Practical Ideas for Teaching Primary Science : Inspiring Learning and Enjoyment

Presenting scientific knowledge as a progressive story about how the natural world works, each topic is accompanied by ‘Ideas for Practice’, designed so that children can engage with science at three levels, KS1, lower primary and upper primary. With an emphasis on spoken language and collaboration, ‘Ideas for Practice’ are placed in engaging and significant contexts to encourage curiosity and enquiry, and to most importantly, promote feelings of pleasure and satisfaction from science learning.

Practical Ideas for Teaching Primary Science is a fun and interactive guide which supports teachers to design and deliver enjoyable science lessons. Peter Loxley explores different scientific topics – from growing plants and nutrition to forces and magnetism – with an emphasis on story-telling and art to help children share their ideas and work collaboratively in the classroom. This practical guide uses a three-stage framework design to encourage and guide sociocultural practice across three levels: KS1 (5–7), lower KS2 (7–9) and upper KS2 (9–11). The ideas for practice are placed in engaging and significant contexts to encourage curiosity and enquiry and, most importantly, promote feelings of pleasure and satisfaction from science learning. Teachers are guided through hands-on puzzles and activities such as role-play and design and technology tasks both inside and outside of the classroom, with health and safety aspects highlighted throughout, to inspire children’s interest in how the world works from an early age and provide them with the skills to apply their new-found scientific thinking in other contexts.

Extended subject knowledge to all topics covered in this book can be found in Teaching Primary Science.

A companion website is available for both books. Features include:

• web links to external sites with useful teaching information and resources
• an interactive flashcard glossary to test students’ understanding
• Image bank with downloadable pictures for use in the classroom.

Practical Ideas for Teaching Primary Science is an invaluable teaching resource for both trainee and qualified teachers.