Bringing science to life is something every teacher relishes. Doing it remotely is not as easy, but over the past six months we have all had to adapt to this challenge.

Indeed, a big part of me felt excited by the idea of giving students a chance to engage in science activities at home, to really show them that science is not just something that happens in the classroom, but is all around them.

As such, when planning asynchronous learning opportunities like this, it is important to maintain a focus on the curriculum and identify key learning goals. Here are four ideas I have found that work wonders.

1. Get them outside

Outdoor learning is clearly a big part of both in-school and at-home learning as we get used to adapting to coronavirus restrictions - and it provides some great scientific learning opportunities.

For example, when my Year 5s were learning about sound, I asked them to awaken early and head out to listen to the sounds of the morning.

They then mapped the sounds they heard around them. In addition to identifying what was making the sound, they observed the way the sound travelled to them and shared a recording of their mornings.

For Year 1s, I encouraged students to “meet a tree”, one that they might normally have walked past on their way to school.

I asked them to sit at its base and gaze upward, look at the leaves, feel the bark, take rubbings and observe the way the branches intertwined: which shapes could they identify in the boughs?

Spending time in local nature helped our Year 1s to build their sense of place in their community and expanded their definition of community to mean more than the human geography around them.

And for me as the teacher, it gave me a clear sense that they were engaging with the wildlife in their neighborhoods and allowed me to assess how they were using their senses to observe the world around them.

2. Find science at home

Having children in their home environment provides opportunities that might not be possible - or possible in the same way - in school.

For example, as part of their learning about habitats, Year 3s were tasked with designing a pillow-fort Mars base that would provide all the necessary things needed for survival. They then filmed a tour of their base, showing the features they brought in to keep them healthy and safe.

When looking at classifying, key stage 1 students were asked to sort their toys into categories: dolls, bears, hair colour, those that transformed, whether those that transformed became planes or automobiles.

In doing this, they were also learning about the fundamental basics of classification by presenting photos of Venn diagrams showing the groups they were able to sort their items into.

3. Edible experimentation

Our first exposure to chemistry is usually in the kitchen - and there are so many ideas here that are fun, engaging and edible, too!

For example, I got the children to explore irreversible and reversible change, by setting them a task of simply frying an egg or making pancakes. Could they communicate these changes with nothing but pictures?

This tested their growing understanding of chemical and physical changes, as well as their scientific communication skills.

Or imagine learning about the rock cycle by doing an at-home model of it using those chewy Starburst sweets. My Year 3s “weathered” and “eroded” the candy into “sediment” (cut it up); compacted it to make “sedimentary rocks” (squashed it); warmed and folded it to make “metamorphic rocks” (in the palms of their hands); and then baked it in an oven to create an “igneous” rock (with parental supervision, of course).

This task brought the rock cycle alive, got the pupils away from the screen and avoided worksheet overload.

4. Embrace technology - but with purpose

A very real worry I had about remote learning was an overreliance on technology, but it was also inevitable that screen time would be crucial.

As such, I spent time researching apps and software that I knew would enhance at-home learning.

A quick search online brought up nature-tagging apps such as Seek, a North American app from iNaturalist that can examine any specimen and identify it; it then logs it in a digital database. Think of it like Pokemon Go, but for real, living things.

Upper key stage 2 pupils loved competing to complete challenges and many continued to use the app over the summer to explore the world around them.

Another great resource is Epic. This free (for teachers) repository has hundreds of non-fiction and fiction digital books that are perfect for independent research. I was able to create reading lists to assign to each class I teach.

Allowing tailored opportunities for reading around concepts they were exploring with their practical task, I set books about the rock cycle, food chains or materials, to supplement my teaching and enrich their learning.

As we enter the “new norm” and what feels for many of us like our second NQT year, I’m excited to adapt our traditional approaches and consider the new and exciting opportunities that arise - whether they take a hybrid approach to learning or a fully virtual one.

Tom Collins is a primary science specialist teacher and Steam departmental leader at the British International School of Chicago - Lincoln Park