Primary Teacher UK

The Children's University of Manchester

The Children's University of Manchester contains a number of pages of high-quality interactive content relating to: the body, energy and the environment, ancient Egypt, Space, Teeth, Senses, Textiles and Word games.

Link: http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/

E-On energy experience

The E-On Energy Experience is a free multimedia resource for 5-16 year olds that explores energy, including what energy is, how to stay safe around energy and why saving energy is important.

For the 5-7 year olds there is an Energy Home and teaching notes. This consists of 4 sections:

What is energy - find out what energy is and about different energy sources.
Using energy - locate items in the home that use energy and find out how this energy is used and where is comes from.
Wasting energy - explore what a day would be like with no energy and find out how to save energy.
Safety - be a Safety Superhero and help everyone stay safe in the kitchen.

For the 7-11 years olds there is an Energy Town and teaching notes. This consists of 4 sections:

Electricity - identify items that use electricity, look at how electricity is produced, see how a simple circuit works and how electricity gets to the home.
Energy and the Environment - look at how different energy sources affect the environment.
Saving Energy - find out why it is important not to waste energy and look into ways that energy can be saved.
Safety - discover how to stay safe around electricity.

Phun Science

Here's a great free game called Phun that you can download and play with to develop those that enjoy physics in class or just for youself. It's been developed by a Computing Science student Emil Ernerfeldt for supervisor Kenneth Bodin at VRLab, Umeå University. The solver is based on work by Claude Lacoursière

Phun is meant to be a playground where people can be creative. It can also be used as an educational tool to learn about physics concepts such as restitution and friction. Have a look at the video to see what 'phun' you can have!

For more info on Phun have a look at the Wiki. I think this is almost as much fun as Armadillo Run.

The Big Schools' Birdwatch

The Big Schools' Birdwatch is a free activity for schools throughout the UK, which the RSPB run every year in January and February. By observing the birds that visit the school grounds we can help to monitor UK bird numbers.

A free teacher's activity pack is available and there is also lots of information and resources on the RSPB pages to help carry out the activity. Schools without suitable school grounds can carry out their birdwatch in a local park. This years Big Schools' Birdwatch runs from 21 January-1 February 2008.

Full details on how to take part are available on the RSPB pages.

Teachers TV launches national science investigation for schools

As part of National Science and Engineering Week, Teachers TV, in association with The BA (British Association for the Advancement of Science), will attempt the largest national school’s scientific experiment investigating children’s readiness to learn, 10 – 14 March 2008. Schools can register to take part in this national experiment from Monday 14 January 2008 at www.teachers.tv/experiment. To help teachers, lesson plans providing examples of how to integrate Ready to Learn? The Experiment into the Science curriculum at every Key Stage will be available from www.teachers.tv/experiment, and from February, CPD programmes and a fascinating documentary on the neuro-science behind the experiment will be broadcast on Teachers TV.

Bee Movie game for primary chools

Primary schools across the country will be able to get a free interactive classroom game devised by insect scientists linked to the upcoming DreamWorks animated comedy Bee Movie.

The Royal Entomological Society (RES) has teamed up with DreamWorks to produce a free teacher’s resource which features characters and artwork from the forthcoming film. The game aims to educate children about bees and the important role they play in the eco-system.

The resource, called ‘Into the Hive’, has been developed for Key Stage 1 and 2, and can be played with up to four teams in the classroom. With the teacher acting as the quiz master, children pick a character from the film and follow their path to make it back to the hive before the other teams, answering bee-related multiple choice questions along the way.

RES president Jim Hardie said: “We are absolutely delighted to be partnering with DreamWorks on this project. The bee is a vital pollinator and one of the hardest working insects, and is unfortunately suffering a drop in numbers in the UK. We hope that our interactive resource encourages children to learn more about bees and the insect world”.

The game pack includes an A2 game board, a sheet of counters featuring characters from the film, and 32 bee-related questions for each age group, which have been approved by entomologists. The game also features extension activities and outside learning, and has clear links to the Science curriculum.

‘Into the Hive’ is supported by the DfES Year of Food and Farming and Growing Schools. Teachers can order their free pack by visiting http://www.royensoc.co.uk/welcome_intothehive.shtml and filling in their details, or by calling 01423 567111.

Gardening Club?

Suttons new ‘Fun to Grow’ range have been introduced for the next generation of gardeners. These products are fun to grow and highly educational. The seed-based growing products in the “Fun to grow” range, feature practical tips, interesting facts and even healthy eating recipes, and have been designed to tie in closely with KS1 and KS2. Information on flowering plants, parts of plants, seeds, plant nutrition and growth are all apparent in the use of this range and also the added fun facts and activity sheets. The products have been designed to appeal not only to children, but also parents, grandparents and teachers.

Suttons new Fun to Grow products are scheduled for delivery to retailers from early October, ideal timing for the Christmas gift market.

CREST Star Investigators

Here's some information about the science club that I will be setting up in my new school - The CREST Star Investigators.  This is the new name for the Young Investigators primary award scheme in science which has been running for a number of years.  The pack that you can order allows you to run a science club in which the children can work towards a recognised award at the end of the club.  The activities, all of which are provided in the pack, focus on thinking about, talking about, and doing science.  There are 3 different levels:

1. Star activities for 5-7 year olds.  This award will normally take about 8 weeks to complete.  There are 12 activities in the resource pack, and children are expected to complete 8 to gain their award.
2. SuperStar activities for 7-11 year olds. This award will normally take about 12 weeks to complete.
   There are 15 activities in the resource pack (3 more launch in January 2008). Children are expected to complete 12 in order to gain their award. 
3. MegaStar.  When the children reach MegaStar, they now work on a series of projects, rather than individual activities. The projects contain suggestions for (usually) three different activities around the theme. They also contain starting points for other, related, activities.
   
   In MegaStar projects (usually for 8-12 year olds) children research and think about scientific problems, make independent decisions about materials and procedures, record and interpret results, organise their work and communicate ideas. Each project will normally take about 5 hours to complete.
   
   There are 3 projects in the resource pack (1 more will launch in January, and others are likely to follow). Children must complete 3 projects in order to gain their award.

You can download sample activities from the CREST website which will give you an idea of what's involved in the pack.  For more information check out the website.

Cool Seas Roadshow

This week the Marine Conservation Society visited our school with the Cool Seas Roadshow!

The presentation featured life-sized marine creatures (whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles and seals). Demonstrations were delivered to each year group, and the children found out about lots of different marine wildlife. Each child was given an action pack booklet and each class received a poster. Resources are available online at the Cool Seas website.

The children found it really interesting and some were enthralled by their booklets. The life-sized models were actually quite spectacular.

Lack of experiments in primary school

Science experiments are being banished from many classrooms because of fears of compensation claims, say scientists according to the Institute of Chemical Engineers.  They say that many primary teachers feared being sued in the event of an accident or misunderstood health and safety guidelines.  Clear guidelines to ensure pupil safety in the science lab were in place but primary teachers needed the right training to have the confidence to conduct experiments according to Dr David Brown.  He says:

"In order to really engage kids with science we have to have some good imaginative demonstrations whether that's with things that go bang or understanding aspects of how plants and animals behave. You can do a lot of good science with food and drink, for example."

The institution which works with 100 primary schools in the UK, has received reports of teachers being reluctant to demonstrate simple electrical circuits using low voltage power sources and pupils "pond-dipping".