How did these new My Science Club resources enrich your science provision?
Our Year 1 and 2 science club had a wonderful time using these easy-to-follow resources. We discussed paper making at the start of the session and as we had made paper before in a previous club they already knew quite a lot about the process – however they had lots of questions about making different coloured paper and also adding seeds to paper to make our paper ‘grow’. The resources really helped me to guide the children’s questioning and help them to plan. The list of resources and the short video provided saved so much time in the lead up to the club, meaning I was ready to go within 20 minutes of printing the guidance notes!
How did the My Science Club GSSfS resources help the children to ask their own scientific questions?
The children decided to separate and use different coloured paper scraps instead of newspaper – they didn’t want to add food colouring as were worried about the effects of adding dye to the environment ???? They also chose to sprinkle seeds on top of the wet paper pulp once it was laid out on the sheets to dry. We made ‘postcard’ sized paper so that each child could write a message home on the paper to explain that the paper needed to be re-planted. We were so impressed by how bright our finished paper was!
How did these My Science Club resources help the children to engage with the sustainable development goals (especially number 12)?
On discussion of responsible consumption of paper, our discussion was linked mainly to waste – we recycle paper in all of our classrooms here so the children were very aware of not wasting paper, I’m not sure they understood much more than that as the children are only age 6 and 7. This activity definitely brought ‘recycling’ to life for the children, we talk a lot about recycling but on reflection the children didn’t really understand what happens to the paper in our recycling bins after they’ve put it there, when we sorted our paper into colours and pulped it we imagined we were in a recycling factory, which I think really helps to bring the topic to life.
And finally, how did these My Science Club resources support you as an educator to lead the sessions?
I will go on to trial this activity with my older clubbers – I love the images included and I think my older clubbers and Eco Team will engage further with those.
Kristina Castle
Scientist in residence, Irchester Primary School
Click here to download your FREE pack and try this yourself from our sample session section of our website
Click here to access our FREE resources on the Great Science Share for Schools (GSSfS) website and learn more about this annual campaign for children to share their science with a new audience!