Curriculum planning and resources – science activities

When you consider your curriculum planning for the term, or the year, linking learning goals, lesson activities and whole-school celebrations to key events can be a great hook, and a chance to bring students and teachers from different year levels together.

In Australia, National Science Week runs from 9 to17 August this year and is probably already on your radar, but if not don’t panic – there are some great free curriculum-aligned resources to help teachers and students mark the event or kickstart a more in-depth classroom project.

Decoding the Universe

The theme for National Science Week 2025 is ‘Decoding the Universe – Exploring the unknown with nature’s hidden language.’ It’s not just a celebration of science, there’s lots of technology and mathematics too. It ties in with the 2025 United Nations International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, and the 2025 International Mathematical Olympiad that saw students from 114 countries gather on the Gold Coast earlier this month.

The Australian Science Teachers Association (ASTA), which coordinates schools’ involvement in National Science Week, says: ‘This theme invites students and teachers across Australia to delve into the mysteries of the Universe by exploring the fundamental languages of nature, including mathematics and the groundbreaking field of quantum science.’

If you haven’t already planned this one in for your school, there’s still time to get involved. There are hundreds of events happening across the country during the week itself – check out participating venues such as your local museum, university or science centre. Schools have also received grants to help stage their own event, so you might be able to go along to one of those – reach out to colleagues in your area or look at the list of successful school applicants on ASTA’s website. You don’t have to plan in-class activities, lunch time or after school offers a chance to bring students together to engage in Science Week events as well.

Lesson activities – from seed shapes to quantum tech

Each year ASTA, with Australian Government funding, produces a Teacher Resource book featuring activities for students in Foundation to year 10: in the younger years, these include decoding animal prints; years 3-6 can explore how Fibonacci numbers apply to flower petals;  and in years 7 to 10 you can encourage students to bring in seeds from their local area (think wind-blown dandelions) or grocers (for example, coconuts or avocados) and investigate how plants disperse their seeds and adapt to survive.

As well as the curriculum links, learning outcomes, and safety advice and reminders, there are 3 icons (First Nations, Sustainability and Design thinking) to help you plan the activities. As the booklet notes: ‘First Nations cultures use Traditional Knowledge systems gained by observing the land, recognising patterns and decoding meaning. This knowledge has been practised, refined and passed down for thousands of years, and forms exciting Indigenous-led STEM practice today. Many First Nations Australians work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) today and combine Traditional Knowledges with western scientific practice in a two-way knowledge system. Ideas for including two-way learning in your class are included throughout the book.’

If you’re thinking longer term, National Science Week can be a great way to kickstart a classroom project, or build towards participation in a competition, and there are suggestions for these too. There’s also a student journal resource that’s free to download, which offers space top reflect on the question they’re working on, make a prediction, record what happened in their investigation and come up with a conclusion and possible next steps.

Sparking curiosity and building community – a school example

National Science Week is an exciting time at McKinnon Secondary College in Victoria. Each year, students are treated to a week of engaging in-class and lunchtime activities. From imploding watermelons with rubber bands, to having their hair stand on end using a Van De Graaff generator – students are exposed to a range of experiments, games and experiences to spark their curiosity and build a sense of community.

Using this year’s theme to help with their planning, Head of Science Katherine Johnstone and her team have developed several space-related activities for students to engage with, including using the virtual reality program Titans of Space.

‘It's pretty cool. The students get to look what it would be like on Mars or other regions of the universe based on this VR program,’ Johnstone says. 

Another activity is an immersive experience by Minecraft Education called the James Webb Space Telescope Challenge. Here, students become scientists engaged with modules on the telescope's mission, star formation and galaxies. The activity culminates in a solar system build challenge.

While most activities take place at lunchtime, there will also be some in-class experiences in the junior years. Year 7s will be treated to a PLANKS incursion where students are encouraged to use creativity and skill to build structures out of small wooden planks without glue. The year 8s will explore a science challenge in class as part of their ‘Kummargee’ program, where they can earn points as part of our connections with First Nations’ sense of community and culture. The year 9s will experience a chemistry show by Mad About Science where they can engage in experiments like setting fire to a hydrogen bottle or making elephant’s toothpaste.

Other lunchtime activities on offer to all students include making coding bracelets, producing a painting using acids and bases, and participating in science-related trivia. 

Johnstone says that National Science Week is an opportunity for her team to encourage curiosity in students and show them new ways to be innovative. Importantly, Johnstone says the annual event also helps to strengthen students’ sense of community.

‘Community is one of our core values. The fact that we get to run these activities and have people coming together from all different year levels and different teachers mixing and showcasing talents – but also getting some kids into lunchtime activities and meeting some new people with this shared love of science – is a really good way to boost engagement and community.’