Parental involvement/home learning opportunities
Parental involvement
Science is a concept that we come across in our lives every day in a range of ways whether we recognise it or not. Parents can support the development of their child’s scientific knowledge and skills by encouraging them to make connections and ask why.
It could be a question such as:
What do you notice has happened to the trees?
(Yr 1 Seasonal Change)
Why do you think our coats are made like they are and not out of paper/cardboard?
(Yr2 Materials)
What will happen if I forget to water our plants?
(Yr 3 Plants)
Why has the window steamed up?
(Yr 4 States of Matter)
Is it easier to run fast wearing your coat zipped or unzipped? Why do you think?
(Yr5 Forces)
How does a healthy diet affect our lives?
(Yr 6 Our bodies)
In school we would look to answer the questions through a range of enquiry types. They are Pattern Seeking, Observing Over Time, Comparative and Fair Testing, Identifying and Classifying and Researching.
At home and about, these skills can be developed through:
-Spotting connections between two things. (Do taller people have longer arms?)
-Carefully observing and noticing changes. (What happens to puddles?)
-Testing whether changing one thing impacts another. (Does more juice change the taste?)
- Sorting things into different group and explaining why. (How would you sort the fruit/biscuits/toys?)
-Researching. It is perfectly normal to research answers to questions that cannot be answered at home by using the secondary sources such as books and the internet.
(Where does electricity come from?)