Primary Science Curriculum Activities with Sensors

A compendium of investigations with sensors in primary science

Lesson idea. A ideas booklet, commissioned by UK company Data Harvest which shows the scope for using sensors in primary science. Ideas include comparing bowls of porridge based on the story of Goldilocks and comparing the fabric transparency of curtains. Each activity has a teacher page with learning objectives as well as a student page which often ask them to reflect and apply what they have discovered. ICT-based worksheets generally seem to include more instruction than other kinds of activity. A point to reflect on is the amount of detail that a worksheet needs. Do first time users and experienced users need a different level of support? What is there to gain, or lose, by holding back on detail? The activities within this booklet can be adapted to work with all kinds of sensors and software. They were made for Easysense Q equipment and software, so you will find detail differences between this and what you have. The ideas however, are highly adaptable and ought to mesh well with UK curricula. Snapshots of the contents follow.

Teaching approach. This resource provides a set of activities to engage pupils in inquiry^(ta) based learning in the scientific method^(ta), often making effective use of ICT⁽ⁱ⁾ and sensors^(tool). The activities involve whole class^(ta) questioning^(ta) and collaborative^(ta) group work^(ta).

Resource details
Title	Primary Science Curriculum Activities with Sensors
Topic	[[Topics/ICT|ICT]]
Teaching approach	[[Teaching Approaches/Questioning|Questioning]],  [[Teaching Approaches/Whole class|Whole class]],  [[Teaching Approaches/Group work|Group work]],  [[Teaching Approaches/Inquiry|Inquiry]],  [[Teaching Approaches/Collaboration|Collaboration]],  [[Teaching Approaches/Scientific method|Scientific method]]
Learning Objectives	know how sensors display values know that temperature, light and sound can be 'measured' know broadly what the sensing equipment does learn about various science concepts such as reflection, insulation, transparency see ways to take their investigations further
Format / structure	Online booklet - contributed by Data Harvest UK Ltd
Subject	[[Resources/Science|Science]]
Age of students / grade	[[Resources/Primary age 7-11|Primary age 7-11]],  [[Resources/Primary|Primary]]
Useful information	Published by Data Harvest Group Ltd www.dataharvest.co.uk. Written by Barbara Higginbotham (Data Harvest); Dyan Hewett (Advisory Teacher Coventry LEA). Acknowledgments to Keith Hemsley (Learning Connections) Rosemary Feasey (Science Consultant)
Related ORBIT Wiki Resources	Experiments in the book Data logging & Control
Files and resources to view and download	The resource is available as printable PDF format - 56 pages editable .doc format - N/A browsable web format - N/A

This resource was created by Roger Frost, and is under the ORBIT's CC licence.