Earth Science for Primary Teachers: an INSET Handbook
Published in 1993 by the National Curriculum Council, this book provides activities designed to review and improve the understanding and teaching of Earth science within the curriculum. It is designed to be used by individual teachers, science co-ordinators, professional development course providers and in initial teacher training,…
Rocks and Soil
The Young Scientist Investigates topic book on Rocks and Soil was first published in 1982 and gives information, illustrated by full colour photographs and drawings, about the structure of the Earth, how it changes over time, different kinds of rock and soil. It is intended for children aged 8-11 to read and then to answer questions,…
Water
The Young Scientist Investigates topic book on Water was published in 1982 and gives information, illustrated by full colour photographs and drawings, about the importance of water, where it is found, the forms it can take and some of its properties. The book is intended for children aged 8-11 to read and then to answer question…
Starting from Rocks
Starting from Rocks was one of four books published by the Schools Council Environmental Studies Project to illustrate a recommended approach for working with students in the 5 to 13 age range. The approach had, as one of its aims, the development by children of a variety of methods of examining and representing the features they…
Geology in the School Curriculum
Geology in the School Curriculum was a report of the Schools Council Geology Curriculum Review Group, published in 1977. The report aimed to fulfil two roles. Firstly, its discursive sections were intended to support the recommendations put by the Geology Curriculum Review Group to the Schools Council. Secondly, it was hoped that…
Physics and the Earth Sciences for Middle Schools
Physics and the Earth Sciences for Middle Schools is one of the titles in the series of ASE Lab Books that were published in the early 1970s for the Association for Science Education by John Murray. Each title covered one or two topics and brought together the best of the teaching notes and experimental ideas from members of the…
Rock Stars: Unbelievable!
This practical activity from the Royal Society looks at the work of palaeontologists and how they use fossil evidence to work out how dinosaurs lived and moved. Using a tape measure and a stop watch in the playground, students time how long it takes them to walk or run a set distance and calculate their average speed. They then…
Solids, Liquids and Gases (Book 1) and Living, Dead or Never Alive (Book 2)
The first two books in the Introducing Science series provide a range of practical activities for students to investigate solid, liquids and gases, living things, rocks and minerals. The resources also encourage children to do further research using library books. [bSolids, Liquids and Gases (Book 1)[/b] The book introduces children…
Phases of the Moon
This resource, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, challenges students to explain the phases of the Moon by linking the movement of the Moon around the Earth with our perspective from Earth of light and shadow on the Moon. The two files are identical, apart from the curriculum links stated in the teachers' notes. The…
The Spinning Earth
In this activity, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, students are introduced to the rotating Earth and the concept of longitude. They will carry out simple arithmetic that relates the 24 hour clock with the Earth’s rotation. The questions in the activity require an understanding of angle: one hour being equal to 15 degrees…
Human Sundial
In this activity, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, students look at their shadow at different times of the day and measure differences in its size and direction. The activity needs to take place in the playground on a sunny day. A compass or an online map can be used to help work out which way is North on the playground before…
Making Shadows
This activity, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, looks at how shadows are formed and what affects their size, direction and shape. Students place an object at the centre of a sheet of paper, and use a torch to produce shadows of different length and direction. This activity can be used as an introduction to shadows made by…
Fruit Solar System
This activity, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, helps students grasp the various sizes of planets in our Solar System using mostly fruit, with some other items. The class discussion before the activity encourages students to take an educated guess as to which planet each item represents. Equipment per team (multiply as necessary…
Moon Zoo
This activity, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, uses the Citizen Science project ‘Moon Zoo’ to help astronomers identify boulders on the surface of the Moon. There are two activities currently available on the Moon Zoo website: Crater Survey and Boulder Wars. Crater Survey requires much more time on each image…
Daytime Moon Viewing
This resource, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, uses daytime viewing of the Moon to reinforce ideas learned in the classroom about light, shadow and the Moon itself. Advice is given on the best times to view the Moon, and the compulsory and optional equipment needed. By viewing the Moon during the day, students will be…
Primary School Activity Booklet
This booklet, produced by Dr. Lucie Green, from the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, and funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), contains four simple activities to enrich the teaching of Solar system science and beyond. The activities are: Keeping Safe in the Sun – learning about UV and sun cream;…
Short Astronomy Related Activities
Alkaseltzer rockets Instructions on how to make a rocket using an effervescent tablet and ideas of how to discuss the activity with reference to Newton’s Third Law. CD Spectrometer Students can make a simple spectrometer using a CD and a cereal box. There is an explanation in terms of the distinct spectral produced by…
What Stuff Does
From Teachers TV, and part of the Science Tube series, this video contains five short clips that explore the properties and uses of some of the many materials that surround us. It looks at rock, water and carbon dioxide. The clips are: Rocky road reveals the processes involved at a quarry, from the rock being blasted out of…
Ginn Science Assessment Booklet: Written Questions Level (Year) Five
The Ginn Science Assessment Booklet of written questions for level five (students aged 9 to 10 years) was published in 1989. This was before the term ‘level’ acquired special meaning in the National Curriculum Assessment. Here 'level’ can be equated with ‘Year’. The questions are grouped in 10 sets,…
Earth and Weather
The Ginn Science level five students’ book Earth and Weather was written for students in Year Five (Primary Six) aged 9 to 10 years, and published in 1990. It relates to the content strand Earth and space. With the help of full colour illustrations it provides information about the Earth's orbit around the sun, the seasons,…
Ginn Science Homework Sheets Year Five
Ginn Science Homework Sheets are photocopy masters for setting science homework at Year Five (students aged 9 to 10 years). The tasks are practical activities that can be carried out at home with the support of parents or carers. Published in 1998, the links to the National Curriculum are to the 1995 revision. The homework sheets…
SPACE Project Research Report: Rocks, Soil and Weather
The Science Processes and Concepts Exploration (SPACE) project research report on Rocks, Soil and Weather was conducted at two centres, the University of Liverpool and King’s College, London, and published in 1993 by Liverpool University Press. Each centre took responsibility for research in particular concepts and for producing…
Evolution Is Still Happening
In this Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) animation, the robots wonder whether there has been any evolution in the 150 years since the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species. They travel to the deep ocean to find black smokers and see the very strange forms of life that exist there. They then learn about…
The Splitting Earth
This episode, from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), follows the Robots as they find out about the causes of earthquakes. They look inside the Earth, and to see how tectonic plates move, and learn about the links between earthquakes and volcanoes. They also visit two sites where NERC scientists are researching their…
Climate Change
In this episode from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), students find out about the causes of climate change and how researchers use massive computers to help them understand its effects. The Robots find out about one gas that has a stronger greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide. And finally, the computer suggests a…
The Final Frontier
In this Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) animation, the Robots visit some extreme environments to find out what research NERC scientists are doing there. They travel through ice more than two miles thick to find a lake unexplored by humans; up into space to see a telescope used to find water on other planets, and finally…
Earth
The Learning Through Science teachers’ guides and pupils’ assignment cards for the unit Earth give suggestions for activities children could undertake. The cards are divided into groups according to their subject: fieldwork, rock testing, soils, crystals, riches of the Earth, and past environments. On the cards the grouping…
Out of Doors
The Learning Through Science teachers’ guides and pupils’ assignment cards for the unit Out of Doors give suggestions for activities children could undertake. The cards are divided into groups according to their subject: looking at the soil, watching the weather, and shapes, measures and counts. On the cards the grouping…
Using the Environment 3: Tackling Problems Part 2
The activities described in the Science 5/13 units Using the environment 3: tackling problems are designed for children aged 9-13, when they are becoming more capable of thinking logically and begin to speculate about the causes of phenomena and how their ideas could be tested. The work described takes children and teachers beyond…
Change, Stages One and Two and Background
This Science 5/13 unit for teachers on Change stages one and two describes a range of activities that build children’s ideas about change and how it occurs. Rather than being a topic to pursue as a whole, it contains ideas that can be woven into other topics. However, one theme 'Changes in the kitchen' has been given…
Moonsaics
This collection of five Moonsaics have been created by the National Schools' Observatory, they consist of five different images of the Moon, separated into multiple picture panels per image, much like a "giant jigsaw puzzle". Students are challenged to assemble the completed images, offering them the opportunity to…
Using the Environment 2: Investigations Part 2
The Science 5/13 unit Using the environment 2: investigations part 2 follows on from part one focusing on what and how children can investigate in the outside environment. The first three chapters are concerned with helping children to become more aware of the things that change: the weather, living things and the landscape. Two…
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