option and other types of science enquiry activity may be better suited to answer different kinds of question.

These are:

• Fair tests

• Observing over time

• Pattern Seeking

• Classifying and Grouping

• Research

• and also Problem Solving

This lecture will look at the different types of scientific enquiry with examples of each one. It will explain the nature of variables and how to plan and carry out a fair test investigation.

Lesson planning is something that a lot of new teachers worry about, and struggle with. There is no recipe for the perfect lesson, but successful lessons share many of the same features.

In this lecture we’ll look at some of the things to consider when planning a science lesson, as well as what to look for when planning a sequence of lessons. We’ll also look at some of the guidance for putting together a whole science curriculum.

A misconception can be defined as a view that does not fully coincide with the scientific view. Often these existing ideas are produced through informal play or through watching films and television shows. These ideas are at odds with the accepted science, and they can be difficult to change or reform and become a source of misconceptions when met in formal science lessons. Before a misconception can be corrected, they need to be identified. There are many different strategies a teacher can use to find out what misconceptions’ pupils may have.

In this session we will look at ways in which teachers can find out what misconceptions the children have, and how to deal with them once they have been identified.

Cognitive science is gaining increasing influence in education and many existing and developing educational approaches are described as ‘inspired by cognitive science’.

One of the main cognitive science concepts that concerns teachers is the processes which we use to create memories. Memory can be separated into sensory, working and long-term memory, and the relationship between these types of memory can have an impact on how we learn.

In this lecture we will look at some of the ideas that underpin the current cognitive approach to teaching in schools. We will look at ways of reducing cognitive load in your lessons and how to give your students the best change of remembering the content of your lessons.

Assessment is at the heart of teaching and learning. It allows teachers to make informed decisions about the needs of our learners in order to make further progress. Formative assessment, sometimes called Assessment for Learning (AFL), runs alongside the learning and informs the teacher and the children about next steps. It is ongoing and a regular part of the teacher’s role. Formative assessment is an essential component of classroom work, and its development can raise standards of achievement.

In this lecture we will look at the different types of assessment, and in particular strategies for formative assessment.

Questioning is an integral part of the teaching process, particularly in science. It’s said that teachers ask nearly 400 questions a day. Questioning enables teachers to check children’s understanding at key points in the lesson. It also encourages engagement and focuses the children’s thinking on key concepts and ideas. Questioning enables teachers to check children’s understanding at key points in the lesson. It also encourages engagement and focuses their thinking on key concepts and ideas.

In this lecture we will look at the different types of question a teacher asks in a lesson and their purpose. It will look at how to improve your questioning techniques - to use a range of questions including skinny/rich and open/closed to get the best responses from your students.

Pupil talk provides them with a way to develop and express their ideas, as well as comparing them with the ideas of others, which helps to develop critical thinking. Right across the curriculum, talk engages children, motivates them to use their speaking and listening skills and helps them learn how to respect and respond to each other.

This lecture will look at strategies for improving the quality of pupil talk in the classroom. It will provide examples of many different techniques that can be used to spark pupil discussion and thinking.

The Education Endowment Foundation recently released its ‘Improving Primary Science’ guidance report. The report is underpinned by a systematic review of the best available international evidence around effective primary science teaching practice.’

The report outlines six actionable recommendations to support teachers and school leaders to make improvements to their existing science provision, including how to develop pupils’ scientific vocabulary, and relate new learning to relevant, real-world contexts. Each recommendation includes models, worked examples and suggested strategies to illustrate what the evidence could look like practice in your primary school classroom.’

In this lecture we will look at the recommendations from the report, what they mean, and how teachers can harness them to improve the quality of science in their own lessons.

Thank you for watching my course, I really hope you've enjoyed it and learned from it. Revisit this course whenever needed as it's important to remember all aspects of how to teach science effecively. This knowledge is a broad and strong foundation for any primary teacher; hopefully giving you extra confidence for starting or developing your career.

This lecture summarises some of the key points raised in the course.