Primary science education: insights into practice
These video sequences are of lessons and sequences of primary science teaching in a number of important conceptual areas. They illustrate different features of the teaching and learning of science. The teachers involved broadly follow constructivist/conceptual change principles.
| Teaching about electricity by using students’ questions (15 mins 7 secs) The everyday and scientific use of terms is discussed, and students then explore and generate questions on electric circuits… |
Children linking science with technology (19 mins 19 secs) Wendy combines science and technology as students explore the characteristics of small animals in planning their technological designs… |
| Teaching about light (20 mins) Claire probes students’ ideas and associations about light, and provides them with a variety of experiences around which they can refine their understandings… |
Chemical reactions (44 mins 24 secs) Selected excerpts from a substantial Year 3–4 classroom sequence on chemical change… |
An integrated curriculum-case study
The following video clips showcase an integrated curriculum approach. Using the ‘environment’ as the overarching theme, the key learning areas are interwoven into the teaching of the environment. The ‘enviro’ program follows the guidelines of an integrated curriculum in which students are able to make connections across key learning areas and use meaningful contexts for the development of skills, values and understandings. In terms of science, most of the links to the science curriculum are related to the biological science areas, but other strands of science are incorporated where required by the ‘enviro’ program.
Each video clip depicts elements of the environmental approach to the curriculum.
| Ponding activities (30 secs) Students are investigating small animals in the local riverway… |
Worm farm 1 (1min 28 secs) Two girls assemble a worm farm… |
| Safety requirements (25 secs) The teacher is demonstrating one of the safety requirements instigated for working near the water… |
Worm farm 2 (51 secs) This is a different worm farm construction… |
| Identification of small animals (54 secs) The teacher assists the students in identifying the species of water animal trapped in their nets… |
Worm farm 3 (42 secs) The student continues with his explanation about this worm farm… |
| Stick insects (32 secs) A whole-class activity involving the breeding and care of stick insects… |
Worm juice (1 min 10 secs) Students explain how they harvest the worm exudate, bottle it and sell it as fertiliser… |
| Wind machines (49 secs) As part of their studies on alternative energy sources, students construct a wind machine using solar energy… |
Weed tumbler (15 secs) Students demonstrate a weed tumbler, another form of composting… |
| Wind machine discovery (2mins 24 secs) As one student investigates the wind machines, he discovers an interesting phenomenon… |
Classroom displays (26 secs) Students’ work is on display in the classroom… |
| Watering plants (30 secs) Planting native species and caring for them are a part of each student’s role… |
Visual diary (2 mins 55 secs) A student describes her visual diary… |