Let’s Think through Science!

Let’s Think through Science! shares many of the foundations on which its predecessors were based, such as:

• a sharp focus on the development of better thinking;
• a psychological model based on the work of Piaget and Vygotsky;
• some of the general teaching methods that arise from this model.

But it also has its own characteristics that distinguish it from other members of the family, the most obvious of which is its close alignment with the content matter typical of science curricula for seven- to nine-year-olds.

In 2000, the research team was awarded a grant from the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust (AZSTT) to develop a completely new set of cognitive acceleration materials for seven-and eight-year-olds (Year 3 in England and Wales; P4 in Scotland). AZSTT have a particular interest in the promotion of high-quality science teaching in primary schools. Since those working on the project had significant experience as science teachers, the team had little difficulty in embarking on the development of a set of activities that approached cognitive acceleration more directly from the perspective of the science curriculum than had its previous projects.

The research team’s method of working was as follows:

• First, the team members re-engaged themselves with the general methods of cognitive acceleration (described in Chapter 3).
• The team then identified a set of topics common in the science curriculum in Years 3 and 4. The National Curriculum for England Scheme of Work for science was used for this purpose, but the topics are typical of many other science curricula designed for seven- and eight-year­olds.
• Some chosen topics were analysed in order to identify the types of general cognitive processing they required.
• The team drafted a set of activities that would set the cognitive acceleration principles squarely in science topic contexts.
• The draft activities were tried with 21 Year 3 classes during the academic year 2000-01.

Finally extensive trialling and testing again took place during the school year 2001-02, with a different 21 classes. Classroom observation and meetings with the teachers took place in order to evaluate the materials in terms of their:

• practicability and usefulness for busy teachers
• effects on pupils
• potential for providing cognitive stimulation, while at the same time remaining recognisably related to the science curriculum.

What is presented here is the result of editing (and in some cases extensive rewriting) of the activities based on trials in the London Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham, and Harrow.