The school the authors were working in had an established ethos of involving children in their own learning and allowed them to contribute their ideas to the planning of units of learning. Their planning was based on what the class teacher and children had previously begun in their food and nutrition topic. Although the children could not be…

In September 2010 the Wellcome Trust published a detailed report which, for the first time, gave an in-depth analysis of the learning experiences of children in England and Wales as they prepare for science assessment at the end of their primary education (key stage 2), and the children's ideas about how the experience might be improved. The…

The author believes that to truly engage children in learning, an imaginative approach with purposeful activities is very important. One way that this can be implemented is through simple "engineering projects" where science, design and technology (D&T), mathematics and information and communication technology (ICT) are combined,…

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of two strategies for negotiating the question for exploration during science inquiry on student achievement and teachers' perceptions. The study is set in the context of the Science Writing Heuristic. The first strategy (small group) consisted of each group of four students negotiating a question…

This research is a high-resolution analysis of grade 6 (ages 11-12) children's interview transcripts about the operation of power stations, before and after teaching. The focus of the study was on how children's conceptual development is built at a discursive level, namely how language is used to express changes in their thoughts. The theoretical…

This study investigated children's judgments of the epistemic status of justifications for causal claims. Twenty-six children (14 boys, 12 girls) between the ages of 8 and 10 were asked to help two story characters choose the "best reason" for believing a claim. The reasons included appeals to an authority, to a plausible causal mechanism, or to…

Habits of inquiry should be nurtured as early as possible. Elementary students must be challenged to ask good questions and develop inquiring attitudes. As a science teacher, educator, professional developer, and science program reviewer, the author has often observed that the default is to use "good" science investigations from…

The word "living" is commonly used throughout elementary science lessons that focus on the biological world. It is a word teachers often take for granted when teaching life science concepts. How similar the constructed meaning of a common word like "living" is to the meaning intended by the teacher or instructional materials depends on how a…

Science is more than learning a collection of facts. In the classroom, it is about creating a deeper level of understanding of the world and providing students with the tools to share that knowledge. One can share knowledge orally or in writing, in a variety of genres such as reports, arguments, and explanations. This article describes a unit…

The Science Teachers Learning from Lesson Analysis (STeLLA) project is a videobased analysis-of-practice PD program aimed at improving teacher and student learning at the upper elementary level. The PD program developed and utilized two "lenses," a Science Content Storyline Lens and a Student Thinking Lens, to help teachers analyze science…

This research aims to explore the problems that teacher have experienced their opinion towards effectives and and functionality of teaching-learning process of Primary Science and Technology curriculum started to be implemented in 2004-2005 academic year in Turkey. The qualitative research design is used in this study. Research data are collected…

Many think of intervention strategies in terms of literacy or mathematics, but the author believes such strategies are just as important in teaching science, particularly for those with English as an additional language (EAL). With the recent focus in England on inclusion, achievement for all, and the Government's personalisation agenda, it is…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze and interpret the stories told by one teacher, Ms. M, in a fifth grade science classroom. In this study, stories are defined as teacher utterances that are used in first person or third person narrative view, and are related to an experience that occurred outside the classroom. This research…

Guided reading, as developed by Fountas and Pinnell (2001), has been a staple of elementary reading programs for the past decade. Teachers in the elementary school setting utilize this small group, tailored instruction in order to differentiate and meet the instructional needs of the students. The literature shows academic benefit for students who…

Children have formal science instruction from kindergarten in Australia and from Year 3 in China. The purpose of this research was to explore the impact that different approaches to primary science curricula in China and Australia have on children's conceptual understanding of science. Participants were Year 3 children from three schools of high,…