Outdoor Science
The Association for Science Education's Outdoor Science area is supported by the activities of our Outdoor Science Working Group.
The Outdoor Science Group was convened by ASE in 2004 in response to a long and continuing decline in the use of outdoor fieldwork to teach science in the UK’s schools, particularly at secondary level. The OSWG feels that this is detrimental to the quality of science education and reduces the opportunities for children to appreciate everything that science has to offer them, both as future citizens and potential recruits to science careers.
REPORTS
Thinking Beyond the Classroom
King’s College London is delighted to launch a brand new, free CPD resource for KS3 science. “Thinking Beyond the Classroom” brings together three strands of King’s well-known research in science education: Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education, Assessment for Learning and Science Beyond the Classroom.
The unit is supported by ten activities fully trialled and tested in schools. The activities support and encourage observation, group work and discussion and are easily carried out in school grounds, parks and local open spaces. The CPD unit includes video-clips of the activities being used by KS3 students in an inner city location and the unit is designed to show how teaching strategies used in the classroom can be transferred to the outside.
Thinking Beyond the Classroom was developed by members of the ASE’s Outdoor Science Working Group. Click here to access Thinking Beyond the Classroom.
Learning Outside the Classroom in Natural Environments
In July 2012, Natural England published the School Leader and Teacher Insights into Learning Outside the Classroom in Natural Environments report.
Outdoor Science Report
The Association for Science Education Outdoor Science Working Group’s (OSWG) report, entitled Outdoor Science, sponsored by the Nuffield Foundation, was released on January 19, 2011. Please click here to read the report. Please click here for more information.
‘Successful science: An evaluation of science education in England 2007-2010’
Among the five recommendations for secondary schools and colleges in this Ofsted report is one which we are pleased to note encourages science beyond the classroom “ensure that the science curriculum is engaging and relevant to students’ needs and requires their active participation within and beyond the Classroom”. Click here to view the full report, published in January 2011.
Initial Teacher Education and the Outdoor Classroom: Standards for the Future
Published in 2007 by the Field Studies Council and the ASE. Click here to download a copy.
IDEAS YOU CAN USE
The study of biology, geology and the rest is a living experience,and without fieldwork it can be (and often is) killed stone dead - Professor Steve Jones, ASE President
Out-of-Classroom Learning
Download the booklet, Out-of-classroom: Practical Information and guidance for schools and teachers. Published May 2006 by RSPB as part of the Real World Learning Partnership.
Getting Out of the Classroom
Experience other schools' educational trips. We discover what went well, what really impacted on the children and why learning outside the confines of the school is so important.There are four videos in this Teachers' TV series.
Field Studies Council - Teacher Training Courses
The Field Studies Council is running courses from April to November 2012, offering teachers the opportunity to improve their skills in providing high quality ‘first hand’ outdoor Science learning. Participants will gain practical experience of planning and carrying out fieldwork activities designed to support the learning taking place within school. Find out more on the Field Studies Council website.
Taking Science Outside
Adrian Fenton urges you to step out of the classroom and use the world around you to inspire your students in this feature for the special needs organisation nasen.
Photo Credit: Pete Boardman, FSC
