More things to think about
Chapter 1: The pleasure of finding things out
Children often find conceptual learning less interesting than doing practical work, especially when they are expected to learn facts and definitions. Discuss how conceptual learning can be made more interesting and emotionally rewarding.
Discuss and list the benefits of science learning for primary aged children.
Chapter 2: Views of science learning
Do children need to be taught to think scientifically or, given the right opportunities, can we expect them to develop scientific skills for themselves? Discuss whether children are capable of discovering scientific knowledge for themselves.
Chapter 3: Organising how children learn science
Chapter 3 sets out a three-stage framework for organising children’s science learning. Review the purpose of each stage and discuss the role the teacher needs to play to support the children’s learning. Does the teacher’s role change at each stage?
Chapter 4: Scientific understanding and mental models
Discuss and compare the mental models of key concepts such as photosynthesis, evolution, sound, electricity, force and energy that you hold in your mind, and provide examples for how each one is useful for predicting future events.
Chapter 5: Talk for learning in science
Discuss the extent to which talk, speaking and listening, is an important part of science learning. Provide examples from school experience to explain how children’s talk can help facilitate their understanding of scientific knowledge.
Chapter 6: Scientific enquiry and the passionately curious
Discuss the educational advantages children gain from collaborating on scientific enquiries. Debate whether scientific enquires support children’s understanding of scientific concepts. Provide examples from school experience.
Chapter 7: Planning and assessing children’s science learning
About 2500 years ago the renowned Greek philosopher Plato wrote the following:
Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.
Find out more about Plato and his ideas on education. Discuss how you would put his philosophy into practice in your classroom. Plan a lesson on a topic of your choice which is consistent with Plato’s ideas. What part will assessment play?
Chapter 8: Learning outside the classroom
Discuss whether concerns regarding health and safety issues would make you reluctance to plan children’s learning outside the classroom. Debate which topics are best taught inside the classroom, and those best taught outside. Justify your ideas from both educational and health and safety perspectives.
Chapter 9: STEM education: enriching the primary school experience
Rather than teach the subjects independently, STEM initiatives aspire to integrate them within real-world contexts to bring the subjects alive and help pupils appreciate their social and economic value.
The above extract is taken from Chapter 9. Discuss what you understand by the term real-world context. How many real-world contexts can you identify which can be used to bring primary science topics alive? How would you suggest that the present National Curriculum could be made more relevant to children’s lives? What do you think of the merits of having a project-based National Curriculum for STEM education which integrates the STEM subjects.
Chapter 10: Origins of scientific knowledge
Debate how scientific knowledge differs from other types of knowledge. Can learning about the nature of scientific knowledge help children to become more discriminating about things they read on the web?