Science for Primary Schools
Science for Primary Schools was a series of booklets produced by the Primary Science Committee of the Association for Science Education (ASE) soon after the formation of the ASE from two separate organisations, the SMA and the AWST in 1963. The series of five booklets was published for the ASE by John Murray between 1966 and 1970. It aimed to help primary teachers meet the demands of including science in the primary curriculum, at a time when the Nuffield Junior Science Project had just been published and Science 5/13 was in progress, both urging an active child-centred approach to teaching.
Context
One of the first actions taken by the newly formed Primary Science Committee (actually a sub-committee of the Education Committee) was the preparation of a policy statement which claimed that no system of education in the primary school could be considered satisfactory if it did not include science. In order to help teachers with work consistent with this policy, the committee produced a series of five booklets:
1. Children learning through science
2. List of books
3. List of teaching aids
4. Materials and equipment
5. Using broadcasts
Approach
The ASE booklets and policy statement promoted ‘discovery’ methods, in which children perform experiments, discuss what they find, draw conclusions and record what they have discovered. It was also expected that a ‘topic’ approach would be used so that science formed part of, and emerged from, integrated studies.
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.
1 - Children Learning Through Science
The ASE booklet Children Learning Through Science comprises nine short case studies of work carried out in primary school classes. They are described as providing successful examples of how the teacher leads the work in response to the children’s question, interests and reactions to the situations. It was not intended that…
2 - List of Books
The ASE List of Books provides a very comprehensive list of publications relating to science for teachers and students as current at the time (1966). The list is helpfully separated into topics and there is an index. The list comprises authors, titles and publishers with no notes. The books for teachers include those on educational…
3 - List of Teaching Aids
The ASE List of Teaching Aids provides a comprehensive catalogue of films, books, charts, and other visual materials that can help the teaching of science. It also includes addresses of fieldwork centres, clubs and societies for students and museum services. All this, of course refers to what was available at the time of publication,…
4 - Materials and Equipment
The ASE Materials and Equipment booklet provides lists of equipment and materials compiled from what primary teachers at the time (1966) found met the needs of their own classes as they developed investigations. It reassured teachers that a large collection of equipment was not necessary before investigations could begin, but should…
5 - Using Broadcasts
The ASE Using Broadcasts booklet was published in 1970 and reflects the availability of different technologies to help teaching and learning at that time. It focuses on the use of radio broadcasts and the follow up work that can arise from them. In particular it suggests that broadcasts with their resources of sound effects and visual…
Collection author
Resource by: ASE
Comments
No comments yet