Bright Ideas Time

Animals, Electricity, Energy, Forces, Light, Plants, Properties & Uses of Materials, Sound, Space

Assessment, Science Enquiry, Scientific Literacy

5-7, 7-9, 9-12

The Bright Ideas Time was developed to encourage pupils to develop their thinking though talking about science in a dedicated discussion slot.

Short, focussed discussions using a ‘discussion prompt’ to stimulate thinking and talking and encourage the children to share their ideas were developed. The ‘discussion prompts’ included:

Odd One Out
PMI (Positive Minus Interesting)
HOT Questions

Why & How

Introducing a Bright Ideas Time in your classroom

Bright Ideas Time is suitable for children of all ages and abilities.

It does not need to take more than 10 minutes and can take place at any time in the lesson.

The classroom ethos is important so that all ideas are valued, and it is acceptable for pupils to take risks in their thinking and sometimes to be wrong.

This guide includes examples of different strategies and Top Tips for implementing them in your classroom.

Download this guide to find out how

Try these

Ready-to-use Resources for Bright Ideas Time

Odd One out is probably the easiest BIT for teachers to try and children to access. Try this one first.

PMI activities encourage children to think about a particular scenario and allow pupils’ imaginations to play a full part in science lessons.

HOT Questions are a useful strategy for teachers to identify the next steps for teaching and learning. Note that Explorify Big Questions are designed to get children thinking and planning an investigation. Some of these may also be suitable as HOT Questions.