How to make science relevant to students

All students need a good understanding of science before they leave our schools, from those who will need it to make informed decisions on energy providers to those who may become chemistry professors. 

But a report published earlier this year (pdf) found that during secondary school interest in science and maths drops by 53% for girls and 42% for boys. This coincides with the curriculum’s focus moving from the bigger picture into the more abstract, microscopic world. 

Ensuring science remains as relevant to our older students as it was for them at primary school is important in order to stop them from being turned off the subject.

Catrin Green shares some ideas for making lessons more meaningful for secondary students by incorporating the bigger picture into lessons, using stories, showing how the skills will be applicable for them and, most importantly, knowing your students.