The Association for Science Education’s (ASE) award-winning Mary Anning – A fossil hunter’s story resource offers an inspiring context for question asking-investigating and sharing.
The Mary Anning Project provides a set of resources for primary school pupils and their teachers
This cross-curricular resource includes a short award-winning film, SEA DRAGON, which sets the scene for the whole project, introduces Mary, and reflects the themes and main ideas being addressed through the learning activities.
Credit: Jo Montgomery
“I feel that I have gained so much as a teacher through my reflection on my own learning alongside the children.”
This interactive resource features a series of core and enrichment activities presented as four topics:
> Fossil hunter Mary
> Strange creatures
> The end of the line
> Evidence, beliefs and ideas.
Collectively, these activities give insights into Mary’s life, explore the science of fossils and reflect on the influence of historical, cultural and religious thinking in changing ideas.
Inspire your pupils
The story of fossil hunter Mary Anning and her amazing discoveries provides the context for the project’s learning resources for 9-11 year olds. A compelling 15-minute film about the young Mary sets the scene for the enquiry-based, cross-curricular activities through which children explore the lives, ideas and events in the early 19th century that were significant in the development of scientific ideas and thinking. The story of a child of their own age who was driven by curiosity about the natural world and the origins of life is engaging and inspiring for today’s pupils and aligns with The Great Science Share for Schools 2024 theme of ‘Sustainable Science’.
Tackling tricky topics
Through these resources and professional learning strategies, teachers can better support pupils’ understanding of evolution, the nature of scientific enquiry and the strengths and limitations of scientific knowledge. Not just for upper primary learning about evolution and inheritance, or fossil formation and rocks and soils; these resources also support the disciplinary knowledge and skills, or process of ‘doing science’.
Support for students
The activities support the use of dialogic teaching, in which children express and share their ideas in group or whole class discussion and teachers encourage children to explain their thinking. The enquiry-based approach emphasises the role in learning of the identification of questions, and the collection and use of evidence in seeking answers – just as The Great Science Share for Schools promotes.
Flexibility
The activities are designed to be used flexibly, mainly in science lessons but in some cases are equally appropriate in history, religious education and English. Each activity includes key questions, curriculum links and vocabulary, what children do and learn, classroom resources plus background information for teachers.
Professional Development for Teachers
Used as CPD, teachers can better engage different disciplinary teaching approaches and philosophical perspectives, to raise science capital and support every child including those regarded as low prior attainment and/or with typically low levels of interest in science.
This resource can inspire many questions to be asked
What now?
- Watch and use the resources with your pupils.
- Integrate the use of the GSSfS Question Makers to inspire pupils to ask questions freely
- Use the GSSfS Skills Starters to move the pupils towards an enquiry question they’re interested in
Then what?
Share, share, share! Try out the GSSfS Share Spinners this year!
Want to know more about how great this resource could be for your pupils? See the ASE’s Mary Anning impact story here.
The Association for Science Education (ASE) is an active membership body that has been supporting all those involved in science education from pre-school to higher education for over 100 years. Members include teachers, technicians, tutors and advisers.
We value the partnership between ASE and the #GSSfS2024.
Remember you can meet the GSSfS team at the ASE 2024 Annual Conference, 04 January 2024 - 06 January 2024, 08:00 - 16:30
The ASE's 2024 flagship Annual Conference takes place at the University of Northampton's Waterside Campus in January, from the 4th to the 6th inclusive.
For more information click here ASE 2024 Annual Conference | www.ase.org.uk