Sunlight comes with a plethora of benefits for kids, from boosting overall health to improving social functioning. So, if you’re like so many other parents, you may find it a little concerning when your child spends most of their time indoors engaging with electronic devices.

In today’s blog, Mark Stead, National Learning Manager at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust discusses the importance of providing children with a deep emotional connection with nature and the benefits this brings to them personally, in addition to longer-term environmental benefits.

In her previous blog, Susanna Ramsey introduced ‘The Nature Collection’: her ‘hands on’ educational collection of skulls, skeletons, skins, feathers, insect specimens and other exhibits relating to British wildlife. Here, she looks in more detail at the skeletons of our local animals.

Susanna Ramsey has created a huge collection of physical specimens and photographs of British wildlife. She has been working with Fellows from the Primary Science Teaching Trust to create some wonderful new resources to support science in the Early Years. In this blog, Susanna shares the story of how the collection began, her passion for wildlife and photography, and how teachers can access her collection.

To celebrate British Science Week, Wow Science is delighted that Early Years Resources is offering our readers the chance to win one of 4 amazing ‘Coral Connections’ sets to help young children create an underwater environment, showcasing the natural and organic beauty of coral reefs.

Continuing the theme of our last blog post, the second half of the spring term holds many opportunities for children to experience the awe and wonder of the natural world, even though the weather is unpredictable during the next few months.

In these uncertain times, it is important to focus on positive experiences in the natural environment, whatever the weather. Whether you look up into the sky or down to the Earth, there is potential for awe and wonder to be found all around us.

The upcoming NASA/SpaceX launch, which sends 4 astronauts to the International Space Station, and the planned science investigations for the ISS, provide an excellent stimulus for children to investigate conditions that affect plant germination and growth.

Encounter Edu designs and delivers sponsored STEM and global learning programs, transforming education inside and outside the classroom. Specialising in producing live lessons on global topics for the classroom, they create bespoke education programmes designed to engage and inspire. Their immersive learning experiences give students the necessary understanding and skills to tackle the world’s most pressing issues.

There are so many achievements in science, and so many inspirational scientists, but it is all too easy to consider only the most famous. In her blog, Valerie Cox shares information on a group of scientists that she feels should be brought to children’s attention. Consider this list as a starting point and encourage children to delve more deeply into others too.

Hermann Samano shares his thoughts on engaging children in geology. In his blog, he includes useful detail on rock types and links to helpful websites, so that parents and teachers can feel confident in supporting their budding geologists.

Linking science to other subjects can be a powerful way to engage children in their learning. In today’s blog, we consider how one particular event in 1666, the Great Fire of London, can introduce children to materials and irreversible changes due to burning.

On a day when NASA has launched its latest mission, to put the Perseverance Rover on Mars, we consider how space is a naturally engaging subject for children, with numerous opportunities and resources to support children’s exploration of the subject.

As children, we played with marbles. We were fascinated by the way they felt, how they moved, their colours. They were something that we could carry around with us; not too large and not too small. We may have moved on to larger toys and then mobile devices, yet a marble, a type of ball, can still hold hours and hours of fun.

Have you washed your hands recently?

Recently, we have been told again and again of the importance of washing our hands to prevent the spread of COVID- 19 (the 2019-2020 Corona virus). Primary teachers and parents all over the country have been encouraging/telling/sharing/ordering (delete as appropriate) this message with young children. It’s not always stress-free!

A kitchen is the perfect place for children to see science in action, from the irreversible changes involved in boiling eggs or toasting bread, to what makes a meal healthy.

Climate change and surface air quality are two of the most pressing global concerns as we move through the 21st Century. Children will be affected in the future by decisions that governments make now.

With the warm weather, we usually have more time to appreciate the parks, countryside, ponds an rivers, the great outdoors. Be it in our back garden or the sprawling Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales or the Norfolk Broads, we often gravitate towards water.

Kathy Schofield took a short ‘time out’ from supporting primary science education to spend an hour venturing into computer programming.

Often used a symbol of peace and hope, rainbows are appearing across the country. You may have spotted them in local windows as you take your daily walk. But why?

An outdoor green space is said to have proven healing powers. Gardens and the act of gardening are good for our mental, physical and social wellbeing.

As the clocks ‘go forward’ on 29th March and we ‘lose’ an hour of sleep, have you thought about why we change clocks’ times twice a year?

Did you know that 7th Nov is Outdoor Classroom Day?

Nine months ago, and fresh out of a bioscience PhD, I was looking for my first proper job and an opportunity to share my passion for science with new and challenging audiences.

In this short article we will suggest some sites that could be useful when planning lessons on living things and their habitats.

Why it is that young women themselves believe there are barriers to stop females entering into the world of space exploration? More importantly, what can we do to break these barriers down?

When we talk about science with children, are we really communicating in a way that children understand?

Join researchers on an expedition to the Arctic.

Immerse yourself in a real life science adventure, travelling to the bottom of the sea.

Here are some ideas to help you capture interest by creating festive fun opportunities for science enquiry. These activities should tease out children’s current understanding of the big ideas in science but also provide the means to scaffold and develop more secure understanding. I have created a number of different types of enquiry prompts, based within a festive context, for pupils to address in small groups at their own pace.

Here are three great science websites that we’ve recently added to the site. Enjoy!

All children know that something happens inside them to the food that they eat, but what? The English National Curriculum states that children should be able to ‘describe the simple functions of the digestive system in humans’. There is little guidance on how children will acquire this knowledge. Primary schools do not have the expensive models that some secondary schools have. Consequently, children are often introduced to this exciting part of biology through two dimensional photographs and film. It need not be a flat process. With a funnel, a pair of old tights and a few items from your kitchen you can make digestion a very visual, smelly and memorable experience.

Do we make the most of the wonderful museums that we have in this country? Many are free and offer us an enormous range of collections to view, films to watch, models to touch, interactive displays, models with buttons to press, and more recently there are interactive digital screens that allow us to walk through a virtual world created by CGI. In the reign of Queen Victoria, some of the most impressive free-to-access museums were created for the benefit of the public and they are still there for us today.

How often do we ask the children to stop talking? I know I ask it a lot. But in my defence, I ask them to talk a lot too because talking is vital for thinking.

The number of girls and young women pursuing many STEM subjects is lower than that of their male counterparts. It is the same in many developed countries but the UK has a particularly low representation of women in science-related careers. Industries and colleges have set up initiatives to attract women to STEM roles and some of these involve links with schools, both secondary and some primary, but many factors affect a child’s attitude towards science and engineering. This article considers some of these, including the impact of pink Lego.

We are hardwired for stories. We tell them all the time: we tell the stories of our day, the stories of our disasters, stories to surprise and delight and stories to generate empathy and help from others.

How often do we, as teachers, make the most of unusual circumstances to provide exciting learning opportunities for our classes? Hopefully, the answer is ‘whenever these opportunities present themselves’ but all too often the pressures of time, the drive for results, curriculum restrictions or an unexpected visit seem to prevent teachers from seeing the potential in seizing the moment, abandoning plans and going a little ‘off piste’.

Why do children stop loving science and what can we do to keep them inspired?

The prospect of longer days and warmer weather inevitably makes us all think of being outdoors. But the reality for many children today is that they will be staying indoors and connecting with friends through social media instead. Last September, Eureka! attended the Natural Childhood Summit, organised by The National Trust in response to its Natural Childhood Inquiry.