Thermal cameras have shown to have utility in secondary school classrooms and undergraduate courses. In this paper, the author argues for their potential in the primary school classroom and presents a range of activities that can be undertaken with thermal cameras (or supplied images). With limited access in mind, the activities in this paper have…

The demand for improving student interest in science has increased efforts toward teaching Einstein's theory of general relativity in schools. Research has already shown that teaching Einsteinian gravity at the secondary level is feasible, however, appropriate resources must be readily available for science teachers to make Einsteinian gravity…

On September 21, 1922, an eclipse of the Sun at Wallal in north-west Australia provided definitive proof that Einstein's theory of gravity is correct. By proving that space is elastic, it paved the way for the discovery of gravitational waves in 2015, in which Australia also played a major role. David Blair, Jyoti Kaur, and Anastasia Popkova are…

This paper, presented in three parts, overviews the current understandings of the Earth System and the relatively recent interdisciplinary field of Earth System Science (ESS) from a school education perspective. The representation of ESS in the Australian Curriculum is explored through the Cross Curriculum Priority area of Sustainability and the…

Education for sustainability -- understood as efforts to equip people with the knowledge and skills necessary to make environmental, social and economic decisions that consider the needs of present and future generations -- has been incorporated in the official curriculum of Australia as a 'cross-curriculum priority'. This research sought to…

In this paper, we explore how an intentionally planned learning environment, rich with material resources and inquiry questioning practices, supported young children's engagement with an integrated science and mathematics learning experience. A practitioner-researcher, named 'Jenny', from an Australian early year learning centre, partnered with…

Constructing Direct Current (DC) electric circuits is simple and engaging for primary students, but that is not all there is to learning about electricity. Mandatory learning in the Australian Curriculum: Science (ACARA, 2018) expects Year 6 students to explain some of the processes underlying electric circuits. The abstract nature of key…

Senior secondary students were tasked with generating slowmation representations of biological processes they had already learned about during Year 11 VCE biology. The slowmation task therefore connects work with representations to review of course material. Results indicate that students negotiated between the textbook (and some teacher-specific…

Most international curricula require students to develop conceptual and procedural understandings along with developing an understanding about the nature of science. Moreover, science education endeavours to produce scientifically literate citizens capable of making informed decisions about the social-scientific issues in their everyday lives;…

If you think physics is only for older children, think again. Much of the playtime of young children is filled with exploring--and wondering about and informally investigating--the way objects, especially toys, move. How forces affect objects, including: change in position, motion, and shape are fundamental to the big ideas in physics. This…

This paper outlines a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) learning experience for children in the early years of school. It builds on STEM education in early childhood with a shared purpose, "to help children to explore and make sense of their world using childrelevant and appropriate contexts" (Preston, 2018 p. 137).…

Energy is one of the most complex yet central concepts taught in schools and is featured in the Australian Science Curriculum, as one of the six key organising ideas (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2015). The literature portrays a multitude of complications associated with teaching energy (see Millar, 2005 for a…

Through the science curriculum, teachers can use students' passion for screen content to motivate them to explore innovative new ways to bring their science learning to life through video making. Communicating science concepts using multimodal literacies can be a particularly powerful way for students to learn about science, especially when they…

Large gender gaps in performance on questions involving projectile motion have been observed at high school and university level, even amongst high-achieving students. This gap is particularly problematic because projectile motion is typically one of the first topics formally taught in physics, and this may give girls an inappropriately negative…

The Australian Curriculum (n.d.) describes chemistry as having three interrelated strands, Science Inquiry Skills, Science as a Human Endeavour and Science Understanding. It also states "... the three strands of the Australian Curriculum: Science should be taught in an integrated way". This article will explore a model for integrating…