Rising Stars Catalogue 2018

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SCIENCE
KEY STAGES
ISBN Title Price
9781783398317 Switched on Science in the Early Years £150
User creative exploration to
build early scientific skills
Switched on Science in the Early Years is developed to cover
the EYFS curriculum using play based enquiry to help
children explore and question the world around them.
• • 18 teaching units full of focused and free flow
explorations which address the prime and specific
learning areas of learning.
• • Promotes thoughtful, well-planned learning through
play and independent choice.
• • Contains all of the resources you’ll need to deliver the
exploration activities.
Switched on Science in the Early YearsUnit 1 sample
6 beautiful classroom posters
to engage children’s minds
Plus permanent
free access to all
digital resources
1 Unit summary
Thechildrenfirst talkabout superheroes,discussinghowdifferent superheroesaregoodatdifferent
things,beforecreating theirown ‘material superheroes’outofdifferentmaterials.Thisunit then focuses
on testingmaterialsand lookingat theirproperties througha selectionofmodelledexperiments,
contextualisedage-appropriateactivitiesand free-flowareas for the setting.
Superhero materials 1
2 1
Science learning
Childrendevelop their ability towork scientifically as
they are supported to sort andgroupmaterials, carryout
simple tests and talk about their findings.Theybegin to
identify everydaymaterials anddescribe theirphysical
properties.They start todistinguishbetween anobject
and thematerial fromwhich it ismade.
Science for practitioners
When testing thematerials to see how effective they
are at keeping thingswarmor cold,we are testing their
levelsof thermal insulation (an insulator slowsdown
heat transferbetweenobjects).Agood insulatorwill
keephot thingshot and cold things cold.Childrenwill
find this hard tounderstand at this stage,butplentyof
experiencenowwillprepare them in anunderstandingof
the conceptwhen they areolder.
Science progression
InKS1 childrenneed to ‘describe the simplephysical
propertiesof a varietyof everydaymaterials’.Theybegin
todo that in thisunit.Although theymay find ithard to
understand the term ‘properties’ at first, theywillbenefit
fromhearing you use it alongside ideas they are already
familiarwith, such as: ‘Which canbeused to soakup
water?’ and ‘Which isbest at keeping thepotatowarm?’
to introduce the idea.
Switched on Science links
•Year1 unit3:Polar adventurers
•Year1 unit4:Treasure island
•Year1 unit5:On safari
•Year2 unit2:Materialsmonsters
•Year2 unit4:Move it
Personal,social and emotional
development
As childrenbegin to realise that there isnoone ‘best’
material, they canbe encouraged to realise this is the
samewithpeople and that they allhavedifferent skills.
Because this unit is likely to takeplaceover aperiodof
time,withdifferent tests carriedoutondifferentdays,
itgives children theopportunity todevelop a sustained
interest and toworkmore independently as theygain
confidence andunderstanding.
Physical development
Someof the tests needwell-developed finemotor skills
(e.g.putting an elasticband around the topof abeaker
canbedifficult).Give the children access to elastic
bands in themaking area anddemonstrate how to use
them tohelpbuild this skill.The childrenwill also need
tobe taughthow touse simple scientific equipment
such aspipettes and syringes.
Communication and language
Dedicate some time at thebeginningof theunit to
help the children learn thenamesof thematerials and
practiseusing the vocabulary theyneed todescribe
texture and appearance (seeKey vocabularyonpage
64).Display the keywords around the classroomon the
walls.Encourage the children to talk about their ideas
andpredictions asmuch aspossible. If at first they find
thisdifficult, itwillhelp them tohear you talking about
(and exaggerating) yourown thoughtprocessesout
loud.
cdol
Prime areas
Literacy
With support, the children could collect adjectives to
describe thedifferentmaterials and superheroes. In
subsequentphonics lessons, thedifferentwords could
be sorted according to theironsetphoneme.This could
thenbe thebasis for choosing some exciting superhero
names (e.g. abubblewrap charactermightbecome
‘Bubbles theBrave’ and a fur fabric character ‘Fantastic
Fuzzy’). If yougive the childrenmore choice, the names
chosenmight not seemquite so appropriate.However,
it is important the children takeownershipof theproject
andbecome engaged in the science.
Mathematics
Presenting the experiments as a competitionbetween
thematerials is anopportunity to applyordinal numbers
(first, second, third) to the resultsof each test.With
support, children could also keep a tallyof the scores
of each test so they can seewhichmaterials are
most versatile.For someof the tests therewillbe
opportunities touse simplemeasuring equipment.
Understanding the world
With support, the children could use software to keep
a recordof the scoresof thedifferentmaterials and to
make simplegraphs (seeWebsites andbooks).They
mightbe interested to learn about real-life superheroes:
localnewspapersoften have storiesof children and
adultswhohavebehaved exceptionally.This topic could
alsobe linked to findingout aboutpeoplewho help us.
Expressive arts and design
Children could use the testedmaterials andother
materials tomake collages.This encourages them to
talk about texture andotherpropertiesof awide range
ofmaterials.
Specific areas
©RisingStars 2015 ©RisingStars 2015
Resources
A selectionof approximately sixdifferentmaterials
workswell for this unit.Ensure you have enoughof
each typeofmaterial so all the children have the
opportunity to handle them and to allow for the loss
of some in the tests.Suitablematerials include a
rangeof fabrics, such as fake fur and cotton,papers,
bubblewrap and tinfoil.
Websites and books
• Abook aboutowlsorother nocturnal animals links
well to the sectionon testingmaterials.
• TheScienceGames forKidswebpage has
an interactive activity thatgives children
theopportunity to test a rangeofmaterials.
(
materialproperties.html).
• 2Count,producedby2Simple (https://
, is a simplegraphing tool aimed
at the 3–5 age range.
Key vocabulary
• Working scientifically: think,describe, sort,plan,
look,watch,measure, test, findout etc
• Materials: texture (hard, smooth etc),properties
(waterproof, flexible, see through etc), names (tin
foil, fur, fabric,bubblewrap etc)
Note that childrenoften find it hard to understand
thedifferencebetween soft and smooth. If all the
materials you use are typesof fabric itmaybeworth
referring to them as ‘superhero fabrics’.
Home science links
If the tests takeplaceover severaldays, children
couldmake adisplayoutside their classroom,with
support,of the test results for families to see.You
could invite families to sendmaterials into school so
that the children can test them.
Health and safety
Testingmaterials for strengthcould lead toaheavy
weightbeingdropped. If youdecide to test the
materials thiswayencourage thechildren to think
abouthow theycanmake sure thiscanbedone safely.
WWW
2 Getting ready