Since 1990 the science curriculum in Northern Ireland has gone through three major changes. In the beginning, fifteen attainment targets were introduced to an unsuspecting and largely unprepared teaching population: these were eventually reduced to five in 1993 and then to the present two in 1996. Unlike in England, technology has never stood as an entity independent of the science content. So the current Northern Ireland primary science and technology curriculum merges the two subjects into one programme of study, divided into two attainment targets: "Investigating and making in science and technology" (AT1) and "Knowledge and understanding of science and technology" (AT2). Ideally, work in the former should follow from study of the latter. The programmes of study must also promote the development of "cross-curricular themes", common to other curricular areas, defined as: "Information technology, Health education, Education for mutual understanding" (EMU) and "Cultural heritage." "Education for mutual understanding" is a key constituent of the Northern Ireland curriculum. In this article, the author looks at how primary science and technology are changing in Northern Ireland.