This year, the team at Great Science Share for Schools have worked with Explorify to select a range of activities which could be used to enhance your share. Great Science Share for Schools is an inclusive, non-competitive campaign which aims to promote pupils’ curiosity and give them to platform to ask their own scientific questions, investigate those questions and share their findings. Explorify shares this aim by providing resources which stimulate discussion and enable pupils to share their science with others.
Stacey Reid, Explorify’s Engagement Leader, has written a blog to celebrate this collaboration. Read on to discover how you might use Explorify as part of your Great Science Share for Schools this year.
The theme for this year’s GSSfS theme, Science Around Us, enables pupils to understand how science works in their everyday life. If you are yet to decide on your topic, or if you are looking for an interesting activity to inspire pupils’ questions, Explorify can help.
Explorify is an engaging resource that you can use to stimulate discussion and inspire pupils to ask their own questions, carry out investigations and share their findings with their peers – a perfect fit for Great Science Share for Schools. By engaging in different types of activity which appeal to all learners by use of high quality images, video and audio clips, your pupils will be inspired to talk about their science, drawing on their knowledge and experiences.
“Here at Explorify, we know that The Great Science Share for Schools is a great way for pupils to engage in science, share their ideas, and work co-operatively with others. ”
Explore Climate Change
Pupils are becoming increasingly aware of the impacts of human behaviour on the planet. Explorify supports teachers to include climate change education in their science lessons. The activities help to teach pupils the information needed to understand global problems but also give ideas for small positive actions that they can take to make a positive contribution to the planet. Why not discuss the Big Question, How much electricity do we use? Or find out about the scientist Kiara Nirgin in this Who Is? activity. Younger pupils may want to investigate paper use with the resource What if your school banned paper? You will find helpful reads on Explorify that give you all the information that you need to teach the Climate Challenge confidently, in a sensitive but empowering way.
Explore Science Topics
Alternatively, you may want to focus on your current science topic. The changing seasons provide an opportunity for pupils to visit local habitats, such as a park or the school grounds, to make observations. The Odd One Out Tall Trunks could be a great starter activity to look at the similarities and differences between trees or even discuss the different animals that live there. If improving your school grounds is a focus, or if you are observing wildlife that visits the school, you could carry out a problem-solving activity where you create bird feeders. Your pupils may be inspired to record different insects with ‘Who is … Maria Sibylla Merian’, or the ‘Who is ...Adam Hart?’ activity where they can investigate their local area on the hunt for different invertebrates.
Great Science Share Guided Enquiries: Extend with Explorify…
New for 2023 are The Great Science Share for Schools’ Great Great Guided Enquiries. Explorify have curated a suite of activities that can be used alongside these to inspire pupils to ask and investigate their own scientific questions, whilst encouraging and developing good speaking and listening skills. Explore the full collection here.
There are more activities to explore on Explorify that you could use for the Great Science Share for Schools. Visit www.explorify.co.uk to find many more activities that will inspire your class. There are also resources to help teachers, including planning support videos that will give you a subject knowledge refresher or inspire you to use Explorify activities creatively.
