AbstractIt is common experience that a very large amount of science teaching for 11‐13‐year‐olds in the schools of England and Wales is practically based, but little work seems to have been done to investigate it more fully — to analyse the amount, the type and the aims of practical work which science teachers have. This article describes the findings of some research done in 1978 and 79 to study the amount and type of science being taught to the 11‐13‐year‐olds and the aims that their teachers had for doing practical work in it. The results are discussed, and the changes of science teachers aims to practical work since 1962 a