Teaching Primary Science Promoting Enjoyment and Developing Understanding

This fully updated third edition brings science subject knowledge and pedagogy together to support, inform and inspire those training to teach primary science. Written in a clear and accessible way, Teaching Primary Science provides comprehensive coverage of a wide range of science themes. With a brand new chapter on STEM education, additional guidance on where to find the best resources, and increased emphasis on assessment, story-telling and problem-solving, this book shows how science can offer children pleasure and intellectual satisfaction and help them to develop sound scientific minds. Key features include: Ideas for practice exemplify how you can help children to acquire and use scientific knowledge to satisfy their curiosity about how the natural world works. Something to think about scenarios help to extend and develop your own understanding of key ideas. Examples of classroom situations, dialogues and stories help you see how theory is applied to practice and support you in reflecting on the best methods for teaching. Global Dimension sections offer starting points for discussion and research into how scientific ideas can be positively applied and used to evaluate the impact of human activity on the natural world. Talk Skills and Science Discussion sections enable you to develop children’s scientific knowledge and verbal reasoning skills.

Part 1: Theory and Practice 1. The pleasure of finding things out 2. Views of science learning 3. Organising how children learn science 4. Scientific understanding and mental models 5. Talk for learning in science 6. Scientific inquiry and the passionately curious 7. Planning and assessing children’s science learning 8. Learning outside the classroom 9. STEM education: enriching the primary school experience 10. The origins of scientific knowledge Part 2: Subject knowledge and ideas for practice 11. The Earth and beyond 12. Energy and the well-being of the planet 13. Interdependence 14. Diversity 15. Adaptation and evolution 16. Health and well-being 17. The particle nature of materials 18. Changing materials 19. Electricity and magnetism 20. Forces in motion 21. Light 22. Sound

The authors, who specialise in primary science and science education, worked together at the University of Northampton. Their main research interests and publications are concerned with promoting the value of social learning, more specifically the effective use of talk for learning and story-telling strategies.