Showing children industry to help them understand science in context and as a route to a career really works



The long summer holiday is not the time to be thinking about next term’s science work!

However – in a broader sense it may be a good idea to think in the round about helping your school to interact with science in a more useful and meaningful way for the children. At CIEC the long running Children Challenging Industry project has been shown to increase understanding of scientific principles, understanding of how science is happening in industry and how many jobs there are in the scientific industries.

The Children Challenging Industry project involves one of our Advisory Teachers going into schools and delivering science activities with an industrial context. The last session involves a site visit to a local industry. The lessons in school are always very enjoyable for the children – and importantly very much appreciated by the teacher who is able to observe (and join in!) an experienced primary science teacher in action.

The whole experience is remembered positively by the children many years after the event and it is often the site visit that is remembered most fondly.

Below are some comments collated by Advisory Teacher Jenny Harvey following a visit by St John the Evangelist RC Primary School, Billingham, to the Johnson Matthey site in Billingham.

The thing that you enjoyed doing the most;

The experiments

I enjoyed learning more things about industry and doing all the experiments. I felt very professional

The liquid nitrogen

Was when he put liquid nitrogen on the floor and it turned straight away into a gas

Going to Johnson Matthey. I especially liked the nitrogen gas

I enjoyed doing experiments and learning about catalysts and how important industry is

I have learnt many new things at Johnson Matthey and it has given me a great interest in science. I had lots of fun here

Filling the balloon with coke

I enjoyed the part where the balloon was popped with diet cola

I really liked talking about catalysts

I found it a treat that we were allowed in to see how they make stuff

 

 

The thing that you enjoyed doing the least;

Leaving

Nothing, it was fantastic

I didn’t enjoy the liquid nitrogen bit that much

Nothing

Nothing

It was all fantastic

Nothing I loved everything