It is only in the very recent past that computers have burst into the education world, revolutionising how lessons are planned, taught, and delivered. In an all-consuming maelstrom their importance has increased, with most children now entering school with some form of computer literacy. This means that many seasoned professional teachers have to…

In this project, teachers use mini-speeches, or monologues, as if told by famous scientists from the past, as a springboard to motivate children to think about these scientists as everyday people. The introductory speech describes or introduces the kinds of behaviours, skills, and knowledge the scientists possessed. Talking about the way they…

Over a quarter of British households now own at least one tablet device, an increase of 63% in the 12 months from February 2013 (Internet Advertising Bureau UK, 2014). This trend has expanded into the classroom, with more schools either providing their pupils with an individual tablet device or encouraging parents to purchase them outright or via…

A few years ago, the sight of the letters APP would have made teachers in England think of the Assessing Pupils' Progress assessment approach introduced by the government. Now, when they see those same letters they mostly think about smartphone and tablet applications, shortened to "apps." With the thousands of apps available in the…

In this article, Clare Rees describes the interest of staff and children alike when their school added the newest and possibly coolest iPad "tablet computers" to the classroom. Everyone wanted to get their hands on them. But how were they going to use them as teaching and learning tools? How were they actually to be used in the…

It is generally accepted that children develop their own ideas about what is happening in their world through what they see with their own eyes. Children often hold ideas that are quite different from acceptable science because they construct alternative meanings from their own individual experiences. The role of the teacher is much more…

Creating charts and graphs is all about visual abstraction: the process of representing aspects of data with imagery that can be interpreted by the reader. Children may need help making the link between the "real" and the image. This abstraction can be achieved using symbols, size, colour and position. Where the representation is close to what…

The way in which the Internet and related technologies have exploded in the last few years is something that no one in education can ignore. Primary school pupils are already more technologically savvy than their parents and they expect their lessons to be exciting, interactive and driven by some aspect of technology. And so they should be. These…

Watching films is a common activity for children outside of school, and incorporating popular films that contain scientific references has the potential to spark interest in the classroom. Clips rather than entire films can be used, as the children will maintain focus on the lesson objectives while being excited by the appeal of the film. The use…

Cloud software enables children to engage with their work across and within subjects, not least in science. Bradford College in the UK and the University of Aveiro in Portugal were funded by an Anglo-Portuguese research programme, "The treaty of Windsor", to look at how new web-based technologies are embedded within pre-service and in-service…

Technology plays a crucial role in pupils' and primary teachers' lives nowadays and its use can facilitate change towards an innovative school environment. The internet, for example, can act as a platform to foster science teaching and offers a variety of opportunities for effective science learning and engaging and motivating children. But…

In this digital age, is primary science being left behind? Computer microscopes provide opportunities to transform science lessons into highly exciting learning experiences and to shift enquiry and discovery back into the hands of the children. A class of 5- and 6-year-olds was just one group of children involved in the Digitally Resourced…

In 2008-9 the Centre for Early Scientific Learning (CRESL) at Bath Spa University worked with 10 primary schools in Bath and South Gloucestershire on the "Eco-monitoring at key stage 2" project, funded by the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust (AZSTT). As part of the project, the authors are writing a continuing professional development (CPD) unit…

The author believes that to truly engage children in learning, an imaginative approach with purposeful activities is very important. One way that this can be implemented is through simple "engineering projects" where science, design and technology (D&T), mathematics and information and communication technology (ICT) are combined, allowing children…

Picture the scene--a child in a class has brought in a fabulous example of a snake skin, a snail, a seed, a fossil or rock and the whole class wants to see it. How does a teacher allow them all to observe it without destroying it or jostling each other? One way to get around this issue is to use a visualiser. A visualiser is essentially a small…