Tag: KS2 science

Teaching the Vikings

Posted on | by Kirsty Williams | Leave a Comment on Teaching the Vikings

Are you looking for inspiring planning resources for teaching about Vikings in upper key stage 2? Here’s how you can use our new downloadable Vikings teaching resources to easily create a memorable lesson…

Where to start?

Before you use the lesson pack, pupils should already know when the Viking period was, and be aware of how they lived. This lesson pack links with history and science, particularly with the topic ‘Properties and changes of materials’.

Pupils will carry out a simple investigation to see what affects how well an oil lamp burns. This lesson involves making an oil lamp, which means using fire! We have checked the primary CLEAPS guidance and have given you some tips for your risk assessment. However, you will need to review it and make any alterations for your class. Pupils will plan their own investigation to answer one of three questions, which are included in the PowerPoint presentation, along with simple instructions to make the oil lamp.

Oil lamp lesson pack

The downloadable pack includes:

  • A differentiated lesson plan
  • A PowerPoint presentation
  • A suggested risk assessment
  • Vikings silly science puzzle
Download the pack here
Individual membership

Quality reading texts related to the Vikings

We have a whole issue dedicated to the Vikings, which is full of fun facts and information suitable for primary-aged children. Our teachers have created two reading resources with questions linked to the National Curriculum and Curriculum for Excellence:

Whizz Pop Bang magazine and teaching resources are brilliant ways to enhance your school’s science teaching:

  • We provide downloadable science lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, hands-on investigations and science reading comprehensions written by primary school teachers.
  • Whizz Pop Bang teaching resources link to the National Curriculum, ensuring correct coverage.
  • All of our resources are year group specific, ensuring progression between the years.
  • We make cross-curricular links to other subjects, such as English, Maths, History, Geography, Art, Design and Technology and PSHE.

Prices from as little as £254.99 per year for a copy of Whizz Pop Bang magazine through the post each month and whole-school access to our ever-growing library of downloadable teaching resources, with unlimited teacher logins.

We’ve also launched a new individual membership option so teachers and home educators can access all of our amazing downloadable resources for just £20 for the whole year. 


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British Science Week FREE resources

Posted on | by Kirsty Williams | Leave a Comment on British Science Week FREE resources

Are you looking for some interesting resources on the theme of ‘Time’ for British Science Week? Whizz Pop Bang has produced a whole magazine called ‘Time Quest’.

Our teachers have created a STEAM-based lesson pack ready for you to use. Download it for FREE!

English curriculum sand timer lesson packDownload

There are also reading resources ready for you to use for FREE!

All other curricula Cuckoo clocks reading resourcesDownload
All other curricula Ten ancient living things reading resourceDownload
English curriculum periodical cicadas reading resourceDownload

We have thousands more resources available on our website.


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Teaching thermal conductivity in year 5

Posted on | by Kirsty Williams | Leave a Comment on Teaching thermal conductivity in year 5

Are you teaching the topic properties and changes of materials to year 5? One of the objectives is teaching thermal conductivity; continue reading for two great science investigations…

Save the ice cubes!

This lesson pack contains an investigation in which pupils try to stop ice cubes melting by wrapping them in different materials. It’s like giving the ice cubes their own little winter jackets! The PowerPoint presentation explains how items stay warm or cold. Pupils are expected to design their own comparative test, with some guidance given in the PowerPoint presentation. They should decide how to record their results and write their own conclusions.

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Blubber glove

In this lesson, pupils will be able to feel the difference with their hands. This hands-on approach encourages students to actively participate in their learning, transforming them from passive observers to enthusiastic explorers. They will find out how animals stay warm in cold conditions by creating a blubber glove using different materials to see which is the best insulator. They will try to make it a fair test by using a thermometer to make sure the icy water stays a similar temperature during their investigation.

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It can be a tricky topic to teach as pupils often find it hard to understand that an item can stay warm and cold. Issue 102 ‘BRRRRR! The science of keeping warm’ is the perfect companion for your book corner whilst teaching this topic.

How to get more science into your reading sessions

Using science texts in guided reading or whole-class reading sessions is an easy way for children to delve further into the subject matter and acquire more knowledge. Here are the reading resources that link with this topic:

Whizz Pop Bang magazine and teaching resources are brilliant for enhancing your school’s science teaching:

  • We provide downloadable science lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, hands-on investigations and science reading resources written by primary school teachers.
  • Whizz Pop Bang teaching resources link to the National Curriculum, ensuring correct coverage.
  • All of our resources are year group specific, ensuring progression between the years.
  • We make cross-curricular links to other subjects, such as English, Maths, History, Geography, Art, Design and Technology and PSHE.

Prices from as little as £254.99 per year for a copy of Whizz Pop Bang magazine through the post each month and whole-school access to our ever-growing library of downloadable teaching resources, with unlimited teacher logins.

We also have individual membership option so teachers and home educators can access all of our amazing downloadable resources for just £20 for the whole year.


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How does huddling help penguins stay warm?

Posted on | by Jo at Whizz Pop Bang | Leave a Comment on How does huddling help penguins stay warm?

Many animals, including walruses, penguins and monkeys, huddle in groups to keep warm. The centre of a huddle of Emperor penguins can reach 24℃ when the air temperature is as low as -40℃!

Watch a video about how huddling works here!


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Exciting news: Dive into dynamic discussions with our new reading resources!

Posted on | by Kirsty Williams | Leave a Comment on Exciting news: Dive into dynamic discussions with our new reading resources!

Fantastic news! We’ve just added a game-changing feature to our reading resources: Discussion questions! Starting from issue 99, our teachers have crafted engaging questions to accompany our non-fiction texts, designed for whole-class or paired discussions in response to the new reading framework.

What’s in it for you?

Imagine your pupils not just reading, but actively discussing high-quality science content. These questions go beyond comprehension – they spark curiosity, encourage collaboration and fuel a passion for science exploration.

Why you’ll love it:

  • Engagement boost: Turn reading into an adventure as students eagerly discuss scientific wonders.
  • Reading miles: Every discussion is a step towards accumulating valuable “reading miles”.

Get access to a world of resources:

Ready to elevate your reading sessions? Customize a school package or subscribe as an individual teacher. Gain access to 1,600+ science resources aligned with the National Curriculum and Scottish Curriculum for Excellence.

Don’t miss out – start the adventure today!

Sign up now for your school


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COMPETITION CLOSED – Win a set of Edible Science booklets for your class!

Posted on | by Kirsty Williams | 52 Comments on COMPETITION CLOSED – Win a set of Edible Science booklets for your class!

Hooray! It’s time to celebrate a remarkable milestone as Whizz Pop Bang reaches its 100th edition. We are thrilled to share this exciting moment with all our teacher enthusiasts and young learners. To mark this special occasion, we have an incredible treat in store for our dedicated readers – the chance to win a class set of Edible Science booklets! We are giving away 100 in total! These delightful booklets make perfect Christmas presents for your class, and we can’t wait to share them with you. Will you be one of our lucky winners?

To be in with a chance of winning, simply leave the number of pupils you have in your class in the comments.

This competition closes at midnight on 30th November 2023 and is open to UK residents only. For full terms and conditions visit whizzpopbang.com/terms-and-conditions


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Teaching living things and habitats in year 6

Posted on | by Kirsty Williams | Leave a Comment on Teaching living things and habitats in year 6

Are you looking for some help and ideas for teaching about microorganisms in year 6? Here is how to use our downloadable teaching resources in your unit of work on living things and habitats.

Yeast is a microorganism and a type of fungus. It is used to make bread soft, squishy and full of bubbles! The yeast feeds on sugar in the dough, releasing bubbles of carbon dioxide gas as a waste product. The dough gets filled with bubbles, making it rise. In our lesson pack, pupils will investigate what yeast requires to grow. In this controlled experiment, pupils will plan their own investigations, making sure they only change one variable at a time.

More science reading links…

From our Fantastic fungi issue, we have three reading resources for year 6 that link to the topic and will spark your pupils’ curiosity. Carl Linnaeus is an important historical scientist for year 6 to learn about. He was a botanist and doctor whose ideas on naming and sorting organisms are still used today!

Whizz Pop Bang magazine and teaching resources are brilliant ways to enhance your school’s science teaching:

  • We provide downloadable science lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, hands-on investigations and science reading resources written by primary school teachers.
  • Whizz Pop Bang teaching resources link to the National Curriculum, ensuring correct coverage.
  • All of our resources are year group specific, ensuring progression between the years.
  • We make cross-curricular links to other subjects, such as English, Maths, History, Geography, Art, Design and Technology and PSHE.

Prices from as little as £197.99 per year for a copy of Whizz Pop Bang magazine through the post each month and whole-school access to our ever-growing library of downloadable teaching resources, with unlimited teacher logins.

subscribe now

We also have an individual membership option so teachers and home educators can access all of our amazing downloadable resources for just £20 for the whole year. 


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Teaching Space in year 5

Posted on | by Kirsty Williams | Leave a Comment on Teaching Space in year 5

Are you looking for planning resources to teach Space in Year 5? Here’s how you can use our downloadable lesson packs to create memorable lessons that produce the sticky knowledge Ofsted will be looking for…

Where to start?

Most children love space, but it is quite an abstract concept as they can’t properly experience it. Before they start investigating and experimenting, it’s important they are armed with the knowledge and vocabulary they need through watching video clips or reading suitable materials, as stated by Ofsted. Once they have this scientific understanding, it’s so important that pupils still have practical hands-on lessons so they can spot what is happening. Our knowledge organiser is a great aid to help them use the correct terminology in practical lessons.

How to sequence your lessons.

We have several lesson packs for teaching about space. When starting the topic, pupils need to know the order of the planets and how far away they are from Earth. In our lesson pack called ‘Make a solar system’, there is a simple paper model for pupils to make.

After they understand how far away the planets are, it is important to move on to the Moon and the Sun. We have a great lesson pack which teaches the phases of the Moon and explains how the Moon orbits Earth. Using our ‘Phases of the moon’ lesson pack, pupils will create their own Moon board that they can poke their head through, pretending to be the Earth.

Pupils should then understand how we get day and night. The Sun stays in the same place, but the Earth and Moon orbit around it and the Earth also rotates. Pupils will make a simple sundial which involves measuring the shadow to see how the Earth has moved position.

Once pupils have a clear understanding, you can then move on to discussing how scientists have found out information about other planets. We have two great lesson packs about looking for signs of life on Mars.

Plus, we have a new lesson pack on what alien life might look like on Ganymede, one of the many moons that orbit Jupiter.

Guided reading

To help consolidate pupils’ learning, adding texts with science content into your reading sessions is a great idea. We have over 20 different reading comprehensions related to space for Year 5. Here are just a few of them:

Whizz Pop Bang magazine and teaching resources are brilliant ways to enhance your school’s science teaching:

  • We provide downloadable science lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, hands-on investigations and science reading comprehensions written by primary school teachers.
  • Whizz Pop Bang teaching resources link to the National Curriculum, ensuring correct coverage.
  • All of our resources are year group specific, ensuring progression between the years.
  • We make cross-curricular links to other subjects, such as English, Maths, History, Geography, Art, Design and Technology and PSHE.

Prices from as little as £197.99 per year for a copy of Whizz Pop Bang magazine through the post each month and whole-school access to our ever-growing library of downloadable teaching resources, with unlimited teacher logins.

subscribe now

We’ve also just launched a new individual membership option so teachers and home educators can access all of our amazing downloadable resources for just £20 for the whole year. 


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Teaching the topic coasts with science in years 5 and 6

Posted on | by Kirsty Williams | Leave a Comment on Teaching the topic coasts with science in years 5 and 6

Are you teaching the topic coasts and want to include some science? We have a great lesson pack that explains coastal erosion and different types of defences which can be used to protect our coastline.

How is engineering used in sea defences?

Coasts is predominantly a geography-based topic, however it fits with STEAM teaching too. In this lesson pack, we look at different types of engineering used to help stop damage to our coastline. For example, sea defenses such as groynes, sea walls, breakwaters, etc. are built using hard engineering to reduce the damage done to beaches and cliffs by the force of the waves. Using our lesson pack called ‘Hold back the tide’, pupils will experiment by creating a pretend beach and their own waves, then trying to build a sea wall to see if it can stop the sand being washed away.

How will the Whizz Pop Bang lesson produce sticky knowledge?

In this lesson, pupils will create a 3D beach scene and will be working through trial and error when building their sea defence. This will encourage pupils to ask questions and adapt their own engineering until it works. By physically creating the model, this will make the lesson more memorable so the learning will be accessible for the next lesson, when pupils could be given a budget to plan sea defences for a stretch of coast.

How to evidence the lesson

If your planning isn’t enough evidence, pupils could use the Keynote app on an iPad and record themselves describing their sea defences, explaining how they work and suggesting other defences that could be used. If you need evidence in their books, you could print photos of the models; during morning work the next day, pupils could label and annotate them. This would mean that they go back over their learning from the day before, helping the knowledge to stick.

How to get more science into your reading sessions

Using science texts in guided reading or whole-class reading sessions is an easy way for children to delve further into the subject matter and acquire more knowledge. Here are the reading comprehensions that link with this topic:

Whizz Pop Bang magazine and teaching resources are brilliant for enhancing your school’s science teaching:

  • We provide downloadable science lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, hands-on investigations and science reading comprehensions written by primary school teachers.
  • Whizz Pop Bang teaching resources link to the National Curriculum, ensuring correct coverage.
  • All of our resources are year group specific, ensuring progression between the years.
  • We make cross-curricular links to other subjects, such as English, Maths, History, Geography, Art, Design and Technology and PSHE.

Prices from as little as £197.99 per year for a copy of Whizz Pop Bang magazine through the post each month and whole-school access to our ever-growing library of downloadable teaching resources, with unlimited teacher logins.

We also have individual membership option so teachers and home educators can access all of our amazing downloadable resources for just £20 for the whole year. 


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Teaching about pulleys in year 5

Posted on | by Kirsty Williams | Leave a Comment on Teaching about pulleys in year 5

Are you looking for planning resources for teaching forces in year 5? Here’s how you can use our new downloadable pulley investigation resource to easily create a memorable lesson that produces the sticky knowledge Ofsted will be looking for…

An investigation into pulleys

Our pulley investigation requires pupils to build a simple pulley and then add more to create a pulley system. They will compare the difference that adding more pulleys makes to the force used by measuring. A bucket is added to one end and pupils use a form of measurement, e.g. weights from the maths cupboard or a non-standard unit such as Unifix™ cubes, to record the results and help them come to a conclusion about why pulleys are useful.

How should the lesson be recorded?

Should pupils record every step of a practical lesson?  From my experience, no, as this kills the enjoyment and does not reflect what they have learned. However, there are benefits to revising learning to help the knowledge to stick. Revisiting the lesson the next day is beneficial. In upper key stage two, pupils should be practising writing up part of their investigation in a passive voice.

Download the lesson pack now


Guided reading

To help consolidate pupils’ learning, why not introduce some forces-themed reading into your English sessions? Download our fascinating reading comprehensions linked to this lesson pack.

Take me to these resources


Whizz Pop Bang magazine and teaching resources are brilliant ways to enhance your school’s science teaching:

  • We provide downloadable science lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, hands-on investigations and science reading comprehensions written by primary school teachers.
  • Whizz Pop Bang teaching resources link to the National Curriculum, ensuring correct coverage.
  • All of our resources are year group specific, ensuring progression between the years.
  • We make cross-curricular links to other subjects, such as English, Maths, History, Geography, Art, Design and Technology and PSHE.

Prices from as little as £197.99 per year for a copy of Whizz Pop Bang magazine through the post each month and whole-school access to our ever-growing library of downloadable teaching resources, with unlimited teacher logins.

We’ve also have an individual membership option so teachers and home educators can access all of our amazing downloadable resources for just £20 for the whole year. 

Subscribe for your school


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