What’s it all about?
Science Enquiry Games is a pack of eight games published by Primarily Science (www.primarilyscience.co.uk) that helps pupils aged 4-7 to think like scientists. Activities include sorting cards to represent scientific processes, using rectangles of different sizes to build bar graphs and touching materials to guess what they are, writes Alessio Bernardelli.
The activities help children to develop their questioning techniques, learn about measuring and understand how units work - difficult skills for such young learners to master. The games encourage active learning and group work, which helps to bring complex concepts to life.
For games to inspire older learners, try the TES Games for Grades collection and turn revision into play.
Cross-curricular
The National Schools Partnership, Thomson and First Choice have created the Eco-Traveller educational programme.
Available on TES Resources, the material for key stage 2 (upper-primary) pupils covers science, literacy, geography, history and PSE. Pupils can learn about different cultures, communities and the environment. They can discover the flavours of Mexico or the marine life of Egypt, the forests of Kenya or the beauty of the West Country.
Activities include: investigating the effect of climate change in Cyprus; developing a tourist itinerary for a trip to Sri Lanka; and writing tales inspired by the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.
Simple true-or-false and sorting tasks help pupils to identify facts, and discussions and creative tasks develop their enquiry skills.
