This Nuffield Foundation funded research seeks to clarify the role of practical work in primary school science.

The project is led by Professor Sarah Earle, in collaboration with Dr Stuart Read and The University of Manchester’s , Grace Marson and Dr Julie Jordan.

This research views practical work from a uniquely primary perspective, to consider its use in science lessons with young children. Drawing on a scoping literature review examining 195 documents, 231 responses to a stakeholder survey and 34 teacher interviews, the makes three key contributions to the field: a new definition, a prioritisation of purposes and a model for pedagogy.

Supported with further funding from the Nuffield and Comino Foundations, examples of real classroom practice were recorded on school visits to 30 teachers in 20 schools across the four nations of the UK. The resulting collection of professional development videos is provided here to support purposeful, connected and inclusive practical work for primary science learning. Videos can be accessed individually via the links below or as a collection on this .

These professional development videos consider ways to make practical work purposeful in primary science:

1.  (introduction to project findings)
2.
3.
4.

These professional development videos consider ways to support children with their scientific thinking when engaging in practical activities:

5.
6.
7.

These professional development videos consider ways to support communication and inclusion in primary science practical work:

8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Thanks go to those who have supported this research and development, especially to the teachers who welcomed us into their schools to help create examples that reflect the reality of children’s practical explorations in primary science.

Please note: The examples in these professional development videos were filmed in real classrooms across the UK. Since they were not scripted activities, it was not possible to avoid background noise, but we hope that this is mitigated by the addition of subtitles.

Teachers selected and risk assessed their own lessons. For Health and Safety guidance regarding practical activities, please refer to for Scotland and for England, Wales & Northern Ireland.

Further information

Further resources from the team for supporting primary science practical work can be found via the , the Royal Society and the (TAPS) project pages.

If you would like to get in contact about the research please email primary.science@bathspa.ac.uk.

For SEERIH at The University of Manchester visit the or email fascinate@manchester.ac.uk.