Primary Science | Resources

NATIONAL CAREERS WEEK | 4-9 March

Who can I help? is a discussion and drawing activity for your learners in KS2 to help explore the key skills people in the real world need every day.

KEY QUESTION FOR COLLEAGUES: HOW ARE YOU?

STEM Learning’s professional development leader Mary Howell looks at wellbeing and suggests ways to protect everyone’s mental health.

BRITISH SCIENCE WEEK 2024

British Science Week 2024 activity packs are now available!

The free activity packs for British Science Week 2024, which will take place between 8 to 17 March 2024, are available to download now! For children and young people from under 5s to around age 14, there is an Early Years pack, Primary pack and Secondary pack, with Community packs coming soon.

The theme for 2024’s packs and poster competition is ‘Time’, and the packs provide fun and engaging ways to introduce this theme to the children.

Each pack, created with the support of UK Research and Innovation, includes a wide range of fun, hands-on activities, and loads of useful information for planning your events for the Week.

Explorify – A Completely free digital resource for teaching primary science

Explorify is a completely free digital resource for teaching primary science with a range of activitieis to develop curiosity, discussion and reasoning skills.

Created to enhance your science teaching with low-prep activities, no matter your confidence with science, it’s designed to get your pupils thinking like scientists.

It’s designed for teachers, by teachers to confidently teach science and inspire your pupils.

Primary Science Teaching Trust

Primary Science Teaching Trust provides activities, strategies, provision, and examples of children (ages 3-5) learning science to support EYFS practitioners.

Their website offers support and resources for adults who are helping very young children (ages 3-5) to explore the world around them with a focus on learning science. Activities and strategies are suitable for use by educators in an Early Years setting or by parents or carers at home.

What you need to teach about rocks, fossils and evolution
Click on the link below to find additional classroom activities developed in the initial phase of the collaboration with the Jurassic Coast Trust. These are suitable for either 3-7 or 7-11 year olds. Each activity has a teacher guide and activity pack to support its use which is provided in a zip file for download.

‘IMPROVING PRIMARY SCIENCE’ GUIDANCE FROM EEF

NEW: EEF’s “Improving Primary Science” guidance report provides accessible, evidence-based advice on how to improve science teaching and learning in primary schools, with the aim of supporting primary school science teachers, science leads, and those with leadership responsibilities, to maximise the impact of their science provision.

The report offers six recommendations, drawn from the best international research. Each recommendation outlines a common challenge faced by primary science teachers, before delving into strategies that the evidence suggests could be effective when put into practice.

Each section also includes models, worked examples and advice around the important things to consider when implementing the recommendations in the classroom.

GREAT GUIDED ENQUIRIES

BRAND NEW on the Great Science Share for Schools website. The resources are designed to inspire 5-14 year olds to ask-investigate and share scientific questions with new audiences. This year’s theme of ‘Science Around Us’ has been connected to these as well as links to the Global Sustainability Development Goals and curriculum topics.

Register to access these age-related resources, and access webinars to support your GSSfS campaign activity!

WWF ACTIVITY PACK

Earth Hour, the global movement raising awareness of nature loss and climate change, takes place annually in the Spring. WWF has created a new educational activity pack and assembly presentation to help your class celebrate Earth Hour and connect with nature, including activities for class time and home. You can also claim an exclusive Earth Hour certificate for your students and enter our exciting poster competition to win a WWF animal adoption for your class.

WEATHER AND SEASONS WORD MATS

Aimed at early years and lower primary this resource contains a selection of word mats displaying keywords and illustrations relating to the weather and the four seasons. It provides an ideal literacy aid / prompt when discussing the seasons. This resource has been provided by Early Learning HQ.

BONE BINGO

This is a competitive game which tests children’s knowledge of bones, joints and their function. The teacher reads out a statement related to a bone or joint, and children cross off the answer if they have it.

This resource was produced by Genetic Disorders UK, which provides schools with a host of free resources for increasing awareness and understanding of genetic disorders.

SEEDS AND PLANT GROWTH DISCOVERY PACK

A Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC) resource designed to allow pupils, aged 5 to 12 years, to explore the world of seeds and plant growth.

All the activities can be used to encourage children to care for and appreciate living things and to think about the world around them.

The activities can also be used to encourage children to think about health and safety issues.

FREE PRIMARY COMPUTING RESOURCE

Thinking Again Thinking Critically – A Toolkit: Building media and information competences to successfully navigate an interconnected world.

‘Viruses and Vaccines’ activity resources

The ‘Viruses and Vaccines’ activity resources have been developed by a team of pathologists, creatives and public engagement practitioners to facilitate informed discussions about viruses and vaccines. The collection includes art-science resources, guides to hands-on STEM activities for schools, video interviews and guides, and an FAQs section.

Use these free resources to explore the fascinating world of viruses, and to understand more about the science behind COVID-19, immunity and vaccines. Pathologists are invited to use the resources as a way to open conversations about these topics with the public, and we’re hopeful they will help dispel common myths and misconceptions.

Starters for STEM

Are you looking for ideas for home schooling this week? Check out Starters for STEM!

Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire Science Learning Partnership (SLP), trading as Developing Teachers of Science Association (DTSA) covers the entire geographical area including Derby and Nottingham for STEM Learning UK. Our aim is to allow all staff to support students to ensure they are the best that they can be. We are proud to have provided teachers, technicians and other educators with high impact, subject-specific professional development in science and the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.