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About Primary Connections

Teaching and learning model

Professional Learning Programme

Curriculum resources

Research and evaluation

Indigenous perspectives

For Primary Connections facilitators and trialling teachers

Order Primary Connections

Education use licence

To order Primary Connections curriculum units please print the order form and fax or post it to us.

Curriculum Resource Unit Map
National Scientific Literacy Progress Map (external link)
Primary Connections 5Es teaching and learning model
Unit planner
Indigenous perspectives
Good Science Books for children

Available units

Stage	Earth and Beyond	Energy and Change	Life and Living	Natural and Processed Materials
Early Stage 1	Weather in my world	On the move	Available by December 2008	What's it made of? NEW
1		Available by December 2008	Schoolyard safari	Available by December 2008
	Water works	Push-pull
2	Spinning in space	Available by December 2008	Plants in action: Incorporating Indigenous perspectives
		Available by December 2008		Material world NEW
3	Available by December 2008	It's electrifying	Marvellous micro-organisms	Package it better
				Available by December 2008

Curriculum resource

Primary Connections units provide students with opportunities to learn science as a human endeavour, a way to know and as a body of knowledge (MCEETYA, 2006).

The units develop students' skills of working scientifically as they undertake investigations and communicate their understanding about science. Science concepts are described in four conceptual strands:

• Earth and Beyond (Earth and Space*)
• Energy and Change (Energy and Force*)
• Life and Living (Living Things*), and
• Natural and Processed Materials (Matter*).

* Statements of Learning for Science (MCEETYA, 2006)

A Curriculum Resource Unit Map has been developed to guide the development of the curriculum resource. Unit topics are drawn from a summary of the curriculum documents of all states and territories and the Statements of Learning for Science approved by the Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA, 2006).

The units have been organised into four stages of learning:

• Early Stage 1
• Stage 1
• Stage 2
• Stage 3

The stages are linked to the years of schooling and outcome levels in the National Scientific Literacy Progress Map, which was developed for the Year 6 national assessments of scientific literacy (MCEETYA, 2005). The four developmental stages of the primary school years map to the levels of the National Scientific Literacy Progress Map as follows:

Stages, years and outcome levels

Primary Connections stage	Years of schooling	Outcome levels*
Early Stage 1	1	<1-1
Stage 1	2-3	1-2
Stage 2	4-5	2-3
Stage 3	6-7	3-4

* From the National Scientific Literacy Progress Map (MCEETYA, 2005)

The resource is modular in format and supports science teaching across the primary school. Development of the units is guided by the Primary Connections 5Es teaching and learning model and supported by resources for both students and teachers. A unit planner and supporting documentation has been developed to allow teachers the flexibility to develop and customise their own units.

Each unit contains:

• a unit overview;
• unit outcomes;
• lessons with step-by-step instructions, lesson overview, and science and literacy outcomes;
• equipment requirements;
• planning information with links to additional resources;
• embedded and authentic assessment tasks;
• relevant literacy focuses;
• opportunities to extend the students' learning;
• science background information;
• student resource sheets (including stimulus material and questions to scaffold student activities);
• accompanying resources available on the Primary Connections website.

Unit planner

Save the unit planner in a location of your choice and use it to develop an overview summary of your own unit. (Doc)

Indigenous perspectives

• Indigenous perspective framework
• Plants in action: Incorporating Indigenous perspectives

References

MCEETYA (2005). National Year 6 Science Assessment Report: 2003. Melbourne: Curriculum Corporation.
MCEETYA (2006). Statements of Learning for Science. Melbourne: Curriculum Corporation.