A Background to Primary School Science

The Australian Academy of Science has had a long standing interest in the provision of science education to Australian school students. Recognising that skills and attitudes in science are acquired at an early age, the Academy in 1994 launched a major program in science education at primary school level under the title Primary Investigations. Since science teachers at primary and lower secondary levels come from a wide range of backgrounds and many of them have not studied all the science subjects in detail, I have tried here to provide a broad survey of what is known about the world from a scientific perspective. The material presented, however, is not what teachers should expect to teach, but rather a much broader background that should help them to place school science and technology studies into a global context.