Primary Science investigation

What is involved in 'doing a science investigation'? And what is there to assess?

About. This resource describes the process of doing a science investigation. What types of science practical work are there? How might we measure the level of achievement for different science investigation skills?

Pedagogical content. This resource describes the process of doing an investigation for inquiry^(ta)-based learning. Teachers could share practice⁽ⁱ⁾ and lesson planning^(ta) ideas using the list of pupil skills (e.g. observing). It also lists learning goals for investigation skills (e.g. observing, predicting, problem solving) and ideas for exploring different types of practical work^(ta) in science. It could be used for discussion^(ta) or brainstorming on how to apply these skills to different content areas. The resource emphasises engaging pupils in the scientific method^(ta) - using higher order^(ta) thinking skills, group work^(ta) and dialogue^(ta) to facilitate knowledge building^(ta)/reasoning^(ta).

Resource details
Title	Primary Science Investigation
Topic	[[Topics/Science|Science]]
Teaching approach	[[Teaching Approaches/Dialogue|Dialogue]],  [[Teaching Approaches/Practical work|Practical work]],  [[Teaching Approaches/Knowledge building|Knowledge building]],  [[Teaching Approaches/Higher order|Higher order]],  [[Teaching Approaches/Group work|Group work]],  [[Teaching Approaches/Inquiry|Inquiry]],  [[Teaching Approaches/Reasoning|Reasoning]],  [[Teaching Approaches/Discussion|Discussion]],  [[Teaching Approaches/Planning|Planning]],  [[Teaching Approaches/Scientific method|Scientific method]]
Learning Objectives	You should be able to: Identify what is involved in carrying out an investigation (e.g. planning and gathering evidence) Identify different types of science practical work (classifying, seeking patterns and testing fairly) Identify different goals (e.g. predicting) and levels of achievement (e.g. 0-5) in practical work
Subject	[[Resources/Teacher Education|Teacher Education]],  [[Resources/Science|Science]]
Age of students / grade	[[Resources/Primary|Primary]]
Related ORBIT Wiki Resources	Progression & questioning techniques in primary science projects
Files and resources to view and download	Read the document on the wiki: Primary Science investigation/Document Or download the document here: File:Primary Science Investigation.doc
Acknowledgement	This resource was adapted from resources and original ideas contributed by Paul Warwick, at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge.