Teaching Primary Science: Chemistry
Develop your knowledge of chemistry to support your pupils' learning as part of the primary science curriculum.
- Duration3 weeks
- Weekly study3 hours
- 100% onlineTry this course for free
Teaching Primary Science: Chemistry
This course has been certified by the CPD Certification Service as conforming to continuing professional development principles. Find out more.
Improve the way you teach primary science by building your chemistry knowledge
To teach primary science effectively teachers must have strong subject knowledge, but many primary teachers are not science experts.
On this course, you’ll explore the key knowledge required to teach the chemistry elements of the primary science curriculum.
You’ll learn about the common misconceptions and misunderstandings children may have and learn how you can help your students identify and overcome them.
You’ll discover practical activities to do with your primary school students that will help them to learn scientific concepts in a fun and engaging way.
Syllabus
Week 1
Understanding materials and their properties
Getting started
Welcome to the course. We start by establishing what chemistry is and where it fits in the primary science curriculum.
Subject knowledge
Gain an understanding of the concepts needed to effectively teach materials and their properties in the primary classroom.
Misconceptions: materials and their properties
Identifying and addressing misconceptions is an essential part of successful teaching. But, what exactly are they and how do they arise?
Eliciting misconceptions
Making time to discover whether children hold misconceptions is crucial for planning future learning. Throughout the course we’ll look at different ways to do this.
Reconstructing the learning
After misconceptions have been elicited, they must be addressed through our teaching.
Week 2
States of matter
Subject knowledge: solids liquids and gases
Extend your own subject knowledge about the three states of matter and their properties
Eliciting misconceptions
Discover some suggested activities to elicit children’s misconceptions around states of matter.
Reconstructing the learning
See how to address common misconceptions through challenging children’s ideas. Here we look at discussions to define a solid, looking at sand under a microscope and creating a water cycle in a bag.
Week 3
Changes of materials
Subject knowledge
In the following steps we look at the science behind dissolving and why it is often confused for melting. We also examine changing materials where a new material is formed.
Misconceptions
Here we take a look at some of the most common misconceptions about changes in materials.
Eliciting misconceptions
Discover how to find out if children think that dissolving and melting are the same thing, a dissolved substance has disappeared and if they have an incomplete understanding of irreversible changes.
Reconstructing the learning
Challenge children’s misconceptions about changes of materials and reconstruct incorrect ideas.
Reviewing your professional development
Review your professional development and plan your next steps to sustain and develop the way you plan for learning.
Who is this accredited by?
The CPD Certification Service was established in 1996 and is the leading independent CPD accreditation institution operating across industry sectors to complement the CPD policies of professional and academic bodies.
When would you like to start?
Start straight away and learn at your own pace. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.
Available now
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...
- Identify the importance of good subject knowledge when teaching primary science.
- Develop personal subject knowledge of chemistry.
- Apply subject knowledge to class teaching of pupils aged 5-11 years old.
- Explore practical activities to teach scientific concepts in the primary curriculum.
- Identify common misconceptions children may have in primary science concepts.
- Develop teaching strategies to identify and overcome children’s misconceptions.
Who is the course for?
This course is designed for teachers and trainee teachers of primary education (pupils aged 5-11 years).
Teaching assistants may also be interested in developing their subject knowledge through this course.
This course refers to the English National Curriculum but teachers of young students from around the world will be able to apply the course teachings to their own curricula.
Who will you learn with?
I have been a primary school teacher for 13 years and work at Clifton With Rawcliffe Primary, York. Currently, I also work 3 days a week at the National STEM Learning Centre in the Primary PDL Team.
I am currently a Professional Development Leader at the National STEM Learning Centre in Primary STEM. I have been a teacher for 14 years, teaching classes from FS2 to Year 6.
I spent 10 years working as a primary classroom teacher, 7 as a science subject leader. I’ve also supported schools as a leading science teacher before joining STEM learning as a primary specialist.
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.
Learner reviews
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- Access to this course for 5 weeks
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Find out more about upgrades or Unlimited.
Available until 1 April 2021 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.
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