The Primary Investigations science program for primary schools consists of seven teacher resource books, five student books, and inservice training and support for teachers. It is based on a whole-school approach. The teacher resource books provide easy-to-follow lesson plans, questions for class discussion, lesson commentaries and extensions, scientific background information and blackline masters. The student books set out investigations and extend students' technical reading.
Activities are stimulating and 'hands-on'. Most of them require only simple equipment such as egg cartons, margarine containers, popsticks, straws, marbles and balloons.
The program has been commended in the Australian Publishers Association Book Design Awards, shortlisted for The Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing and the Centre for Australian Cultural Studies Award for an outstanding contribution to Australian culture, and named a finalist in the Michael Daley Eureka Awards for the promotion of science.
Major features of the program
Primary Investigations makes science and technology relevant to students' daily lives. The program is organised in sequential units so that students progress each year in their conceptual understanding and skills development. It is keyed to the student learning outcomes being adopted by the States and Territories.
One of the strong features of the program is cooperative learning, where students work with each other in small groups to solve problems. Students enjoy this learning style, and it enables them to learn effectively and to become more positive about themselves and each other. Cooperative learning also contributes to better classroom management.
Another feature is student-centred learning. Lessons start from students' current understanding and provide opportunities for them to test and explore this understanding. The program framework enables students to build reliable knowledge about basic scientific principles.
Primary Investigations is flexible so that experienced teachers can use their innovation and flair to adapt the program to their teaching styles. However, it is designed particularly to assist teachers who may be hesitant about teaching science and technology.
|Book number and title||Unit 1||Unit 2||Unit 3||Unit 4|
|1 Awareness and observation||Introducing awareness of self||Observation||Movement||Space and time|
|2 Order and organisation||Introducing organisation||Objects and properties||Materials and structures||Investigating colour|
|3 Change and measurement||Introducing change||Comparison and evidence||Tools and machines||Investigating animals|
|4 Patterns and prediction||Introducing patterns||Records and data||Construction and testing||Investigating weather|
|5 Systems and analysis||Introducing systems||Interactions and variables||Problems and solutions||Investigating soil|
|6 Energy and investigation||Introducing energy||Energy and food chains||Design and efficiency||Investigating astronomy|
|7 Balance and decisions||Introducing balance||Ecosystems and resources||Constraints and trade-offs||Investigating materials|
In 1989 a federal government inquiry, the Discipline Review of Teacher Education in Mathematics and Science, stated that the teaching of science in primary schools was in 'a state of crisis'. In 1991 the Australian Academy of Science invited primary school teachers from every State to discuss this issue. The Academy consulted curriculum advisers and evaluated existing materials, and then commissioned a feasibility study to see what could be done to address the problem.
In 1992 the Academy appointed Dr Denis Goodrum, the Head of the School of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education at Edith Cowan University (Western Australia), as the project director to develop Primary Investigations. Trialling took place in 1993. More than 12,000 students and 600 teachers and principals from a diverse range of State, Catholic and Independent schools in five States participated. Staff from CSIRO Science Education Centres served as trialling co-ordinators. The program was revised, based on trialling feedback from teachers. It has been available since 1995.
Over $830,000 was contributed to the development of Primary Investigations, and the Academy underwrote the additional costs. Major donations were received from:
- the Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs
- the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Resources
- the Commonwealth Department of the Environment and Heritage
- the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
- Rio Tinto Limited.