Creative Science

What is creativity in science? There are many ways of answering this, but one approach is to map activities to a commonly used process model:

Input - process - output

  • input
  • process
  • output

Input ideasCreative Inputs

An introduction to an activity that captures children’s imagination and motivates them to want to find out more.

  • A visit to industry, visitor from industry
  • A letter, e-mail, story, PowerPoint presentation, video
  • Stimulus material – photographs, images, objects

Creative processes:

Working as a group

Activities that encourage creative thinking

  • Mind mapping
  • Problem solving
  • Collaboration – listening, questioning and justifying
  • Risk taking – trying a novel approach where success is not a guarantee

Output ideasCreative output

Activities that are open, the outcome is not set and children can use their imagination.

  • Drama, TV/radio interview, hot seat, presentation
  • Display, poster, leaflet
  • Letter, e-mail, newspaper article, PowerPoint
  • Design or 3D model
  • Cross-curricular link to art/drama/music to produce artwork, play, song, rap

Take a look at the ideas bank for some inspiration