What is Explorify?
Explorify is a free, online teaching tool designed to improve the quality and quantity of science taught in primary school. It includes over 650 high-quality, low-prep, quick-to-deliver activities – including videos, images, audio, thought-provoking questions and hands-on challenges – all linked to the UK primary science curriculum.
The activities have been shown to significantly increase children’s enjoyment of science, inspiring them to ask more questions and engage in discussions. It extends their reasoning skills, increases their use of scientific vocabulary and builds their confidence and independence. Designed to be open-ended and not having a ‘correct answer’, the activities are also accessible to all children and is great for engaging those children who don’t normally participate in class discussions.
It is very simple to use! Sign up for free here: https://explorify.uk/ and find a few activities to try out.
Why should I use it?
If you lack experience presenting to primary-aged children and are anxious or unsure about what to do and what level to pitch your session, Explorify is a brilliant resource to have in your toolkit. It is guaranteed to get the children interested and you can use their responses to help pitch your session at a level they will understand.
As an expert in your field, you are perfectly placed to support and guide children through the sort of wide-ranging discussions that Explorify activities provoke. You will also be able to address their misconceptions and draw on your real-world experience to bring the science to life!
If you have a longer session to prepare, an Explorify activity can act as a great bite-sized element of your overall plan. Most of the activities are designed to take about 15 minutes to deliver.
And … it is a lot of fun!
How can I use it?
Once you’ve signed up, search for an activity that looks fun and is related to the subject area of your session. You can search by year group, topic, activity type or keyword.
- Starter/ice breaker: Why not begin your session with an activity to get the children engaged? Odd One Out, Zoom In Zoom Out, What if… and Have You Ever? activities are great for generating discussion.
- End of session recap: Explorify activities are a nice way to wrap up your session, recapping things the children have been learning about or testing their understanding. It can also be fun to pick an activity that introduces a different aspect of your subject to challenge the pupils, inspire them to dig a bit deeper and apply their knowledge in new contexts.
- Hands-on, practical activity: Some of the activities can be used for introducing and carrying out practical science investigations. The Big Question, Problem Solver and Mission Survive activities are the ones to check out if you want ideas for delivering a practical session related to your area of expertise. Every activity also has a Take It Further section, which often has suggestions for investigations to try.
