Science is a fantastic subject to teach. One of my roles as a teacher was the subject lead for Science. The only CPD (Continuing Professional Development) course I really remember from my time as a teacher was a practical science course. Everything was hands on. Complex science was demonstrated in an accessible, engaging way. And the best bit, the lessons were not just accessible for the children, they were also easy to plan and prepare for busy members of staff.
Here are a selection of easy free science lessons and activity ideas. Each of these stand alone lessons can meet primary objectives from the Science curriculum. The activities on this list require free or easy to source primary Science resources, so you don’t need to start digging at the back of the Science cupboard for an obscure item you have never heard of before.
As is always the case, make sure you risk assess these Science activities and follow any local authority guidelines.
Create life size images of the children and put them up on display.
Draw around each child on large paper and give them access to art materials. When they have created themselves, challenge them to label each of their body parts. These free body parts word cards are a ‘handy’ resource to aid the children.
This pin shows a great example of what each child’s representation of themselves could look like.
Go on a nature walk and identify what you find. Children can take photos or draw what they find. Help them to look at the features and classify their finds. Remember to follow safety guidelines and to look after the natural areas. Handle wildlife with care, using appropriate equipment and to return it to where you found it.
You can view and download several free identification sheets to support the children during these activities. Choose from the minibeast identification sheet, the pond habitat sheet, the garden bird identification sheet and the wildflower identification sheet.
This is a ready-to-teach complete free downloadable lesson pack containing lesson plans, slideshow presentations and printable resources including worksheets. This pack helps your class identify ocean animals and think about why some animals live in oceans and others don’t.
Provide the children with the opportunity to investigate plants. Take them outside and challenge them to record the colours, shapes and sizes of different plant leaves, flowers and stems. See what patterns they can spot in the leaves and flowers and encourage them to make art work inspired by the shapes and colours they can see.
Don’t forget to download this free parts of a plant poster to support your children’s learning.
Challenge your class to find out what different objects are made from. Encourage them to look closely at everyday objects, for example a table and see what materials it is made from. Help them to think scientifically by asking questions like: Why are the legs made of metal? Why isn’t metal used for other parts of the table?
You can download this free materials word mat to support your children’s learning.
Bubbles can be used to help children think scientifically. Challenge then to investigate the properties of bubbles and how their colour changes as they age. Explore which ratios of ingredients make the biggest or the strongest bubbles.
Sing songs and learn rhymes to help children identify the seasons. If you don’t already have a tried and tested seasons song you can find plenty of options on youtube. Just make sure you check autumn isn’t referred to as fall.
If you wanted to go for a more abstract idea, play the children sections of The Four Seasons by Vivaldi. Get them to create a piece of artwork inspired by each season, then when the paintings are dry challenge them to write words describing each season on or around their artwork.
You can download this free Seasons Picture Pack to provide a visual aid for whichever seasons activity you choose.
You could also use this pin to inspire your own versions of seasons wheels. This activity gives your class the opportunity to become familiar with the seasons and the months of the year.
Provide the children with the opportunity to investigate and dissect flowers. Get a range of flowers and give the children time to sketch them and label their parts. This free parts of a flower poster is a useful resource to provide your children with.
Take the children outside and challenge them to find different types of rocks. Use rock identification guides or this Rock Cycle Diagram to learn more about the rocks you find. You might also like to set up some simple experiments the children can do on the rocks, including seeing what happens when lemon juice is placed on chalk.
Provide the children with torches and a range of materials, ask them to sort the materials into the categories transparent, translucent and opaque. This free transparent, translucent and opaque poster will support any children who find the language tricky to grasp.
Investigate shadows on the playground. Observe where the shadow of the building is in the morning and where it is in the afternoon. Make your own sundial by moving something, e.g. a portable netball hoop, into the middle of the playground. Use chalks to record where the shadow is at the o’clock of every hour.
Increase your classes knowledge of shadows with this free downloadable how are shadows formed poster.
Use bubbles as a tool to help children think scientifically. Challenge then to investigate the properties of bubbles, how their colour changes as they age and their surface tension. Explore which ratios of ingredients make the biggest, the strongest or the longest lasting bubbles. Find out if all bubbles are spherical shaped, by exploring geometric bubble wands.
There are loads of super fun forces activities you can do with magnets. These magic spinning pencils and magnet pyramids ideas from Pinterest are a great place to start.
You can download this free Force Diagrams Poster to support your class learning about different forces. For an easy forces working scientifically activity, why not see how many of the forces on the poster they can investigate.
If you want to do an activity the children can watch, then this currents demonstration from Pinterest is great.
Teach children about static electricity with balloons or if you fancy something a bit more elaborate then make use this battery powered robots idea from Pinterest.
Remember to cover electrical safety with your class. You can use this free downloadable electrical hazards poster for reference.
This wonderful water slide activity involves forces and materials. Challenge your class to make a water slide and watch as they realise the importance of choosing the right materials and thinking carefully about the force of the water they pour.
We also have a fantastic free Properties of Materials Poster waiting for you to download. This resource is a great starting point for a scientific discussion and investigation.
Teach your class about space and the solar system by challenging them to create a space mobile with the planets in order. Use this free solar system display poster or this free Solar System Mobile Template to support your class as they build their solar creations.
Get your class thinking about evolution by challenging them to design beaks for different seeds. Encourage them to think about the size and shape of beaks and how this affects their ability to pick up seeds of different sizes.
Help your class to understand the stages of human evolution with this free Evolution Poster.
Do you have any fun, free and easy to resource Science lesson ideas?
If yes, let us know what they are in the comments.
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