“I bet you didn’t know…” articles share research with kids
“I bet you didn’t know…
What small magnetic robots can do
Slug slime might be the answer for medical adhesives
Toilets in the future may charge your mobile phone!
How to grow a new skin
Water can be harvested from the air in very dry climates“
This series of kid-friendly articles are designed by the Primary Science Teaching Trust to stimulate children’s curiosity – all using current scientific research.
The short articles can be used as guided reading activties and are free to download alongside a teacher’s guide.
The guides provide top tips on how to get the most out of the article and include:
- suggestions of how the learning might fit into your science curriculum
- guidance on appropriate age groups
- quick activities that could be used as a starter to engage children in a related science lesson, as an extension at the end of a lesson, or even as an assembly
- longer investigations that could occupy a whole science lesson
- symbols indicating the enquiry approaches and enquiry skills used in the activities
- questions to stimulate further learning
- maths links that could be made to develop maths skills
- writing links that would could be made to develop writing in different genres
Feedback from teachers emphasies how the activities are good for teamwork and buidling student confidence.
“The children were fascinated by the idea that new skin could be grown, and this concept led to very interesting discussions on why this might be necessary.”
“They took the idea of calculating their own skin’s area very seriously, as they understood the actual importance of it and then had a great deal of fun doing the investigation.“
C Skerry (PSTT Fellow)
Find the repository of “I bet you didn’t know…” articles here, and keep an eye out as more are being added to the collection every month!
(If you have feedback on the “I bet you didn’t know…” resources please email alison.trew@pstt.org.uk)
