Science in a Topic
Science in a Topic comprises nine books for students and a teacher’s guide to the series, published by Hulton Educational Publications between 1973 and 1985. Science in a Topic was developed to encourage and help teachers to include a first-hand experience which embraces the skills, processes and methods of scientists within their classroom work. It was written to encourage all primary teachers to organise science within the normal activities, rather than allowing it to be regarded as a separated, sterile session. By working with science as a part in an integrated study, the teacher can deal in a more realistic way with the organisation of practical science activities.
Aims
The aim was to ensure that science was included in the topic work that was widely being developed in primary schools in the 1970s. The topics often combined studies in history, geography, literature and art but avoided science. Including science not only enriched the topic but ensured that science was studied within a context of interest and relevance to children.
Approach
The topic books are addressed to students, reading being supported by clear coloured diagrams, drawings and photographs. The topics are:
• Clothes and costume
• Communication
• Food
• Houses and Homes
• In the air
• Moving on Land
• Roads, Bridges and Tunnels
• Ships
• Sports and Games
The science activities are embedded in topics which also lead to learning in history, geography, mathematics and art. The books make explicit that the whole of the topic work is not completely covered, only the science part. Students are told that they will need to use many other books to find out about other aspects of the topic. The books do not give information but mainly pose questions and suggest ways for finding the answers. The activities can be used in any sequence and not necessarily completed, so they can be used by children at different stages. Although the many clear and coloured drawings assist the understanding, students need to be able to read at the level of about nine years or above.
Being written in the late 1970s, inevitably changes in the range of foods, modes of transport and communication since that time make some activities seem dated.
HEALTH and SAFETY
Any use of a resource that includes a practical activity must include a risk assessment.
Please note that collections may contain ARCHIVE resources, which were developed at a much earlier date.
Since that time there have been significant changes in the rules and guidance affecting laboratory practical work.
Further information is provided in our Health and Safety guidance.
Clothes and Costume
Science in a Topic students’ book Clothes and Costume includes activities relating to the properties of different materials, how they can be tested and how they can be changed. Students work with a range of materials, including fabrics, leather and minerals and metals used in making jewellery. Instructions for students are…
Communication
The Science in a Topic students’ book Communication introduces students to a range of forms of communication used now and in the past. It covers words, sound, visual arts, signs and signals, the use of electricity and electronic devices. There are models for students to make of which some are quite advanced and use equipment…
Food
The Science in a Topic students’ book Food provides a range of information and activities for children relating to different kinds of foods. It leads students to consider food commonly eaten in the past and in other countries. Activities extend students’ knowledge of the origin and processing of raw materials in making…
Houses and Homes
The Science in a Topic students’ book Houses and Homes provides a range of activities relating homes today, in the past and in other countries. A visit to a building site is recommended as a way of beginning the study of the range of materials used in constructing a house. Activities enable students to explore the properties…
In the Air
Science in a topic students’ book In the air covers both the inanimate objects which can be made to fly or stay up in the air and the organisms which can travel through the air. Activities lead students to explore the composition of the air, its pressure, the atmosphere and the changes in it which produce our weather. There…
Moving on Land
The Science in a Topic students’ book Moving on Land provides information and activities relating to forms of transport on land. Students are encouraged to find out about transport in the past by visiting dedicated museums and to consider changes likely in the future. Energy is introduced as ‘what makes things move’…
Roads, Bridges and Tunnels
The Science in a Topic students’ book Roads, Bridges and Tunnels concerns the study of road networks and how they have been built to pass under or over obstacles such as mountains and rivers. Many different types of bridge are studied and the form of arches in tunnels considered. Students are lead to find out about famous bridges…
Ships
The science in a Topic students’ book Ships provides a range of activities that enable children to develop ideas about floating, balance and stability. There are models to make and test which lead to ideas about the centre of gravity of stable and unstable objects. Ways of propelling and steering ships and the use of pulleys…
Sports and Games
The Science in a Topic students’ book Sports and Games begins with exploring games and sports in the present, past and other countries. Investigations include bouncing balls, reaction times, the impact of games played on grass, the tension in racquets and what affects the movement of a ball through the air. Activities for students…
Teacher's Guide to the Series
Science in a Topic Teacher’s Guide to the Series provides notes on each of the sections in the students’ topic books, including equipment and materials needed, and general guidance about the importance of science and the nature of science activity. There is an extended list of advantages and disadvantages of a topic approach.…
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