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Terrific Scientific

Terrific Scientific brings science to the heart of your teaching with fantastic investigations and exciting resources linked to the curriculum.

How to use Terrific Scientific in the classroom

Resources focused on a series of practical classroom investigations linked to the curriculum.

Investigations: Plastic, Light and Motion

  • Plastics

    This investigation looks at what plastic is, what it’s used for and how it impacts on the environment. The practical element investigates how plastics can get into the water cycle.

    • KS2 Science • Ages 7-11
    Presenter Naomi Wilkinson and three children. The children are squeezing water out of a red item of clothing over a yellow bowl.

  • Light

    This investigation looks at light and shadows. Children use torches to explore how light travels and what happens when light hits opaque and transparent objects.

    • KS2 Science • Ages 7-11
    Presenter Naomi Wilkinson in a red jumper. She is holding her hands side by side creating a shadow against a blue background.

  • Motion

    In this investigation children look at Newton’s Laws of Motion by creating a marble run and using variables to demonstrate forces.

    • KS2 Science • Ages 7-11
    Presenter Naomi Wilkinson and three children. The children are rolling a marble down a sheet of rolled card onto a wooden table.
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Investigations: The Human Body and Living Things

  • Taste

    Children find out what happens when we eat by examining their taste buds. Are they non-tasters or super-tasters – and how does this relate to the kinds of foods they like or dislike?

    • KS2 Science • Ages 7-11
    Cartoon character - comprising of two legs and a mustard coloured head with a large mouth sticking an oversized tongue out.

  • Exercise

    Can exercise improve your brain function? Children try out 3 different types of exercise over differing durations to find out which one has the best effect on their memory and cognitive function. Before and after each exercise, they carry out a reaction test on paper.

    • KS2 Science • Ages 7-11
    A pink cartoon brain with arms and legs running.

  • Feet

    How are our feet adapting? By measuring the size and flex of their feet and recording the kinds of surfaces they mostly walk upon, children investigate if there is a correlation between walking surface and foot flexibility.

    • KS2 Science • Ages 7-11
    A pink cartoon foot with a smiling face and arms and legs.

  • Trees

    How do trees help us to breathe? Children carry out an audit of some of the trees in their school grounds (or local park) to work out their carbon value. Also learn about the life cycle of a tree and the wildlife it supports.

    • KS2 Science • Ages 7-11
    A cartoon tree with large eyes and hands.

  • Grow

    Children build growth chambers to investigate the effects of light and temperature on the growth of spring onions.

    • KS2 Science • Ages 7-11
    A cartoon spring onion with a smiling face and arms and legs.
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Investigations: The World Around Us

  • Water

    A great introduction to the properties of water and the Water Cycle. Children test the water that comes out of the tap in their classrooms to see if it is hard or soft, due to the amount of minerals in it. Then they test the ‘Mpemba Effect’, to see if warm water freezes faster than cold.

    • KS2 Science • Ages 7-11

  • Time

    How does the movement of the earth around the sun affect time? Children will find out about the earth’s orbit and day length/seasons around the world as they test what happens when the clocks change.

    • KS2 Science • Ages 7-11

  • Forces

    In this investigation, children learn about air resistance and aero dynamics, as they design costumes to slow down a fast runner and then test out their designs.

    • KS2 Science • Ages 7-11

  • Power

    How much electricity does your school use and how can you reduce that amount? By recording electricity usage over a period of days, children learn about how electricity is generated and how it works (circuits etc) as well as investigating sources of sustainable energy.

    • KS2 Science • Ages 7-11

  • Question

    In the Question investigation, we hand over the science to budding scientists, by asking pupils to create their own scientific questions, and to develop their own investigations.

    • KS2 Science • Ages 7-11
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Additional resources