For most of my school friends, the highlights of our week were going to science lessons and seeing what experiments we could beg our teacher to do with us. I always loved science. It wasn’t something that I can remember doing in the classroom of my primary school, but I have great memories of going to Smyths and buying all of the bath bomb and bouncy ball science kits as I was just fascinated by it all.
I think that is one of the key things from studying science – the pure fascination of how amazing our world is! From going into space to a simple activity like baking a cake we can open our minds to think about why things happen; a skill that is so important to have.
When we were discussing why science is important it really clicked to me how cross curricular it actually it. Jonathan likened it for us to a simple everyday example: If two pupils had a fight at break time and came up to you, you are asking them, “What happened?” which is the scientific hypothesis, “Why did it happen?” which is the critical thinking of the experiment and “What could you do next time?” which is the conclusion. The skills from science are applied in our everyday lives whether we see them or not, so it is really important that we emphasise STEM right from the beginning of learning to ensure we spark interest in our pupils.
In a STEM and language choices in school:Young People in Scotland Survey 2017 it was found that over half of young people choosing to take a STEM subject said they did so because:
- They enjoyed it (56%)
- They felt it was important for their future career or employment (52%) or they felt it was important for what they wanted to study in the future (51%).
- Boys were significantly more likely than girls to select the following reasons for choosing/intending to choose a STEM subject: ‘I enjoy
it’ (61% vs 52%); ‘I’m good at it’ (45% vs 33%); and, ‘It fits well with other subjects I want to study’(41% vs 34%).
Scotland is working to close the attainment gap in STEM between boys and girls, and those in higher levels of deprivation:
- There were no differences in the number of girls and boys (67% vs 63%) reporting that they had chosen or were intending to study STEM. However, girls were more likely than boys (13% vs 8%)to report that they had not chosen or were not intending to choose a STEM subject.
- Young people from the most deprived areas (SIMD 1) were less likely than those in the least deprived areas (SIMD 5) to report that they had chosen to study or were intending to study a STEM subject (57% versus 71%).
(https://www.gov.scot/publications/young-people-in-scotland-survey-2017-stem-and-language-findings/ Accessed 02/02/2019)
From reading ‘The Sciences 3-18’ from Education Scotland, I believe the key features of a good science lesson are:
- Challenging, engaging and enjoyable learning and teaching activities with flexibility and choice
- An encouraging learning environment
- Fruitful investigative work
- The opportunity for scientific communication through presenting
- Stimulating group discussions, debates and decision making exercises around topical issues
- Open ended investigations fro higher order thinking
- The use of ICT for stimulating supporting and reinforcing learning
(https://education.gov.scot/improvement/documents/sciences/sci14_sciencescurriculumimpact/sciences-3-to-18-2013-update.pdf Accessed 02/02/2019)
The ‘Sciences: Principles and practice’ document sets out why STEM, and in particular science, are so important in the curriculum:
“Science is an important part of our heritage and we use its applications every day in our lives at work, at leisure and in the home. Science and the application of science are central to our economic future and to our health and wellbeing as individuals and as a society. Scotland has a long tradition of scientific discovery, of innovation in the application of scientific discovery, and of the application of science in the protection and enhancement of the natural and built environment. Children and young people are fascinated by new
discoveries and technologies and become increasingly aware of, and passionate about, the impact of science on their own health and wellbeing, the health of society and the health of the environment.
Through learning in the sciences, children and young people develop their interest in, and understanding of, the living, material and physical world. They engage in a wide range of collaborative investigative tasks, which allows them to develop important skills to become creative, inventive and enterprising adults in a world where the skills and knowledge of the sciences are needed across all sectors of the economy. ”
(https://education.gov.scot/Documents/sciences-pp.pdf Accessed 02/02/2019)
I am really excited that I have the opportunity to share more about our amazing scientific world to help inspire a greater love for STEM amongst our pupils.
