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Existing Educational Resources

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AnnabelleBuda edited this page Jan 18, 2018 · 3 revisions

Existing resources for primary teachers

Currently, while there are many online resources suggesting ideas for primary school classroom practicals, few are tailored specifically to suit the Australian curriculum as well as providing all the equipment and information in one place. This section will briefly outline some of the current resources available internationally which are in a similar vein to the science kits to be designed here.

Australian Government

  • Primary Connections:
    Interactive resources for K-6 science which correlate to the Australian curriculum. Feedback on this resource has generally been positive, however, the survey by Watson and Watson (2014) suggests that the units provided need better connections to real life science applications.

Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI)

  • RACI Chem Ed Central: Chemistry Experiments
    A number of chemistry experiments for primary schools with background information and instructions prepared specifically for teachers who do not have a background in science instruction.

  • RACI School Affiliate Program
    A paid membership program in which the school, teachers and students receive educational resources and information.

Australian Science Teachers Association (ASTA)

  • ScienceWeb:
    Contains links to other web-based resources and lesson plan outlines based on syllabus topics with some suggested classroom practical ideas.

Royal Institute (RI)

  • Science in Schools program:
    An interactive learning resource which engages students in hands on learning in which presenters from outside the schools are brought in to do demonstrations and experiments for the students. A fantastic resource, but cannot be easily accessed and must be booked in advance. Also, only available in UK schools so it is inaccessible in Australia, though similar resources by other organisations exist.

  • Continuing Professional Development (CPD) sessions:
    Part of the Science in Schools programme, CPD sessions help to build confidence in teachers unused to teaching science in the classroom. These would have a similar goal to the chemistry kits of this project, but are again less easily accessible and must be pre-booked. Not available in Australia.

American Chemical Society (ACS)

  • Elementary and Middle School Science Education Resources
    A repository of activities, information and online video demonstrations for use in classrooms as well as science teaching guides. Great resources, but based around the American syllabus and standards, so there may be discrepancies between the content and the Australian syllabus.

  • Kids and Chemistry Activity Kits
    Kits that follow a similar concept to those designed for this project. These kits present a scenario in which the students must use chemistry to solve a problem or mystery. These activity kits are accompanied by a teacher guide and student activity sheets and contain materials for a whole class.

Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

  • Learn Chemistry website
    A site with information, curriculum guides and practical resources aimed at both primary and secondary education. However, these are again not tailored to suit the Australian syllabus, though many of the ideas are still relevant.

University developed primary school resources

University of Sydney

University of New South Wales

University of Queensland

  • School Science Lessons
    A list of questions and classroom practical activities for Australian primary school students separated by grade and topic.

Nottingham University

  • Visits to local primary schools (Not Australian)
    Nottingham University in the UK provides educational talks, presentations and hands on demonstrations by university “Public Awareness Scientists”.

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