The SunSpaceArt (SSA) project, led by the author, a solar scientist at the University of Cambridge, comprises a diverse team of scientists and visual artists who run STEAM (STEM + Arts) workshops in schools, space camps and at other venues (museums, science centres and so on). The project focuses mainly on 7- to 12-year-olds, which is a key age…

In this article, the author describes the impact of the Great Science Share for Schools (GSSfS). This annual campaign has already engaged over 100,000 pupils since its start in 2016. With 2019 seeing a record-breaking 63,614 pupils registered across 483 events in 11 countries, the forecast for 2020 is looking positive. Set up by the Science &…

In this article, newly qualified teacher (NQT) Alexander Odeneal shares some ideas that primary teachers could use to capture pupils' interest and support scientific discussions. The article offers four different activities and an explanation of why they do what they do to support the non-specialist teacher leading the lesson. Each activity…

In this article, Carol Bostrom shares how child-led enquiry, with children choosing their own questions to research, can work in a primary classroom. Children in three year 1 classes (ages 5-6) chose three areas of their own interest or hobby and then composed three questions for investigation for each area to be used during science week. This…

In her science teaching, Jane Elson had always treated the boys and girls the same but, having become conscious of how important it is for girls to see and experience female role models in science, she decided that for one specific event she would give the girls the opportunity to see the range of careers that studying STEM (science technology,…

Imagine 98% of children in your country leaving primary school without ever having done a science investigation. This almost complete absence of primary science is the situation just over the North Sea from Britain--in the Netherlands. A recent survey showed that only about 120 primary schools in the Netherlands, out of a total of 6000, do some…

As a science leader in her school, the author is always looking for new and interesting ways to inspire children in the science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) subjects. Attending several science conferences introduced her to new STEM programs, such as Street Science and fractals. In this article, she shares a couple of the activities…

Children are naturally curious about the world around them and are often intrigued by everyday objects and experiences. Primary school teachers frequently make use of "WOW moments" to generate children's interest in science (Feasey, 2005). These moments capitalise on the children's fascination with objects and experiences in their…

Although it is itself a core subject, science seems to receive less priority and designated time on the primary curriculum timetables. Curriculum changes over the years have resulted in science being taught with other subjects as part of cross-curricular topics, rather than as a "stand-alone" subject. This cross-curricular pedagogy in…

Learning to use visualisation techniques in the classroom enables pupils and teachers to gain new insights into how concepts are formed and how to strengthen them, but visualisation is sometimes not what it seems. Learning by constructing meaning is a long-standing principle underpinning much of today's school science. In "Primary Science…

How can educators provide children with a genuine experience of carrying out an extended scientific investigation? And can teachers change the perception of what it means to be a scientist? These were key questions that lay behind "The Human Condition" project, an initiative funded by the Primary Science Teaching Trust to explore a new…

Traditionally, alchemy has involved the power of transmuting base metals such as lead into gold or producing the "elixir of life" for those wealthy people who wanted to live forever. But what of today's developments? One hundred years ago, even breaking the four-minute mile would have been deemed "magic," which is what the alchemists of the past…

It has long been understood that children's interest in science generally declines during the transition from primary to secondary school. The English government's "Every Child Matters" agenda states that pupils should "make a positive contribution" and "achieve economic wellbeing", and so there is a need to develop a…