Seven ways to build deep thinking in primary physics teaching

Our Teaching and Learning Lead Dr Amanda Poole, recently shared her insight and expertise on teaching primary physics. In a NACE blog (shared below) and webinar, Amanda shared ideas for teachers to support learning, and encourage curiosity, deep thinking and inclusive challenge.

Primary physics often asks pupils to reason about ideas that they cannot directly see, such as forces, sound, light, electricity and space. Forces act at a distance, light travels invisibly and sound is produced by vibrations that are not always obvious. These ideas are conceptually challenging, particularly for young learners who rely on everyday experience to make sense of the world.

For teachers this can raise the important question: how do we help all pupils build secure understanding, while still providing meaningful challenge? How do we light the spark in primary physics, capturing curiosity and building understanding that can lead to a lifelong love of science?

Amanda shares seven practical, evidence-informed approaches that support learning and encourage curiosity, deep thinking and inclusive challenge when teaching primary physics.

1. Recognise when primary physics needs deliberate teaching

Unlike some areas of the curriculum, physics cannot be learned simply by observation. Pupils may see what happens but still explain it inaccurately.

Clear explanations, deliberate vocabulary instruction, and opportunities for pupils to explain their thinking are important considerations in primary science. Starting from this understanding helps teachers plan learning that goes beyond merely ‘doing a practical’ and focuses on sense-making and purposeful investigations; an approach highlighted by the EEF in their Improving Primary Science recommendations.

2. Make talk central to learning primary physics

In primary physics, talk is the mechanism through which pupils refine ideas. Without it, misconceptions often remain hidden.

Encouraging and supporting pupils to explain their thinking orally and in writing is so important; it is emphasised in the EEF guidance and developed further in the Royal Society’s Review of scientific literacy and oracy in primary school education. Talk is the foundation of our own resources for science at EYFS and finding the physics across the curriculum at key stage 1 suggests questions to elicit and explore understanding.

Explorify resources are also designed specifically to support this kind of reasoning-rich discussion with activities such as Odd One Out, The Big Question, What’s going on? All encouraging pupils to justify ideas, compare explanations and listen to alternatives. Making time for paired or group talk can also provide natural opportunities for stretch and challenge which lies in the quality of reasoning, not speed or recall.

3. Teach vocabulary as a tool for thinking, not a list to memorise

Words such as force, voltage, reflection and vibration are central to primary physics, yet they are often used imprecisely in everyday language. Vocabulary is a key driver of science attainment (EEF guidance) and in physics, accurate language supports accurate thinking.
Effective approaches include:
• Selecting a small number of high-value words per lesson
• Modelling their use in full sentences both orally and in writing
• Requiring pupils to use them when explaining their ideas.
This approach benefits all pupils, while offering additional challenge to those ready to use language precisely. Later this year, we will be launching modelled lesson plans that help with identifying the most important words to focus on when teaching different physics concepts and suggesting questions that teachers might use to frame pupils’ use of this core vocabulary.

4. Surface misconceptions deliberately and early

Physics is rich in common misconception, including:
• Heavier objects fall faster
• There is no gravity in space
• Light only exists where we can see it
• Bulbs ‘use up’ electricity
If not explicitly addressed, they can persist and create obstacles for pupils’ future physics learning.

A simple but powerful approach is to present two explanations for a physics phenomenon that pupils have observed and ask them to decide which they agree with and why. Changing your mind becomes part of the physics learning experience, not a mistake.

The Best Evidence Science Teaching (BEST) resources support teachers in anticipating likely misconceptions and using diagnostic questions to probe pupils’ thinking.

5. Use demonstrations strategically to support understanding

Demonstrations are a useful tool when teaching primary physics, but they are most useful when used purposefully, not as a default.
In primary physics, demonstrations can:
• Focus pupils’ attention on a key idea
• Support the teaching of new vocabulary by making abstract terms concrete
• Reduce cognitive load
• Provide a shared reference point for discussion
• Challenge misconceptions that have been identified using diagnostic questions.

Examples might include showing that light travels in straight lines using a torch and water spray or demonstrating vibrations with a tuning fork. Our Purposeful Practical resources such as seeing sound vibrations show how to use demonstrations purposefully to support the teaching of physics concepts.

Teachers should always be aware that some models and demonstrations can introduce misconceptions if oversimplified. Being explicit about what the demonstration shows and what it doesn’t show is crucial. In our professional development and resources, we place the careful selection and explanation of demonstrations at the heart of effective primary physics teaching.

6. Use practical work to support thinking, not as an end in itself

In primary physics, practical activity only improves learning when it has a clear and explicit purpose. The EEF guidance and other wider research on practical work all caution against assuming that ‘hands-on’ automatically leads to understanding.

Working scientifically is not about doing more practical tasks; it is about using practical work to teach pupils how to work scientifically by asking questions, gathering evidence and using that evidence to answer those questions; but it is also about using practical work to help pupils make sense of ideas.

Sometimes this means a guided enquiry, where pupils collect and use data to answer a specific question such as how surface type affects movement or how voltage affects the brightness of a lamp. At other times, the purpose of practical work might be conceptual clarification, where a short, focused investigation helps pupils notice something important.

The professional judgement lies in being clear about why pupils are doing the practical activity and making that purpose explicit to pupils; is it to answer a question, develop a disciplinary skill, secure or deepen an idea or to check understanding. In primary physics, it is clarity of intent that turns practical work into purposeful learning.

7. Connect physics to pupils’ lives and identities

Relating learning to real-world contexts, which can be related to the lives and experiences of pupils, helps them to engage with what they are learning and provides a more equitable and inclusive science education. This appliance of science, building local and personal connections is central to the Primary Science Capital Teaching Approach.

In physics, this might include:
• Forces in playground equipment, sports or toys
• Sound in music, instruments or alarms
• Light in road safety or reflections
These contexts support inclusion, while also providing opportunities for challenge as pupils abstract and generalise their learning, linking the physics to their everyday lives.

Teaching strategies

High-quality primary physics teaching is not about a single strategy. It comes from combining precise language, structured talk, deliberate attention to misconceptions and carefully chosen practical approaches, including demonstrations where they add value.
When all these elements are planned together, physics becomes a subject where all pupils can think deeply, explain confidently and experience genuine challenge.

Physics is everywhere; it helps us to understand the world around us and can reinforce learning across the curriculum. Teachers need the tools, techniques and approaches to help them to teach primary physics with confidence, effectively tackling misconceptions, capturing curiosity and laying a firm foundation for physics learning.

What next?

We can help you understand the most effective ways for deliberately teaching primary physics concepts. From September 2026, we will be opening our current primary offer to all teachers in English state primary schools and FREE Improving Primary Physics CPD days will be taking place across England.

A growing collection of online resources for guided enquiries that model effective approaches to teaching physics in the primary classroom and support teachers in their professional development will also be available.

Sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date with the latest Ogden resources and opportunities in professional development for primary physics.

Back for more updates and insights