Constructing Direct Current (DC) electric circuits is simple and engaging for primary students, but that is not all there is to learning about electricity. Mandatory learning in the Australian Curriculum: Science (ACARA, 2018) expects Year 6 students to explain some of the processes underlying electric circuits. The abstract nature of key…

Studying nature from the atomic and molecular perspective gives students access to modern scientific paradigms and could improve achievement and motivation towards science learning. A visual and tactile approach to chemistry can form the foundation for a child-friendly but high-level chemistry curriculum and could be a powerful tool to invigorate…

Inquiry-based science interventions aim to improve students' science proficiency by helping them understand scientific processes. In these interventions, students conduct hands-on investigations of science concepts and everyday phenomena, construct explanations for what they observe, consider alternative explanations, and communicate and justify…

Inquiry-based science interventions aim to improve students' science proficiency by helping them understand scientific processes. In these interventions, students conduct hands-on investigations of science concepts and everyday phenomena, construct explanations for what they observe, consider alternative explanations, and communicate and justify…

Science teachers, whether in primary or secondary schools, are in the front line for creating a more scientifically literate community. This article describes the STEM X Academy, a program created with the following goals: (1) demystify Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM); (2) help teachers transform their teaching with…

The Indigenous Sky Stories Program may have the potential to deliver significant and long-lasting changes to the way science is taught to Year 5 and 6 primary school students. The context for this article is informed by research that shows that educational outcomes can be strengthened when Indigenous knowledge is given the space to co-exist with…

"I can feel it making my brain bigger": from a Year 8 student at Pinjarra Senior High School (SHS) halfway through the two-year Thinking Science Program. Pinjarra was a pilot school for the program in 2009/10 and a growing number of schools in Western Australia (WA) are implementing this program in Years Seven to Nine as part of the…

This paper describes a novel science education initiative developed for 8-to 12-year-old children by the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute at Dublin City University, Ireland. "Me and My Body" (MAMBO) is an interactive, multi-faceted programme that enables children to explore and understand the dynamic physiological parameters of the human…

The annual Philbrick Science Showcase is a family event that celebrates students' science learning and highlights an ongoing partnership with the Boston Nature Center, a Massachusetts Audubon Society sanctuary within walking distance of the Philbrick school. At least twice a year, students visit the Nature Center to extend the science curriculum,…

In July 2001, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) agreed to the development of assessment instruments and key performance measures for reporting on student skills, knowledge and understandings in primary science. It directed the newly established Performance Measurement and Reporting Taskforce…

In 2003 the first nationally-comparable science assessment was designed, developed and carried out under the auspices of the national council of education ministers, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). In 2006 a second science assessment was conducted and, for the first time nationally, the…

In July 2001, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) agreed to the development of assessment instruments and key performance measures for reporting on student skills, knowledge and understandings in primary science. It directed the newly established Performance Measurement and Reporting Taskforce…