Science
Date: 16 March 2026
Time: 1400-1530
Venue: Teams
Presenters:
1. Mdm R Parvathy (Rosyth School)
2. Mdm Tan Si Ming (Nanyang Primary School)
3. Mdm Tu Kee Wui (Catholic High School (Primary))
4. Peh Yunn Chyn (Nan Hua Primary School)
The nine Gifted Education Centres embarked on a Tinkering journey to deepen students' science understanding, encourage science inquiry through hands-on experiences, and develop 21st century competencies. In Primary 4, tinkering activities were built on the topic, Heat, where students designed cooler bags to slow down heat transfer, applying their knowledge of materials and heat transfer
as they design, investigate and refine their products. In Primary 5, teachers guided students to design toy houses that used 3 evaporation for cooling, extending their learning on water cycles. In post-activity
surveys, Primary 4 students rated collaboration with peers and using different ways to solve problems highest, whilst Primary 5 students rated making connections to concepts learnt and using different ways to solve problems highest.
In this session, the four teachers will share how they extended the investigation of scientific phenomena in the new Primary Science syllabus by integrating Tinkering with Inquiry. To illustrate and reflect on
how they offer stretch and develop emerging 21st century competencies in students with strengths and talents in Science, they will share how tinkering to optimise a cooler bag further explores thermal conductivity (Mdm Tan Si Ming and Ms Peh Yunn Chyn), and how tapping evaporative cooling further explores synergy with other passive cooling solutions (Mdm Tu Kee Wui and Ms Peh Yunn Chyn). One school's approach to tap the affordances of MakerSpace and Maker Education will also be shared (Mdm
Parvathy).
Participants will discuss and share takeaways they could apply to integrate Tinkering with Inquiry to cater for students with strengths and talents in Science in lessons conducted in class or in level-wide/school-wide programmes.
Mdm Parvathy, Mdm Tan, Mdm Tu and Ms Peh are experienced primary science educators who have taught in the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) for over a decade, with some having more than 20 years of experience. In recent years, they have extended their expertise to stretching students with strengths and talents in Science within heterogeneous classes in the mainstream. All four teachers are
proficient in differentiated instruction and science inquiry to develop students' 21st century competencies. In 2025, they successfully implemented Tinkering with Inquiry approaches in their respective schools, each bringing unique variations: some employed class group work whilst
others used flipped learning with individual tinkering at home before class discussions. They challenged students differently to foster creativity in designing experiments and collecting data.
Beyond their classrooms, each teacher provides leadership in their respective roles:
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Mdm Parvathy, as Dean/Curriculum
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Mdm Tan, as Senior Teacher
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Mdm Tu, as in-house counsellor
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Ms Peh, as IRS coordinator, E2K teacher and workshop facilitator.