Searching for scientific Mozarts: get em' while they're young

To make a better society and economy, Australia needs a scientifically literate populace capable of making informed decisions. But traditionally, teaching the 'big ideas' in science only appears in the later years of high school. In the new Australian Curriculum: Science, the first mention of 'atoms' is in Year 9, when most students are already 14 years old. Is it possible that primary children, thought to be only concrete thinkers, can engage with abstract concepts such as atomic-molecular theory?