What does the programme consist of?

This chapter provides some general guidance for teachers aiming to develop pupils’ general thinking ability through science. From the account of the five pillars, described in previously, it will be clear that the teacher has a particular role during these lessons. This is described below alongside some general considerations for using Let’s Think through Science! with seven- and eight-year-old pupils (Year 3 in England and Wales, P4 in Scotland).

The programme comprises 17 activities. The first two activities are designed to introduce pupils to the ground rules — how to pay attention to one another, how to disagree politely, and so on. These are essential to effective implementation of the programme. The remaining 15 activities are based on various topics within the science curricula that are typically taught to seven- and eight-year-old pupils. The selected topics are:

• Teeth and eating
• Magnets and springs;
• Helping plants grow well
• Light and shadows;
• Materials
• Conservation.
• Rocks and soils

Each of the activities addresses one or more of the schemata of concrete operations, as follows:

• Classification
• Concrete modelling;
• Causality
• Relationship between variables;
• Combinatorial thinking
• Conservation.
• Seriation

The key features of each schema are outlined in a Schema Fact Box. It is important that you read this explanation carefully, so that you become familiar with the underlying type of thinking being developed in a particular set of activities. A description of each schema is also included in Chapter 3.

After Activities A and B have been worked through, you can use the remaining 15 activities in whatever order you wish. Within each topic the lessons appear in a suggested order, but the order of the topics is not important.