COMING SOON… Extend all three 2025 Great Guided Enquiries with a selection of specially curated activities from Explorify.
Viewing entries by
Kate Goodier
What can we do to protect habitats we care about?
Linked to the Great Sports Share guided enquiry the Protect Our Future resources spotlight the voice of athletes to empower us all in taking climate action towards changing our behaviours.
Watch inspirational and motivating films and download teacher resources to support you in encouraging pupils to tell their story of the habitat they care most about.
How is the habitat being affected by climate change?
What are the actions or activities that pose issues?
What actions can young people take to help limit damage?
#OurPitch on Climate Action
This resource explores the causes and impacts of climate change, and looks at the positive role athletes and sport can play when they use their platforms to drive positive climate action.
Pupils will:
understand what climate change is, its causes and its impacts different global habitats.
be introduced to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and their role in addressing climate action.
explore how athletes can use their platform to drive positive change
Curriculum links: Biology, Climate Change, Geography, PSHE
Pupils are encouraged to tell their story of the habitat they care about the most, how this habitat is being affected by climate change and what action they will take in their own community to help this habitat.
It also introduces SailGP and The Emirates Great Britain SailGP team, and athletes share insights about how they measure their impact and are taking positive climate action.
Founded by Sir Ben Ainslie in 2014, the 1851 Trust is a specialist education and sports charity committed to harnessing the power of athletes and elite sport to change perceptions and inspire young people globally through STEM learning and climate action. The Trust has two flagship education programmes: Protect Our Future and STEM Crew.
What’s the Odd One Out?
With these Odd One Out activities, there is no right or wrong answer!
Encourage pupils to say which of the 3 different images they think is the odd one out and why. They should ask what are the similarities and differences in the images, drawing on their previous experiences and knowledge.
These Explorify resources are themed with the topic of sport, linking in with the Great Sports Share Guided Enquiry. They can be used to encourage pupils to ask their own scientific questions which can lead to an investigation.
Read Explorify’s top tips on how to run an Odd One Out activity here.
Go on to ask-investigate and share enquiries related to the materials of shoes or to investigate the differences between feet.
Pupils discuss the three different sports balls. They can ask their own questions, identifying, grouping and comparing different balls used in sport, and investigate how they are different.
Pupils observe and discuss three sports surfaces and discuss which is the odd one out and why. Pupils can consider creating an enquiry exploring how the different surfaces around their school or local area influence biodiversity, friction or bounceability!
Pupils discuss the three breakfasts that could be eaten by Olympic athletes. They consider the pros and cons of different options, considering which one is the odd one out.
Explorify is a free digital resource that provides a range of engaging activities covering the whole curriculum. Click here to sign up for your free account.
For help with subject knowledge and support with planning a science topic click here.
What types of activity do we do in the playground and how accurate is the data?
Linked to the Great Sports Share guided enquiry, the BBC micro:bit playground survey is a great way to extend your learning. Find out how to track your physical activity whilst exploring machine learning.
Primary school teachers and pupils across the UK can continue their adventures with the micro:bit by taking part in the exciting new project, the BBC micro:bit playground survey. It's the perfect summer term project for 7-11-year-olds where children get to learn all about their playground environment through a series of engaging, fun and cross-curricular activities.
By taking part in the BBC’s big survey of school playgrounds, children have a unique opportunity to get to grips with data in a practical and creative way that is relevant to their everyday lives.
To learn all about the playground survey, and how to get started with your class, visit the BBC micro:bit playground survey website, where you will find the Teacher's guide and all seven activities.
Pupils are encouraged to share their findings by submiting class data via the Playground survey data upload tool by 5pm on Wednesday 31st July 2024 with the exciting chance to contribute to the national results that will be published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in the autumn term 2024. To find out more, visit bbc.co.uk/microbit.
BBC micro:bit the next gen is a new partnership between BBC Education, The Micro:bit Educational Foundation and Nominet.
What’s your opinion and why?
How big are your questions?
These Explorify sports-themed activities, linked to the Great Sports Share Guided Enquiry, are designed to engage pupils in thinking about big questions, drawing on their previous knowledge and experiences. They explain their ideas by sharing these with a partner and/or class. They might go on to ask their own scientific questions which can lead to an investigation.
Read our top tips on how to run The Big Question activity here.
This Big Question inspires pupils to think about properties of materials and forces, by comparing different surfaces around the school. Pupils could be encouraged to ask questions about the different surfaces, plan how they will test each surface or consider how they will present their results.
A fantastic question to get pupils talking about the different types of materials used in running shoes and shoe design. Pupils could use their investigations to design their own running shoes.
Explorify is a free digital resource that provides a range of engaging activities covering the whole curriculum. Click here to sign up for your free account.
For help with subject knowledge and support with planning a science topic click here.
What’s Going On?
These Explorify activities linked to the Great Sports Share are short, high-quality videos that spark conversations and allow children to apply their scientific knowledge in unfamiliar contexts.
These are ideal stimuli to encourage pupils to ask their own scientific questions which can lead to collaborative opportunities to work scientifically.
Read our top tips on how to run a What’s Going On activity here.
Gymnasts use many different muscles on a range of different apparatus. After watching the video, the pupils could investigate balance with our suggested activities.
Watch this video to see an athlete use the pole as a lever. Lead your class in a discussion about the forces that are in action. Pupils could go on to investigate levers and how these are helpful mechanisms in the world of sport.
After watching this video that shows different movements on a trampoline, pupils could discuss the materials used in a trampoline. Ask-investigate and share enquiries designed to gather evidence about how stretchy different materials are.
Explore forces when kicking a ball when watching this What’s Going On video. Pupils can identify, classify and compare different types of balls and their fitness for purpose in different sports and games.
Para athletes may need prosthetic limbs that are light and durable so that they can perform at their best. Pupils could investigate the flexibility and malleability of materials that could be used make prosthetic limbs.
Watch synchronised swimmers in action. Spark a discussion about the forces involved in synchronised swimming. Encourage pupils to ask-investigate and share their enquires related to the buoyancy using recyclable materials.
Explorify is a free digital resource that provides a range of engaging activities covering the whole curriculum. Click here to sign up for your free account.
For help with subject knowledge and support with planning a science topic click here.
Why is heart rate data important and how it is used in football?
Linked to the Great Sports Share guided enquiry this Protect Our Future STEM CREW resource delves into why heart rate data is important and how it is used in football?
Using the England Women’s Football Team as a working example, explore real-world, biological examples explaining heart rate & recovery.
Pupils work scientifically to ask-investigate and share their knowledge of their own heart rate, with data gathered on resting/normal rates following exercise.
In STEM CREW pupils will:
understand why heart rate data is important and how it is used in football.
know what recovery time is and how this is linked to fitness.
list changes in the body during exercise.
investigate changes in heart rate during football.
Watch the starter film to kick off your lesson and hear from England player Jess Carter, and some of the England support team, about the team’s training regime
Founded by Sir Ben Ainslie in 2014, the 1851 Trust is a specialist education and sports charity committed to harnessing the power of athletes and elite sport to change perceptions and inspire young people globally through STEM learning and climate action. The Trust has two flagship education programmes: Protect Our Future and STEM Crew.
Open Schooling: What does pollution look like?
Enquiry resources for 7-11 year-olds, 60 minutes + prep time. Pupils engage in a variety of of investigations exploring the different types of pollution around us.
Open Schooling: Sounds Around Us
Enquiry resources for 7-11 year-olds, 70 minutes. Get pupils instigating the science around them, as they gather, record and analyse data about the sounds in your school.
Open Schooling: What is noise?
Enquiry resources for 11-14 year-olds, 45 minutes. Exploring, classifying, measuring - a group approach to thinking about the effects of sound.
Open Schooling: How is waste processed?
Enquiry resources for 11-14 year-olds, 60 minutes x3. Pupils embark on an investigation into three waste strands: food, paper and plastic bags.
Open Schooling: Rethink, recycle and reuse
Enquiry resources for 11-14 year-olds, 60 minutes. A real-life opportunity to investigate different types of waste and design an approach to reduce, reuse and recycle.
IET Education: Water Treatment Systems
Enquiry resources for 11-14 year-olds, 60+ minutes. A practical approach to understanding and investigating the salinity of water.
IET Education: Resistor Calculation
Enquiry resources for 11-14 year-olds, 0-30 minutes. Understand the relationship between voltage, current and resistance, with a real life context.
IET Education: Materials and their Properties
Enquiry resources for 5-7 year-olds, 30-60 minutes. Pupils get curious describing and evaluating physical properties of a variety of everyday materials.
IET Education: Water Cycle
Enquiry resources for 5-7 year-olds, 30-60 minutes . Introduce the causes of rain with a fun practical activity.
Phizzi enquiry: Coin Battery
Enquiry resources for 7-14 year-olds. A practical activity for pupils to follow in Michael Farday’’s footsteps and make their own battery.
Phizzi enquiry: Sound Circus
Enquiry resources for 7-14 year-olds. A hands and minds on investigation to get pupils thinking about sound.
CREST Awards Superstar Challenge
Enquiry resources for 7-11 year-olds, 45-60 minutes. Pupils are tasked with catching a dog-napper using chromatography!
CREST Awards Star Challenge
Enquiry resources for 5-7 year-olds, 45-60 minutes. Get pupils looking at their surroundings as they investigate and record where plants grow.