Practical sessions 'help turn children into scientists'

Children can take their first steps along the road to becoming scientists during practical lessons at school, according to the Royal Society.

Head of education Libby Steele claims that it is essential that people should be engaged with the world of science while they are still very young.

"Once you've lost a child at the age of 11 from science and mathematics, it's very hard to turn them around," she says.

However, thanks to their innate curiosity, performing practical experiments with children could be the first step in creating the next generation of scientists.

Ms Steele's suggestions do not apply only to the kinds of experiments associated with chemistry and physics, but also the observations that might be made in biology lessons.

For instance, she argues that more can be learned and remembered from watching how a creature moves around its habitat than from reading similar information from a book.