Models and analogies can help understanding, help explain the world and make a process or structure that one cannot easily see more explicit. Models and analogies can help children to visualise abstract processes and make ideas concrete. Children enjoy working with them because they are motivating and often require creative thought. Models and…

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…

For some time the Association for Science Education (ASE) has been aware that it would be useful to have some resources available to get children talking and thinking about issues related to health, sport and fitness. Some of the questions about pulse, breathing rate and so on are pretty obvious to everyone, and there is a risk of these being…

The Association for Science Education's "schoolscience.co.uk" and Martin Rapley, presenter of "The Big Bug Experience," are again running the Great Bug Hunt in 2012. Simply identify a habitat, explore and discover the bugs that live there, photograph or draw them and record findings--it's that simple. The winner will be the submission with the…

Science provides foundations for people to understand what is happening around them, supplies information for developments to be made and explains why things happen. As a science and early years specialist, the author often wondered how early years and science can be combined. Where is the place of science within the Early Years Foundation Stage…

The camera obscura (Latin for "darkened room") is the earliest optical device and goes back over 2500 years. The small pinhole or lens at the front of the room allows light to enter and this is then "projected" onto a screen inside the room. This differs from a camera, which projects its image onto light-sensitive material. Originally images were…

Creativity in primary science is even more important now than when it was first raised with the publication of the report "All our futures: creativity, culture and education." Creativity needs to involve both the teacher and the children. Exciting, creative and practical opportunities provided by the teacher will increase children's motivation and…

Children really look forward to out-of-school visits and they usually involve a good deal of preparation and expense. It is therefore a great shame that children often do not get as much out of them as they could. This may relate to how much classroom-based work is carried out before and after the visit to add value. But it could also relate to…

There are numerous benefits from using puppets in the classroom. There is evidence to suggest that puppets have a positive impact in motivating children and promoting language development. In this article, the authors explore the use of puppets to teach food science and nutrition. (Contains 2 figures.)

There have been many years of innovation in primary science education. Surprisingly, however, most of this has taken place within the confines of the classroom. What primary science has not yet done with universal success is step outside the classroom boundaries to use the school grounds for teaching and learning across all aspects of the science…

Many schools are now moving towards a more creative curriculum and a topic approach in their teaching. Setting science in a real, meaningful context can capture children's imagination, while offering opportunities for teaching skills in maths, ICT, literacy, technology or art. In science, the teacher may know the expected outcome, but the children…

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…

Working with evidence is a fundamental part of scientific enquiry. Children should be taught to consider evidence and evaluate it. They should make simple comparisons, comparing what happened with what they expected to happen, and try to explain what happened through drawing on their knowledge and understanding. In this article, the author…

Taking children out of the classroom to learn in a totally different environment can be very rewarding for both the children and the teacher. Part of the excitement is the unfamiliarity of the place, which has its positive sides but can lead to a lack of focus. As part of the Darwin 200 celebrations in 2009, the Charles Darwin Trust and…

Despite the rewards, there are numerous barriers to teachers running clubs: (1) getting weekly fresh activity ideas and resourcing them; (2) the lack of a budget; and (3) shortage of time. With the best will in the world, it is easy to feel that time is already swallowed up with planning and assessment of normal lessons, let alone putting in the…