Enterprising Sciences and Technologies 3–15:
Connections across learning
Teachers’ Guide
Introduction and project aims
The aim is to support teachers who wish to undertake interdisciplinary learning for
children and young people from pre-school to age 15, by providing high quality
guidelines for planning. The principal focus is on the sciences and technologies,
while making appropriate, relevant and purposeful links to other areas of the
curriculum.
The format of the support fully reflects the key principles and purposes of Curriculum
for Excellence (CfE), and suggested activities relate clearly to CfE experiences and
outcomes.
‘Ideas maps’ are used as the basis for developing related activities and experiences
for the sciences and technologies. The approach offers choice, flexibility and stimulus
for teachers to develop their own ideas. The ideas maps provide a good start for
interdisciplinary teaching and can contribute to connected, meaningful learning for
children and young people.
The project provides many opportunities for cross-subject working in secondary
schools, and for collaboration between primary and secondary establishments. The
potential for involving parents, employers, entrepreneurs and community
organisations as partners is significant – each topic highlights these opportunities
and suggests where this would be of benefit.
There are inbuilt opportunities to reflect on the development and impact of the ideas
maps on young people’s learning. (A separate Self-Reflection Activity Teachers’
Guide is provided.)
The resource structure
The main information is provided as a series of illustrative ideas maps. There is a
choice of five different central themes or topics. Each
central theme has three related maps, one aimed at
pre-school and lower primary, one (or two) aimed
at middle and upper primary and one aimed at
secondary school.
For each central theme a choice of sub-themes is developed, often with associated
and detailed notes. Although you may intend using one map to suit the age range of
your pupils, you will find it helpful to look at adjacent age-band ideas maps for
information. These may provide useful alternative ideas to support learners who need
more, or less, demanding learning.
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The purpose of the ideas maps
The maps have been designed to:

encourage you to take the ideas and personalise them for your particular
circumstances, adapting and improving the starter suggestions whenever
relevant

encourage the use of ICT and the new communications technologies wherever
possible and where serving a valid purpose

link to literacy, numeracy, health and well-being, and other curricular areas
where the opportunity naturally arises and where you feel it can be purposefully
exploited

make the most of local opportunities, including the environment, facilities and
the expertise of parents and employers, thereby increasing relevance,
credibility and motivation for learners

encourage active learning and engagement with the learning process

focus on the quality and depth of experience in a suggested activity – the
experience end of ‘experiences and outcomes’

help you reflect on the impact of the activities on young people’s learning.
Using the ideas maps
When you open your chosen map, the central theme and first set of sub-themes will
be shown immediately, along with links to key references for sciences, technologies
and connections across learning.
Sub-themes with more layers to open will have a (+) symbol, which you will need to
select to reveal the additional layers.
Some central themes, and most sub-themes, also have
associated notes shown by a (
) symbol.
There are often large amounts of information in the ideas
maps. For clarity of viewing, it is recommended that you
minimise information currently on screen before opening
new information.
To copy, edit or add information from an ideas map you will
need to download and access the original inspiration files
from the Learning and Teaching Scotland website. If you do not have a copy of
inspiration to allow access to the files a trial version can be downloaded from here
http://www.inspiration.com/Freetrial
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