How Atomi can support science department educators

Science is a dynamic and complex subject, but it’s more than just about memorising facts. It’s about fostering curiosity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills that students can apply to real-world situations. However, teaching science comes with several challenges.

Many students find certain topics too abstract, struggle to see the relevance of what they’re learning, or simply disengage when lessons feel too theoretical. On top of all this, teachers often have limited time to prepare lessons, run practical experiments, and provide personalised support to every student.

The good news? Atomi can help science educators overcome these challenges. We spoke with Will Ansel, STEM Content Manager at Atomi, to discuss how Atomi’s curriculum-aligned resources can simplify difficult concepts, promote student participation, and balance theoretical knowledge with hands-on learning.

In this guide, we’ll explore how Atomi can help science educators:

• Teach real-world examples with ease
• Set group work that promotes participation
• Support students through tricky scientific concepts
• Break down big topics into manageable pieces
• Help students visualise key biological concepts
• Step students through practicals

Teaching real-world examples with ease

One of the biggest hurdles in science education is making abstract concepts feel relevant. Students often struggle to see the real-world applications of what they are learning, leading to disengagement. If learners don’t understand why a concept matters, they are less likely to invest time or effort into learning it.

Atomi helps bridge this gap by incorporating real-world examples in lessons to show students how scientific principles apply to everyday life.

Will Ansel, STEM Content Manager at Atomi explains:

There’s this perceived difficulty with science. Many students block themselves off before even stepping into the classroom. They think, ‘Physics is only for NASA scientists,’ or, ‘When will I ever need to know the organelles of a cell?’ But when we connect science to real-world applications—like the forces behind a building’s stability or the chemistry of everyday reactions—students begin to see its relevance.

Instead of teaching forces purely through equations, Atomi’s lessons explore how forces affect bridge construction, car safety, and even sports. By linking abstract ideas to tangible, familiar things, teachers can make science more relatable and easier to engage with, shifting students’ mindsets from “When will I use this?” to “Oh, that makes sense!”

Setting group work that promotes participation

Collaboration is a key part of learning about science. Group work allows students to discuss ideas, learn from their peers, and problem-solve in hands-on ways. 

However, structuring effective group work can be challenging since some students can be on different levels of learning or have varying degrees of participation based on personality.

Atomi offers structured, flexible and differentiated content that teachers can assign to different groups of students, ensuring equal participation and deeper engagement.

With Atomi, teachers can:

• Assign different videos to groups and have students teach each other, helping students to master new topics and build new knowledge.
  
• Use Atomi’s interactive quizzes as collaborative challenges, tapping into friendly competition to inspire learners to work together to solve problems and find solutions.
  
• Facilitate discussions around real-world case studies that make science theory feel more tangible and relatable to students. 

Will highlights the importance of this approach:

Our content is really adaptable. You can assign one video to one group, another to a different group, and have students cross-teach. This kind of flexibility ensures that all students can participate in a way that suits their learning level.

Supporting students through tricky scientific concepts

Many students find science challenging because it’s filled with complex, abstract concepts that can be difficult to grasp. Topics like atomic bonding, force dynamics or biochemical processes often require strong visualisation skills — something textbooks can’t always provide.

Atomi helps break down these tricky science concepts with:

• Short, engaging videos that explain topics in clear, accessible language that’s crafted to resonate with students.
  
• Infographics and animations to illustrate abstract ideas and make them more concrete for learners, each purposely designed to combat cognitive overload.
  
• Immediate feedback on quizzes which allows students to check their work and correct their understanding instantly, or dive into tailored revision resources. 

As Will explains:

Some of the toughest science topics are those we can’t see — atomic bonding, cellular processes, forces at play. With Atomi’s animations and visual explanations, we make the invisible visible, which is so important for comprehension.

Rather than relying solely on the imagination or static textbook images, Atomi students can see these concepts in action, making it easier to understand and retain information.

Breaking down big topics into manageable pieces

Science curriculums cover vast amounts of content, which can be overwhelming for both students and teachers. Trying to cover too much at once can lead to cognitive overload, where students struggle to absorb and retain huge volumes of information.

Atomi’s lessons are sectioned into digestible short, structured lessons with worked examples, so students can process one idea at a time before moving to the next. This approach has several benefits:

• Better retention: Students can focus on small chunks of information instead of feeling overwhelmed by entire chapters of a textbook.
  
• More effective revision: Students can revisit specific sections of a lesson instead of rewatching an entire lengthy lecture.
  
• Flexible application: Educators can integrate Atomi content into existing lesson plans in different ways, from assigning tasks for homework to using videos as part of a whole-class instruction. 

Rather than a 40-minute lesson that students struggle to sit through, Atomi breaks content into short, sharp videos. You can use them however you want — play one at the start of a lesson, assign another as homework, or mix and match to create a structured sequence.”
- Will Ansel, STEM Content Manager at Atomi 

This modular, bite-sized approach makes science more digestible, engaging and adaptable to different types of learners and teaching styles.

Helping students visualise key biological concepts

Unlike fun chemistry experiments or physics demonstrations, biology is full of microscopic processes that can’t be seen with the naked eye. Processes like DNA replication, cellular respiration, and enzyme functions can be hard to understand because of how abstract they feel.

Atomi helps bring these concepts to life with:

• Step-by-step animations that walk students through complex biological processes.
• Infographics that help simplify complex systems in digestible flow charts.
• Comparative diagrams that highlight key differences between topics like mitosis vs meiosis.

As Will explains, “With Atomi, we can animate complex processes in a way that textbooks simply cannot. Watching a DNA strand unwind in motion is far more effective than staring at a still diagram.”

Stepping students through practicals

Practical experiments are a core part of science education. But they come with challenges like time-consuming setups, limited lab resources, and students coming into practicals unprepared.

Atomi helps teachers optimise lab time by offering:

• Pre-lab modules that introduce key scientific inquiry skills.
• Step-by-step guides to ensure students understand experiment objectives.
• Follow-up quizzes to reinforce learning after practicals.

This approach maximises lab time, ensuring students enter practicals with a clear understanding of the objectives and methodology.Will reiterates on the benefits of this structured approach:

One of the biggest challenges with practicals is that students often come in unprepared. With Atomi, they can complete science inquiry skills modules beforehand, so when they walk into the lab, they already have the foundational knowledge needed to conduct the experiment.

‍Teaching science should inspire curiosity and equip students with critical thinking skills — but time constraints, complex content and resource limitations often make this a difficult task. Atomi provides engaging, structured and flexible resources that support both educators and students by:

• Making real-world connections to keep students engaged
• Breaking down complex concepts into manageable, visual lessons
• Providing structured group work activities that drive participation
• Helping students prepare for practicals with science inquiry modules

Now, science educators can spend less time struggling with lesson preparations and more time fostering a love for scientific discovery in their classrooms.Ready to see how Atomi can transform your science lessons? Try Atomi for free today.

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