• NATIONAL STEM LEARNING CENTRE

Teaching for Home Learning: Primary Science

Learn teaching strategies and tools to make the transition to online primary science teaching easier during the COVID-19 pandemic.

4,236 enrolled on this course

  • Duration

    2 weeks
  • Weekly study

    3 hours

Keep your primary school students inspired by science whilst learning at home

Primary school science teaching often involves sparking students’ imagination through practical activities.

With some classes being taught online or remotely during the coronavirus pandemic, primary science teachers must learn innovative new ways of teaching young students science using online and offline learning.

On this course, you’ll consider the new learning environment of your pupils, the role of parents in your teaching, and discover new science activities your pupils can do from home.

You’ll explore a variety of asynchronous teaching and learning tools, and explore these new challenges with colleagues.

Syllabus

  • Week 1

    Expectations, working with parents and planning activities

    • Setting expectations and involving parents

      What expectations do you have of yourself, pupils and parents?

    • Planning a remote learning activity

      Starting to think about the components of a learning sequence.

    • Setting activities remotely

      Our final steps this week provides an introduction to the importance of instructions, and prompts you to consider the role of video for remote learning.

  • Week 2

    Activities for home learning and scientific enquiry

    • Enabling parents to support learning

      Parents play a vital role in supporting their children's learning. How can we support them so that they feel confident to do this?

    • Tools for remote learning

      Here we explore some quick ways to check pupils' progress.

    • Practical science

      Scientific enquiries are a great way to keep children engaged with science. Build up your strategies for a range of enquiry types.

    • Reviewing your professional development

      Review your professional development and plan your next steps to sustain and develop the way you plan for learning.

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Design a blended approach to teaching primary science, with offline and online activities to support pupils learning from home.
  • Develop your plans to work with parents to support pupils learning at home.
  • Evaluate a range of teaching strategies and tools, appropriate to your teaching context and teaching remotely.
  • Identify primary science activities that can be undertaken at home.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for primary teachers of pupils aged 5-11 years, who are supporting parents and pupils with learning from home due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Science and STEM subject leaders and heads of primary schools may also find this course useful for devising their approach to home teaching and online learning.

Who will you learn with?

I taught science for ten years and was Head of Science for three years, before becoming a subject specialist at the National STEM Learning Centre.

Online CPD Coordinator, STEM Learning. MEng MA Senior Certified Learning Technologist. I work with expert authors to design impactful CPD for teachers and STEM Ambassadors www.stem.org.uk/online-cpd

Who developed the course?

National STEM Learning Centre

The National STEM Learning Centre provides world-class professional development activities and resources to support the teaching of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects.

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn

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