I was tagged in a post about Primary Science resources on LinkedIn:
Thanks for the tag Silvina Mascitti. I had a few suggestions but LinkedIn didn’t like something about my response (maybe too long? Too many links? Not sure – doesn’t say much on mobile app). So, here were my suggestions based only on resources I’ve used/seen used by content teachers. Bear in mind, I’m an EAL teacher, so I’ve suggested these as being generally EAL friendly (with the vids, subtitles might help).
I normally support in Key Stage 2 classes. My suggestions relate more to specific topics at that level.
GoNoodle STEM Lab
Check out the STEM Lab resources on GoNoodle. There’s some cool vids like ‘water water water cycle!’ And other resources suited to Primary. Actually, there’s good stuff here for Literacy too, and for ‘brain breaks’ etc.
This site might look a bit old, but I still use there resources when teaching things like food chains, animal classification, plant cells, etc- good interactive activities (last used 2021 but game still work). A word of warning – games can *sometimes* take time to load, so if using as a whole class then maybe have them open and ready in another tab.
PhED lab from Uni of Colorado Boulder
The PhET virtual lab is an awesome resource for Primary and Secondary. Build your own circuits, set them alight! Haha. Put what you’ve learnt about circuits, current, voltage, resistance etc into practice. At first it doesn’t look special but it’s a pretty intuitive interface and in my experience learners love to be set free on this one! I’ve seen it used at Year 6, 8 and 10 to good effect.
The circuit simulator is one of many good resources. Here’s the homepage where you can find plenty more, but admittedly most are suited more to Secondary. Could be great for stretch tasks at Year 6 though (I mean, within reason haha).
Emily’s Wonder Lab!
Bam bam bam bam bam, Emily’s Wonder Lab, stay curious and keep exploring!
Not a site, but an awesome Netflix series. My eldest is only 4 (nearly) and loves watching this. He doesn’t get too much of the science stuff yet, but it totally sparks curiosity and questions. I’ve used this with Year 4 and 5 – they LOVED it. Elephant toothpaste!
Newsela Science
I really like Newsela and have promoted it quite a bit here. The Science section is pretty good for extensive or guided reading at Upper Key Stage 2. Its good for up-to-date content and you can grade articles depending on lexile level, plus include comprehension questions if you sign up. This is another site that, while it might not directly align with your curriculum content, will spark interest.
Ellii STEM Collection
There are some cool resources in this Science Matters collection. Not all will be relevant, but you might find a resource for Key Stage 2 that helps introduce key science terms, or that’s great extra reading for certain Science-related themes of inquiry. I’ve been contributing EAL Science resources to this site mainly for Secondary, but they’ll be more Primary ones coming up so keep this in mind.
How to be Good at Science, Technology and Engineering (Workbook 1)
So, I saw that someone in the thread mentioned dkfindout.com – that’s another useful site and you asked for sites! But if you’d consider a book, this one is fantastic.
I’ve used the KS3 one more, but seen the KS2 one and the content is excellent. It’s curriculum aligned and includes that bit more in terms of key vocab to stretch learners. Great visuals, super engaging for YLs even though it’s a workbook – depending on how you approach the content obviously! Deffo check out a sample at least, you won’t be disappointed!
There are tons of good Science resources for KS2 and above in the community section on this site (you need a free log in to access but it’s well worth it). They are tagged pretty well so just use the search function. This is a good go-to for either diagnostic tasks or consolidation after input. Tip: get a cheap subscription so you can edit the resources – worth the investment as you might find *almost* what you’re looking for but not quite… a quick tweak makes it spot on!
Anyway, there were plenty more sites used by Primary teachers I worked with, but I think these stood out for me.
So, there’s a starting point. Which Primary Science sites would you recommend?
If you’re interested in EAL Science more at KS3, you might like to read this reflection post, or this post on command words/phrases in Science.
ELT Planning 
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