In this article five trainee teachers specialising in science at the University of Winchester describe their experience teaching science for three consecutive Fridays within a 2 year class (ages 6-7). They were given the task of teaching food and nutrition through the class topic of "turrets and tiaras," a medieval history focus. Their…

Student teachers, Katherine Bagshaw, Hannah Barham, Rebecca Betts, Amie Felton and Joshua Knatt, share their ideas on how to bridge the gap between statutory and non-statutory guidelines for food and nutrition with 8- to 10-year-olds. The teachers realized the health of children has become a focal point of concern for both parents and education…

As a final-year student teacher specialising in primary science, Emma Heaney faced the challenge of having to plan, organise, and conduct a small-scale, classroom-based research project. She had to teach about bones in the final block practice session and thought it would be a good idea to bring in some biological specimens obtained from the local…

The authors of this article, as student teachers, explored becoming facilitators in lessons focusing on micro-organisms. They elicited ideas from their students and found that even the brightest children held some misconceptions about micro-organisms. The students had some knowledge, but they had not learned how to apply this to investigations…

Since 2006, the Kolumbus-Kids project in Germany has been supporting gifted learners between the ages 9 and 12. Selected children from regional schools are invited to participate in courses dealing with biological problems and phenomena at university. In order to attend these sessions, they first have to pass a special performance test and a test…

As student teachers, authors Emily Clark, Laura Hornsby, Abigail Howard, and Kathryn Pople were aware of what the class had already covered on World War 2 (WW2). It was unclear to them, however, what knowledge the children actually had acquired from the lessons. In this article these student teachers describe their use of concept mapping as they…

In this article, the author responds to the recent article by Lynne Bianchi commenting on the Donaldson report, "Teaching Scotland's future" (Donaldson, 2011). He agrees that the Donaldson report has indeed been a catalyst to drive change across the entire landscape of initial teacher education (ITE) in Scotland. In fact, not only ITE: the report…

Why do people so often view science and art as polar opposites? Is it a view that is relatively new, or has it always been the case? Why is it a good idea to combine the two subjects and teach them in cross-curricular ways and what impact does it have on the learning of primary-aged children? These were some of the questions posted by science and…

A group of third-year undergraduate student teachers used books and stories during science enquiry lessons as part of the BASICS (Books And Stories In Children's Science) project funded by the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust. This three-year project involved a cluster of five primary schools in the greater Belfast area. The aim of the project…

There has recently been a growth in the popularity of "science centres" and this development provides an excellent opportunity to support the primary science curriculum. Their use is therefore well worth including within initial teacher education courses. Hence, undergraduate student teachers at Stranmillis University College Belfast may now…

There is a strong body of evidence that science was not taught consistently to primary-aged children across England and that their memories of science prior to 1989 centre around the "nature table." While secondary initial teacher education (ITE) before the National Curriculum had a strong subject focus, this was rarely the case for primary…

London Metropolitan University in Islington, North London, is very much part of the local community. A very high proportion of the students come from the areas around the university, and an even higher proportion go on to take up posts in the immediate inner-city environment. The education department was therefore very keen to foster…

In his role as a tutor on initial teacher education courses, the author has been particularly interested in strengthening school partnership links in a manner that advances the mentoring in primary science of students working to gain their qualified teacher status. Over the past three years several projects with local primary schools have explored…

An important aim of primary science programmes should be to continue to encourage and nurture children in creating their own explanations. As Osborne and Freyberg (1985) contended, the aims of primary science in the early years should start with the children developing explanations for their experiences. The first two of their six developing aims…

Some time ago a flyer on "Medics in Primary School" came the author's way. It described a programme for making placements in primary schools available to medical students. The benefits of the program to medical students and participating schools were highlighted, including opportunities to develop communication skills and demystify medicine. It…