Science in the Primary School

Yvonne Garson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2002
• ISBN:
  9781134988716
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Using practical examples and case studies the author examines some of the experimental and investigative teaching methods which are intended to support the 'specialist approach' in the teaching of primary science.

1

Primary science in perspective

This is a book for teachers and would-be teachers whose tolerance for rhetoric and fine words has reached a low ebb. For those teachers who are feeling pressurised to provide ‘effective primary science’ and are looking for models to work from, clues to success or examples of good practice, this book attempts to set a framework within which they can encourage their pupils to explore, invent, discover and learn scientific skills while they themselves realistically monitor the children’s progress. This framework needs to be contextualised, so this introductory chapter is devoted to providing a backcloth to possible teaching strategies by examining current thinking as well as taking a brief look at the contributions made during the last twenty years of curriculum development.

Ask teachers, pupils, parents or educational administrators to think of words that express the feelings evoked by their classroom experiences of science and you will come up with a list not dissimilar to the one provided here:

fun	repetitive
difficult	old-fashioned
time-consuming	confusing
what if?	wonderful
exciting	not relevant
messy	practical
great	investigating
too much like maths	finding out
absorbing	incomprehensible
boring	challenging
relevant to everyday life	frustrating
thought-provoking

Some words occur more frequently than others and the range of emotions expressed is surprising, but one of the most noteworthy things is that few people have no reactions at all—talking to people about their memories, perceptions and experiences associated with science usually produces a strong emotional response. A variety of people, all connected in some way with primary schools, produced the above list of words and phrases associated with science; in a simple way it highlights the wide divergence of views held by those concerned with organising and implementing primary science programmes as to what science actually entails. Any primary science curriculum must be sensitive to this diversity, for if it is not it will fail to capitalise on the existing skills and expertise of classroom teachers, and undermine their confidence in science teaching. Thus, science in the primary school must reflect a flexibility of approach; in this way all the variety of experience and differences in training of primary teachers can be seen as valuable assets—pupils don’t all have to do science in the same way.

The emphasis and direction of science teaching in primary schools have altered in recent years, with perhaps the most radical change being its inclusion in the primary curriculum at all. That is not to say that science has been excluded in the past but rather that it has depended upon the choice of individual teachers—by contrast with mathematics and language teaching. If science is to be part of every primary pupil’s experience some schools and teachers are going to have to make changes in their classroom activities. However, before it is accepted that change is necessary, it is important not only to examine what is meant by science and what bearing this has on the education of 5–11-year-old children, but also to look critically at the supposed differences between science teaching today and that which was practised twenty years ago.

At its very best, what are the essential qualities of primary science? It is my view that it should be seen not as a subject to be done at set times in rooms with specialist facilities but rather as a series of explorations and a way of solving problems which can be applied anywhere, adapting whatever materials happen to be at hand. This is in contrast to the situation in which pupils become dependent on a supply of traditional scientific equipment before they can work in a scientific way, for if this is the case the discoveries they can make and the areas in which they can solve problems are likely to be severely restricted.

Figure 1.1 An example of a workcard giving specific instructions

(Source: ‘Propulsion’, Section 3, Flying Starts Here, Science Horizons, Level 26)

Obviously it is important to establish in principle what doing primary science actually entails. Science for primary-aged pupils must be an active and not a passive process. Passivity here is not merely synonymous with a lack of experimentation (indeed, it can include doing experiments, especially if these are carried out in a mechanical—and mechanistic—way) but can also involve, for example, following the instructions on a worksheet much like the recipe in a cook book. Figure 1.1 gives an example of just such a worksheet.

Another example of this passivity is found when a teacher instructs a pupil to carry out certain procedures. Either the verbal instructions to the children telling them how to fold a filter paper or the diagrammatic instructions shown in Figure 1.2 illustrate this.

For in such cases, although the pupils may be doing things, there is little opportunity for them to develop the intellectual skills of true problem-solving.

Figure 1.2 Diagrams showing how to fold a filter paper

(Source: ‘Making things pure’, card 29A, Look: Primary Science)

Furthermore, ‘activity’ in this context is liable to misinterpretation, for it can entail processes other than doing experiments, although these are clearly the most important element in doing science. Some excellent ‘scientific investigations’ can be found in the ASE publication Primary Science, spring 1986, written up by Cynthia Lawson, the teacher with responsibility for science. Here the pupils from Frodsham CE Controlled Primary School in Cheshire looked at a local industry; this is illustrated in Figure 1.3.

Other aspects that come under the umbrella of this investigation might include pupils searching for solutions to questions that are outside their immediate experience by using reference material to increase the scope of their knowledge and understanding of a particular topic. The topic used by that school included some research using old documents.

Class 5 studied the distribution of salt beds and the problem of subsidence. Interested by the Museum, they found out about the history of the mines, and read an 1866 report about the employment of children in the works—and were pleased to know they were not sent underground.

Also, curiosity aroused by investigations can lead pupils outside their own classrooms. The realisation that the science that they are doing has applications in their own lives is an important part of their scientific education. Figure 1.4 shows how pupils used a local doctor as a resource and documents their communications with a local food manufacturer.

Some of these activities may be more effective and successful than others in enabling pupils to understand the nature of science, and, given this, teachers need to select work suitable for their particular pupils. However, it must also be remembered that flexibility of approach and a range of varied activities are beneficial and it may not always be possible to choose the very best. It is essential that we do not forget that there are many ways of arriving at the goals of good primary science. This is an important point to bear in mind when considering the details of curriculum planning.

Evidence from data collected by the APU in Science Report for Teachers: Science at Age 11¹ gives some indication of the existing strengths within primary schools and points to some weaknesses which could be taken into account in curriculum planning. The survey suggests that ‘schools are providing suitable opportunities for the children to develop general skills such as observing, measuring and keeping written records which are widely applicable across the curriculum’. All these are skills which any primary teacher would claim to foster during their classroom activities—mathematics, language development and topic or project work. For the development of primary science, however, they are not deemed to be enough, and alone they do not provide a sound enough basis for the discovery and problem-solving activities which are central to scientific enquiry. For these the APU report goes on to suggest that other skills are required:

Given this sound base, there is now a need to consider how to help children acquire these more specific science skills such as:

Figure 1.3 Science investigations into salt

(Source: ‘Starting from a local industry’, Primary Science, 19, spring 1986)

defining patterns in observations
giving explanations
predicting
hypothesising
controlling variables and
planning investigations

in which children are much less competent.

A consideration of each of these will feature in subsequent chapters.

One thing to be borne in mind by any primary school teacher who may feel overwhelmed by these ‘failings’ in their pupils is that these skills were also found to be lacking in many thirteenand fifteen-year-olds. However, the primary sector provides a much greater cause for optimism about shifting the directionand emphasis of science teaching in the future because of the greater relative autonomy of the primary school teacher and the lack of constraints imposed by external examinations.

In order to understand why so much government money (mainly in the form of education support grants and extra inservice provision) has been provided in the 1980s for the development of science curricula, it is necessary to trace the fortunes of science within the primary curriculum in the preceding two decades. Why has science in the primary school become such a contentious issue? This backward glance does provide some explanations.

The late 1960s—the post-Plowden Report era—heralded a growth of optimism in curriculum planning, backed up by a buoyant economy. There was talk of pupils finding out for themselves. The questions that were asked in the Plowden Report² are indicative of the sort of primary teaching that was being openly endorsed.

Has finding out proved to be better than being told? Have methods been worked out through which discovery can be stimulated and guided, and children develop from it a coherent body of knowledge?

Do children learn more through active co-operation or by passive obedience?

The report not only asked questions; in seeking answers to those (and other questions) it stated that: ‘We draw attention to the best practices we have found as a pointer to the direction in which all schools should move.’ And these best practices openly encouraged the class teacher to explore with her pupils, to act as a guide and consultant, to become a manager of learning rather than a purveyor of facts. That indeed was the popular rhetoric at the time—even though, as we now know, twenty years later, the reality bore little resemblance to these words. The majority of the nation’s primary schools did not substantially change into the free and easy child-centred establishments that popular myth would have had us believe. It was in this climate that Science 5/13³ and Nuffield Primary Science⁴ were spawned. Both are series of resource books for teachers full of excellent ideas for the kind of active disc...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Series Editor’s Preface
• 1 Primary science in perspective
• 2 The framework for planning science activities
• 3 Planning what to teach: content choice
• 4 The organisation of science within the primary curriculum
• 5 Classroom organisation
• 6 Science outside the classroom
• References
• Bibliography
• Index