Teaching Science Through a Theme

In our science seminars we were set a task to get into small groups and create a 45 minute presentation to present to the rest of our class. The aim was for the presentation to be a demonstration of how to teach science through a particular theme of your own choice. We were advised to include appropriate activities to develop children's knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts within the National Curriculum , in relation to the theme, and to have practical elements to enhance 'Working Scientifically' skills, whilst encouraging and maintaining curiosity.

My group chose Beauty and the Beast as the theme, because the new updated film version was due to be released soon, so we thought this would be something that children would be interested in. However, in reflection I think this theme may not appeal to all children, as typically Disney Princesses appeal more to a female audience. When teaching in the future, I would ensure that I know my pupils well and use their interests to inspire my teaching choices, such as choosing themes to link my teaching to.

We decided to base the science content all around the topic of 'Forces and Magnets' at a Year 3 level (which could be extended further for a Year 5 level). Specifically, we wanted to mainly focus on comparing how things move on different surfaces, though a fair test investigation, using toy cars and ramps with different surfaces. Also, we considered children's misconceptions about forces and movement, through a concept cartoon.

We decided to included a letter from a character in the film, as a stimulus for the investigation, which would engage children and provide a purpose and some structure to the investigation, as the children could take important information from the letter, to use during the planning stages of the investigation.

This was our main investigation:

After a few weeks of planning and preparation with my group, we delivered our presentation. Unfortunately, one member of the group was unable to present on the day, due to illness, but as a team we adapted quickly and shared out the responsibilities. It was a educational experience to work as a team and present together, as we did not have much experience of presenting to our peers from the first year of our course. Also, I found that the experience developed our organisation, planning and communication skills, as we had to find the time to all meet up and create the presentation together. The presentation itself helped develop our presenting skills and confidence levels.

Each group presented their themed science presentations over a three week time period and it was great way to gain new, interesting ideas on how to teach science. There were a range of different approaches and activities for teaching the science curriculum, which I found very inspirational and I would definitely consider testing out some of the ideas my peers demonstrated or using them as a foundation to develop my own further ideas in the future. It was clear that everyone in my class had put a lot of thought, time and effort into their presentations, to create enjoyable learning experiences for children, whist still remembering to develop knowledge and understanding in science.