Mary Anning is the classic example. A poor girl, who survived a lightning strike as a child, has to scrape a living selling curiosities found on the beach in Lyme Regis. One day she comes across an enormous fossilised ichthyosaur and she manages to excavate it and sells it for a large sum of money. She becomes a recognised name in palaeontology, although she is never given credit in her lifetime, as she is a woman. Use in any topic, but especially space or microorganisms to offer a sense of scale for these things. All to often, stories for science can be simplified into ‘One day some people needed to solve a problem so they did some science and it worked. The end’. I have been given many books about characters who see a problem that can be solved by science and they do some science and they solve the problem. Sometimes the science words are even highlighted in the book. Problem detected on file:/var/www/html/wowscience.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GW-3-300x200.jpg When you learn more about something, you begin to care more and want to protect it. I hope that my Nature Collection and the resources I have created with TTS and the PSTT will inspire children and adults to look more closely at the local animals that share our world.

These are just some of the comments I loved to hear, when a class came in to explore The Nature Collection set up for a workshop. A good key stage 2 example would be ‘The Northern Lights’ by Philip Pullman. Lyra’s friend Billy Costa goes missing. It appears that he has been stolen by the GOBblers but it is not clear why this organisation is taking children and hiding them away in the north. Lyra is determined to find out more so she can travel to the north and rescue Billy. This is a gripping story where we care about Lyra and she cares about Billy. We feel her pain and her frustration and we, as readers, put our hope in Lyra as she journeys north. Plants – sometimes children forget that trees are plants and may not be aware how huge some trees are.That is the centre of a good story and it must be at the centre of a good science story. If it doesn’t move you –it is not a good story. Stories for science. The children learn the story as they would learn a Greek myth. It is only when we make a model water cycle and start talking about evaporation and condensation that the children recognise Eva’s game from the story and realise it is the same as the processes in the water cycle. Again, the story stands alone: it is a good story. The science is the helper but it is not the star. Conclusion. To prompt questions, scientific discussion, and support independent learning (probably just for KS2 children):

Children can use the scroll bar below the screen to zoom in or out to explore objects of another size. Problem detected on file:/var/www/html/wowscience.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Moles-rib-cage.jpg Problem detected on file:/var/www/html/wowscience.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/child-and-leaves-unsplash-source.jpg It’s something I have created over the last 10 years. It’s a ‘hands-on’ collection of skulls, skeletons, skins, antlers, feathers, wings, taxidermy and insect specimens. All relate to British animals. The display spreads over 12 trestle tables and includes exhibits from birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish and insects. Delicate objects are in display cases but many objects can be handled. One way to use stories is to tell the story of the scientist. If the scientist faced a particularly difficult set of circumstances then the story of the scientist can be engaging.

File not writeable: /var/www/html/wowscience.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/special-recent-posts/cache/srpthumb-p2684-105x77-no.jpg If you want to really get the children to retain the story, teach them to tell the story themselves. Remember, if the story doesn’t grip you, it won’t grip the children so choose the books that you love. Resources.