Activities to encourage discussion and debate in the classroom
The implementation of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) provides a timely opportunity to consider the way in which aspects of science are taught in our schools and to provide a range of different experiences for both teachers and students.
The Sciences: Principles and Practice paper for CfE calls for a variety of approaches to be used in teaching and learning including:
• use of relevant contexts, familiar to young people’s experiences
• collaborative learning and independent thinking
• emphasis on children explaining their understanding of concepts, informed discussion and communication.
With support from the Primary Science Teaching Trust and its predecessor (the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust), SSERC has recently revised and updated a series of resources to support teaching in three areas. All resources are now available and can be accessed by clicking on the relevant section below:
(Photo by Daria vasileva from Pexels ) |
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| Diet, Diabetes, Obesity | The Liver and Alcohol | Vaccines and Vaccination |
| The aim of these activities is to develop an understanding of some of the health issues associated with being overweight and to encourage discussion of some of the ways in which individuals and society can intervene in this problem. | The aim of these activities is to develop an understanding of the importance of a healthy liver to the body and to consider some of the health and social issues associated with alcohol consumption. The activities centre on encouraging discussion on the many ways in which alcohol affects the lives of young people and asks them to talk about some of the dangers of drinking too much. | The aim of these activities is to develop an understanding of immunity and vaccines and the importance of vaccination programmes in general. It also aims to give the pupils information about Human Papilloma Virus and opportunities to discuss some of the resulting issues. |
More recently the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust has changed to be the Primary Science Teaching Trust and they have supported the revision and updating of further resources – Let’s Talk Environmental Issue and Let’s Talk Plants Matter. These are now available from the sections below :-
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| Environmental Issues | Plants Matter |
| These resources aim to provide teachers with materials which will help them to raise environmental science issues with their pupils. Environmental Issues is written for pupils at second and third level of CfE or Key Stage 2 and 3. The resource also supports the new Scottish National 4 Biology course. | This activity aims to provide teachers with a resource which will help them to raise environmental science issues with their pupils. It is written for pupils at CfE second level or Key Stage 2 but it could be modified to be used with younger or older pupils. The resource also supports the new Scottish National 3 and 4 Biology courses. |
