Join Kareena and her superhero friend K-mistry and learn about how scientific theories have changed over time

Produced by FunKids radio in collaboration with the RSC, this short chemistry snippet is great for introducing children to how scientific theories have changed over time.

This podcast can be used as a ’hook’ when introducing the topic to your students, or at the end of a lesson to stimulate discussion about what they have learnt.

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Additional information

If you teach primary science, see the headings below to find out how to use this resource:

Skill development

Children will develop their working scientifically skills by:

  • Describing and evaluating other people’s scientific ideas.
  • Describing some scientific ideas that have changed over time.
  • Asking their own questions about scientific phenomena.

Learning outcomes

Children will:

  • Understand that scientific explanations, theories and models are those that best fit the facts known at a particular time.

Concepts supported

Children will learn:

  • How science, and in particular chemistry, ideas have changed over time.
  • Who famous scientists of the past were and what they are famous for.

Suggested activity use

This activity provides a useful hook into stimulating children’s interest into scientists of the past. They could work individually or in groups, using secondary sources of information to find out about some of the key scientists in history and what their famous discoveries were.

Practical considerations

Teachers may need to give direction to some children about particular scientists who they may want to research. Also websites, books and other sources of information may need to be looked up before the lesson, so that children can easily access quality information.

Primary science podcasts