ABSTRACT

The Really Useful Book of Science Experiments contains 100 simple-to-do science experiments that can be confidently carried out by any teacher in a primary school classroom with minimal (or no!) specialist equipment needed.

The experiments in this book are broken down into easily manageable sections including:

  • It’s alive: experiments that explore our living world, including the human body, plants, ecology and disease
  • A material world: experiments that explore the materials that make up our world and their properties, including metals, acids and alkalis, water and elements
  • Let’s get physical: experiments that explore physics concepts and their applications in our world, including electricity, space, engineering and construction
  • Something a bit different: experiments that explore interesting and unusual science areas, including forensic science, marine biology and volcanology.

Each experiment is accompanied by a ‘subject knowledge guide’, filling you in on the key science concepts behind the experiment. There are also suggestions for how to adapt each experiment to increase or decrease the challenge.  

The text does not assume a scientific background, making it incredibly accessible, and links to the new National Curriculum programme of study allow easy connections to be made to relevant learning goals. This book is an essential text for any primary school teacher, training teacher or classroom assistant looking to bring the exciting world of science alive in the classroom.

chapter 14|2 pages

Brushing our teeth: What works best?

chapter 17|2 pages

Chewing food: What effect does it have?

chapter 18|2 pages

Green worms! Investigating camouflage

chapter 24|2 pages

Germinating seeds: Which surface is best?

chapter 32|2 pages

Cleaning water: Can we clean dirty water?

chapter 36|2 pages

Salty water: Can we make objects float?

chapter 42|2 pages

Design a bag: What’s the best material?

chapter 48|2 pages

Ice cube challenge: Exploring melting

chapter 68|2 pages

Colourful light: Using coloured filters

chapter 79|2 pages

Making a hovercraft: Testing forces

chapter 84|2 pages

Fussy woodlice: Investigating habitats

chapter 90|2 pages

Extracting DNA: Exploring evolution

chapter 93|2 pages

Making slime: Non-Newtonian fluids