Primary Science: A Guide to Teaching Practice

Why is science hard to teach? What types of scientific investigation can you use in the primary classroom?

Touching on current curriculum concerns and the wider challenges of developing high-quality science education, this book is an indispensable overview of important areas of teaching every aspiring primary school teacher needs to understand including: the role of science in the curriculum, communication and literacy in science teaching, science outside the classroom, transitional issues and assessment.

Key features of this second edition include:

• A new chapter on science in the Early Years

• A new practical chapter on how to work scientifically

• Master’s-level ‘critical reading’ boxes in every chapter linking topics to relevant specialist literature

• Expanded coverage of creativity, and link science to numeracy and computing

This is essential reading for all students studying primary science on initial teacher education courses, including undergraduate (BEd, BA with QTS), postgraduate (PGCE, School Direct, SCITT), and also NQTs.

Mick Dunne is Senior Lecturer in Science Education at Manchester Metropolitan University
Alan Peacock is Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter

Alan Peacock is Honorary University Fellow at the Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter, and until recently was Editor of Primary Science journal for six years. He has worked in teaching, training and research in science education for over 40 years, in various regions of the UK and overseas.  He has carried out primary science consultancy work for the British Council, UNESCO, the EU, The National Trust, various environmental groups and numerous NGOs in Africa, including in Kenya, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Senegal and Mozambique. His publications include Science Skills: A Problem-Solving Activities Book (Taylor & Francis); Science in Primary Schools: The Multicultural Dimension (Routledge); Opportunities for Science in the Primary School (Trentham); Teaching Primary Science (Macmillan Education) and Eco-literacy for Primary Schools (Trentham).  He has also written and edited the Sayansi (Science) series of pupils’ science texts for Tanzanian schools, and recently chaired the UNESCO working group on ‘Guidelines for enhancing quality education through textbooks’.