Creativity in science
Double Crossed: exploring science
and history through cross-curricular
teaching
Eleanor Brodie and Merisa Thompson
ABSTRACT With the growing emphasis on cross-curricular teaching in the UK and the increasingly
widespread shift in schools away from prescriptive schemes of work, many teachers are now
looking towards more topic-based lesson planning. As a result, the demand for cross-curricular
resources and support has increased. In response to this need the Centre for Science Education at
Sheffield Hallam University brought together a small group of teachers, from both science and
history disciplines, to design, develop and trial two unique cross-curricular resources for pupils
currently involved in the transition from primary to secondary school level.
This article reports on the work of two
partnerships of science and history teachers from
two secondary schools in South Yorkshire, who
devised innovative cross-curricular science and
history resources as part of the Double Crossed
project. The project was managed for one year,
from September 2007 to August 2008, by the
Centre for Science Education (CSE) based at
Sheffield Hallam University and funded by the
AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust. The overall
aim of the project was to explore an innovative
approach to key stage 2 to 3 transition (the move
from primary to secondary school) within the
context of cross-curricular learning in science
and history. There was a particular focus on
the development of year 7 (age11/12) pupils’
personal, interpersonal and leadership skills, the
use of history methodology to promote thinking
and reasoning skills, and the use of stimulating
contexts to excite young people about science.
The project successfully demonstrated the benefits
of cross-curricular working across science and
history and that the creative science–history
collaboration between two sets of teachers was
central to this success.
The NACCCE report on creativity (NACCCE,
1999) encouraged all schools to relish creativity,
regardless of subject matter or perceived
restrictions in the National Curriculum:
Creativity is possible in all areas of human
activity, including the arts, sciences, at work, at
play and in all other areas of daily life. All people
have creative abilities and we all have them
differently. When individuals find their creative
strengths, it can have an enormous impact on selfesteem and on overall achievement. (p. 6)
This has led to an increased acknowledgement
that creativity is a fundamental aspect of learning,
and the new secondary curriculum in England
attempts to provide teachers with more freedom to
respond creatively to the learning needs of pupils.
We believe that one such way is through the
exploration of cross-curricular dimensions.
An innovative model of transition
The Double Crossed project wanted to explore
an innovative approach to transition, focusing
predominantly on the experience of pupils
in their first year at secondary (high) school
(year 7). It is our experience that this first year
is an unsettling time for pupils: forming new
friendships, exploring new curriculum structures
and associating with a wider range of teaching
and support staff make great demands on even
the most confident individuals. Traditionally,
attention paid to ensuring a smooth transition from
primary to secondary school focuses on pupils in
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Double Crossed: cross-curricular teaching of science and history
the last year of primary school (year 6, age 10/11).
Much effort is often put into post-SATs activities
and without doubt this is a valuable element of
this transfer time.
Double Crossed sought to develop the selfconfidence and personal skills of year 7 pupils
by enabling them to work collaboratively with
their teachers in running cross-curricular science
and history activities with year 6 pupils. The
development of the personal and interpersonal
skills of the year 7 pupils, within the context
of quality science/history experiences, was
aimed at building and supporting the personal
responsibility and leadership skills as defined
by the Sheffield Hallam University Centre
for Science Education Personal Capabilities
Programme (Bianchi, 2003) – namely the skills of
collaboration and creative thinking.
Science and history in a cross-curricular
context
The project also aimed to engender fluidity
between pupils’ year 6 and 7 experiences of
science by providing an innovative project
framework drawing upon historical contexts
and teaching and learning approaches used in
history, such as the questioning of evidence and
the development of sound arguments. By drawing
upon the methodology of history, the project
aimed to encourage science teachers to focus more
on the development of arguments, questioning
of evidence, and application of thinking and
reasoning skills, rather than the ‘right’ or
‘wrong’ answers that are often characteristic of
science teaching. Furthermore, building upon the
research of Erduran, Osborne and Simon (2004)
on enhancing the quality of argument in science
lessons, Double Crossed sought to secure an
increased capacity for creative and independent
enquiry within the school science environment.
The use of a historical context can promote
a more rounded understanding of science.
History can provide science with a context, an
indispensable ingredient for the understanding of
the nature of science. Consideration of the historical
context is essential for understanding how scientific
concepts change and, in some cases, to gain a full
understanding of the concepts themselves. History
also often serves as an opportunity to introduce
the social and ethical issues in science, to nurture
reasoning or to commemorate scientific innovation.
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Brodie and Thompson
Cross-curricular teaching partnerships
One of the key achievements of the Double
Crossed project has been the successful formation
of cross-department science–history teacher
partnerships, as shown by the evidence presented
below. One partnership was formed at each
of two South Yorkshire schools: Brinsworth
Comprehensive School and Eckington School.
Teachers received professional development inputs
and a strong emphasis was placed on providing
them with time and space away from the pressures
of school so they could collaborate creatively on
the development of their science–history activity.
Their challenge was to develop innovative activities
that linked science and history, and would develop
personal, interpersonal and leadership skills.
The conception and design of the two
cross-curricular projects required a creative
development process to ensure an appropriate
balance between the history and science elements.
The teachers had never worked together before
and were thrown into unfamiliar working
relationships that, in time, developed into
proficient creative partnerships:
I loved working with [the history teacher] because
I wouldn’t have ever worked with him before if
this hadn’t of come up and we worked really well
together and discussing with [the other science
teacher] was great, having someone else to bounce
ideas off. I think before I’d never considered what
skills you use in history and how they could link up
with science and we definitely use a lot of the same
skills in both subjects and I don’t think even the
kids had realised that they do use so many similar
skills. (Science partnership teacher)
This has definitely been a creative partnership.
We have bounced ideas off each other throughout
... and have had to react to problems and issues
creatively! (History partnership teacher)
Achieving effective cross-curricular
partnerships
A key outcome of the project was the formation
and development of these new cross-department
teacher relationships. The collaboration of
teachers from the history and science departments
was initially challenging, with all the teachers
feeling some degree of anxiety about working
with what felt like such a different department:
Brodie and Thompson
Double Crossed: cross-curricular teaching of science and history
When we first signed up to take part I’ll be honest,
I was a bit anxious because I’ve never worked
with the science department before – I’ve never
needed to – and science is definitely well out of
my comfort zone. (History partnership teacher)
These anxieties were, however, short lived.
During professional development sessions the
teachers were taken through a number of exercises
to enable them to gain a better understanding
of the explicit and implicit parallels between
history and science. The results were met with
initial surprise, as substantially more similarities
than differences emerged (Table 1). By working
through these tasks together the teachers began
to establish confident and effective working
partnerships through the development of mutual
understanding and shared goals. Furthermore,
while it was agreed that the cross-department
working was challenging at times, feedback
from all the participating teachers during semistructured interviews indicated that a challenge
such as this was integral to their professional
development needs:
Working with [the science teacher] has been
great because it has challenged me – which I
think all teachers need from time to time. (History
partnership teacher)
Once these initial anxieties were put aside,
the teachers were able to work together to
Table 1 Similarities and differences between history
and science identified by participating teachers
Similarities
Use of hypothesis
Investigation
Data collection
Analysis
Manipulation of data
Classification
Evaluation
Concluding to substantiate
Validity
Critically looking at evidence
Use of empirical data
Differences
Topics
Methods of collecting
evidence
Nature of evidence
Use of experiments
establish projects outside their familiar curriculum
boundaries. They were encouraged to design and
develop creative projects and were given support
and the necessary independence to do so. This
has resulted in the creation of two innovative
cross-curricular projects (Boxes 1 and 2) that are
shaped by the knowledge and expertise of both the
science and the history teachers involved.
Developing pupils’ personal skills and
capabilities
The two activities were run with one class of
year 7 pupils in each school. All pupils involved
responded positively to the activity, with feedback
indicating that they had fully understood both
BOX 1 Project 1: Time raiders – death of the mummy
Pupils take on the role of archaeologists working in small groups to excavate and examine the mummy
of an Egyptian king. The aim of the excavation is to learn as much as possible about the subject and
to interpret all available evidence from the tomb to determine the cause of death. Who was it? How
did they live? How did they die? The mummy and excavation site are made using a model skeleton,
sand, sarcophagus, cloths and materials from the school art department. A variety of workstations are
set up with additional evidence. At one, pupils are given six pictures of the mummification process in a
random order, together with descriptions of what happens at each stage. The task is to match them up
and sort them into the correct order, revealing information about the mummification process. At another
workstation, pupils are asked to decipher some hieroglyphics on papyrus using information from a
‘Rosetta Stone’ to help them.
At a further workstation pupils examine the mummy in the tomb, which shows key evidence such as
scratches on the ribs, arms and legs, and a small hole at the back of a healthy skull. Pupils also examine
canopic jars, in which the stomach, liver, intestines and other organs would have been stored. They then
request medical reports and discuss their evidence with scientific experts. The reports contain pictures
and information about the structure and function of each organ and what scientific analysis revealed.
Working in small groups, the pupils develop team-working, communication and interpersonal skills,
culminating in compiling a report and presenting their findings to the rest of the class at the end of the
activity. The activity also involves investigative skills and links directly to science, the human body and history.
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Double Crossed: cross-curricular teaching of science and history
Brodie and Thompson
BOX 2 Project 2: Vanished! A blitz mystery
Pupils take on the role of young air-raid wardens solving a mystery after an air raid in the Second World
War. The scene of the mystery is an abandoned wartime house in Coventry at the time of the Blitz. The aim
of the investigation is to find out what happened to a family that used to live there. The scene is set with a
montage of evocative photographs showing the damage caused by bombing and the aeroplanes used,
with a siren and air-raid noises playing in the background.
The story of what led to the house being empty is told through a script involving the family that lived
next door, including a description of the scene of the house and the clues that might help to uncover what
happened (i.e. something has happened at number 37, the family has gone, there’s a broken window,
glass all over the floor, the wireless is on, there’s food on the table, the floor is wet, there’s a funny smell and
there’s a piece of burnt cloth on the floor too – all indicating that the occupants had left in a hurry and that
there had been some unrest). Pupils are asked what they think happened.
Further evidence is then added. First there is a map showing where the bombs fell in the area. Then a
warden submits evidence including a picture of ‘splatters’ of liquid spreading away from the window and
a sample of the liquid. Pupils then conduct scientific experiments (flame tests) on the liquid to determine
what it is, using a table with information about different types of liquid. They also conduct splatter tests to
determine how the liquid was distributed. The new evidence points to Molotov cocktails being thrown into
the house, which gives pupils a better idea of what may have happened to the occupants.
Stage three of the activity introduces further primary sources as clues, such as letters in German, family
photographs, swastika graffiti with slogans such as ‘Nazis go home’, and newspaper articles about the
persecution of German families in England.
Pupils then prepare presentations of the evidence in their groups to present to an Air-Raid Precaution
warden, including their hypothesis about what has happened and their thoughts on how the families
involved would be feeling.
the scientific and historical concepts used in the
sessions and had benefited from the opportunity to
work across the two subjects and with each other:
I enjoyed finding out all the different facts
because it has helped me understand how history
and science work together. (Year 7 pupil)
It was funny, we all had different opinions about
what happened to the man but we all listened to
each other and all agreed on one thing in the end.
(Year 7 pupil)
Once the year 7 pupils were familiar with the
activities, visits were set up to the local primary
feeder school for the activities to be run again, this
time with the year 6 pupils, and delivered, in-part,
by the year 7 pupils. Training sessions were run in
both of the participating secondary schools to help
the pupils develop the skills required to deliver
the activities successfully. The pupils were then
taken through the activity again, but this time as
the mentors rather than mentees. At these sessions,
pupils and teachers devised prompt sheets, modified
the activities based on the suggestions of the year 7
pupils, ran through role-play activities, practised
responses and engaged in activities that helped
them to think about how they could support the
year 6 pupils without giving all the answers away.
The year 7 pupils were assigned a variety of roles
aimed at developing their skills in communication
and thinking and enhancing their self-belief; these
included ‘air raid report warden’, organising
the distribution and collection of evidence,
‘hieroglyphics expert’, ‘archaeologist’, ‘news
I enjoyed all the experiments, each step we were
going through something different and all thinking
different things so it was fun trying to work out
what we thought had happened. (Year 7 pupil)
It wasn’t like a normal lesson as we had to think a
lot more, the teacher normally tells us things rather
than us thinking for ourselves. (Year 7 pupil)
It was the best science lesson that we’ve ever
done. (Year 7 pupil)
There was a lot of creative thinking as we had to
be creative to think of what might have happened.
(Year 7 pupil)
It was doing more about history and learning about
science too like what they do in CSI. (Year 7 pupil)
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Double Crossed: cross-curricular teaching of science and history
reporter’ and ‘documenter’. Particular attention was
paid to the support the year 7 pupils could offer the
year 6 pupils as they completed the activities.
Providing year 7 pupils with the opportunity
to lead and mentor the learning of year 6 pupils
was successful in increasing the confidence levels
of the year 7 pupils. In particular, pupils thrived
when conveying oral instructions, speaking to the
younger pupils, taking on the role of ‘expert’ and
supporting the work of the year 6 pupils. Several
of the year 7 pupils reported that they felt really
nervous before the sessions but that afterwards
they were pleased with how they had performed
and even surprised at their increased levels of
confidence and ability to act as role models to
younger pupils:
I really didn’t want to do it at first because I was
scared to talk to the year 6 kids, but once we got
started it was fun and my teacher told me I did
really well. (Year 7 pupil)
I really enjoyed being the archaeologist and
telling the year 6s about the mummy and how to
find out what had happened to him. (Year 7 pupil)
A strong indicator of the impact that their
involvement had was the pupils’ keenness to be
involved in running the projects the following
year. Having the year 7 pupils work with the year
6 pupils also makes links across the age groups,
providing the year 6 pupils with familiar faces
when they move up to secondary school.
Key messages
By combining science with history the creative
teacher partnerships have developed dynamic and
lively resources that highlight the importance of
cross-curricular teaching as a method through
which creativity is stimulated in both pupil
and teacher. Through creative cross-curricular
teaching, pupils can begin to develop the skills
crucial to coping with the rapidly changing
world and, in the case of this project, better
understanding of scientific topics through the
questioning of evidence. Working across the
curriculum provided the science and history
teachers with the tools to examine their discipline
from different perspectives:
Working with teachers from other departments
allows us the chance to cross-fertilise ideas and
concepts. Of great importance, the link between
subject areas gives the chance to look at the
generic skills required in both, such as problemsolving, teamwork, communication, interpretation,
analysis and evaluation. This can then be shown
to be a similar process in both subjects. The
chance for staff to work together shows the
students that education is not done to them in
little packages called subjects but encompasses
the world as a whole. The project has certainly
enthused the students to take the topic further
and be involved in more activities like it. (Science
partnership teacher)
Additionally, delivering scientific topics
through cross-curricular science/history contexts
encouraged opportunities for creative and
independent enquiry and discursive argument
within key stages 2 and 3. The combination of
history and science has proved a hugely valuable
tool through which pupils can become conversant
with techniques and processes vital to the study
of science through topic-based, contextualised
learning. Historical methodology provides
an extra depth through which the nature and
progress of science can be explored and serves
as an opportunity to introduce the social and
ethical issues in science to nurture reasoning and
encourage creativity in both pupils and teachers.
The two Double Crossed projects can be
run with both year 6 and year 7 and they are
recommended for an off-timetable session.
The resources can be used easily by a science
teacher, although collaboration with a history
teacher would perhaps provide more professional
gratification. In addition, the history and science
department could work together, creating a new
in-school, cross-curricular team. Work done with
the South Yorkshire schools on the similarities
and differences between science and history is
featured on the Double Crossed website to offer
a possible starting point for new collaborative
partnerships.
Next steps: Triple Crossed
One of the key objectives of Double Crossed has
been to make science learning more accessible,
effective and enjoyable by using cross-curricular
methods to help contextualise science. Building
on the success of Double Crossed, the next step
for the project is an extension of the rationale to
include a new, third branch to the cross-curricular
activity, that of citizenship. We believe that the
addition of citizenship will not only provide
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Double Crossed: cross-curricular teaching of science and history
opportunity for the exploration of contentious and
controversial issues, and encourage engagement
in discussion and debate, but will also increase
the skills and values relevant to the nature of
scientific and historical enquiry.
Triple Crossed will work with nine key stage
3 teachers from three secondary schools in the
South Yorkshire area. Three teachers from each
school will form a multidisciplinary team made
up of one head of science, one history teacher and
one citizenship teacher. The nine teachers together
with the Triple Crossed project team will work
alongside expert curriculum developers, creating a
dynamic community of resource developers.
Brodie and Thompson
Triple Crossed aims to increase teacher
confidence and pupil skills through high-quality
continuing professional development, crossdiscipline and cross-school working, culminating
in the production of a series of creative and
contemporary cross-curricular online resources
for teachers. These will tackle engaging scientific
topics through a historical, skills-based approach,
whilst considering relevant political, social,
ethical and moral problems. These new resources
will join the original Double Crossed resources
online for use by other teachers.
Acknowledgements
Our thanks to Brinsworth Comprehensive School, Eckington School, Whiston Primary School, Tinsley
Primary School, Renishaw Primary School and Ridgeway Primary School for their involvement in this project.
References
Website
Bianchi, L. (2003) Teachers’ experience of the teaching of
personal capabilities through the science curriculum. PhD
thesis, Sheffield Hallam University. Available at: www.
personalcapabilities.co.uk/research
Erduran, S., Osborne, J. F and Simon, S. (2004) Enhancing
the quality of argument in school science. Journal of
Research in Science Teaching, 41(10), 994–1020.
NACCCE (National Advisory Committee on Creative and
Cultural Education) (1999) All our futures: creativity,
culture and education. London: DfEE.
The activities described here can be viewed amongst the
project’s bespoke teacher resources at:
www.doublecrossed.org.uk
Eleanor Brodie is a researcher at Sheffield Hallam University’s Centre for Science Education. Email
[email protected]
Merisa Thompson is a research officer at the National Children’s Bureau.
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