,
Message sent from:
Navigation

Science

We follow the Early Years Statutory Framework and the National Curriculum for Science and the children are taught both scientific knowledge and the enquiry skills they will need to work scientifically.  Over the course of an academic year, each class studies five Science topics which include a mixture of scientific knowledge and enquiry skills.  Each topic is broken down into five or six big questions which the children will address over the course of the half term.

Reception, Year 1 and Year 2

In Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 the children follow a rolling programme.  This allows the children to revisit many of the key learning objectives more than once in different contexts so that they can reinforce their understanding and practise their skills.  There is a strong emphasis on the world around them, especially the living world, and the children enjoy spending time in our copse so that they can explore the plants and animals there.  The children are encouraged to ask questions about the world around them and observe carefully, sorting objects in different ways and carrying out comparative tests with support from an adult.

  Autumn 1 Autumn 2 Spring 1 Summer 1 Summer 2
Year A

Amazing Me

  1. How do we use our bodies?
  2. How do scientists find out about the world?  What are our senses and how do we use them?
  3. How do we change as we grow?
  4. How do scientists find out about the world?  Does everyone in our Class have the same size feet?
  5. What can we do to stay healthy?
  6. How do scientists find out about the world?  Can we use our senses to sort fruit and vegetables?

Brilliant Birds

  1. What are birds?
  2. What birds are near our school and what do they need to survive?
  3. How do scientists find out about the world?  How many birds visit our bird feeder?
  4. What is the life cycle of a bird?
  5. What is special about ducks?
  6. What is special about penguins? 

Marvellous Materials

  1. What objects can we find and what are they made of?
  2. How can we describe different materials?
  3. How do scientists find out about the world?  How can we sort materials?
  4. What are different materials used for and why?
  5. How do scientists find out about the world?  Which material is the best for mopping up water?
  6. How do scientists find out about the world? How can we stop teddy bear’s ice lolly from melting? 

Let It Grow!

  1. Where do plants come from?
  2. How do scientists find things out?What does a plant need to grow and survive?
  3. What plants grow in our school?
  4. How are plants the same and different?
  5. What are the different parts of a plant?
  6. How do plants change throughout the year?

Living Things and Their Habitats

  1. How can we tell if something is alive?
  2. What is it like to live in the South Pole?
  3. Where can we find animals at school?
  4. How do scientists find out about the world?  Where do woodlice like to live?
  5. What do different animals eat?
  6. What happens if a food chain goes wrong?
Year B

People And Their Pets

  1. Which animals make good pets and why? 
  2. How do you look after a guinea pig?
  3. How do you look after a snake?
  4. How do you look after a fish?
  5. How are pets the same and different?

Wild Weather

  1. How does the weather change throughout the year?
  2. How do we know how hot or cold it is?
  3. How do scientists find out about the world?  How much rain has fallen this week?
  4. How do scientists find out about the world?  Which material makes the best umbrella for teddy?
  5. How does the length of the day change throughout the year?
  6. How do we describe the wind?

Stretch And Bend!

  1. What objects can we find and what are they made of?
  2. How can we describe different materials?
  3. How do scientists find out about the world?  How can we sort objects? 
  4. What are different materials used for and why?
  5. How do scientists find out about the world?  Which materials can we stretch and bend?
  6. How do scientists find out about the world?  Which material would make the best headband for teddy? 

Terrific Trees

  1. What are the different parts of a tree?
  2. How can we tell the difference between trees?
  3. What trees grow in or near our school?
  4. How do deciduous trees change throughout the year?
  5. What do the seeds of trees look like and what are they for?
  6. How are trees different around the world?

Fabulous Frogs

  1. What do frogs look like?
  2. What do frogs need to survive?
  3. Where do frogs live?
  4. What do frogs eat? 
  5. How do frogs grow?
  6. How are frogs different around the world? 

Years 3 and 4

In Years 3 and 4, the children build on and broaden their scientific knowledge further, becoming more aware of the separate disciplines of Biology, Physics and Chemistry.   They become more independent in their investigative skills, developing an awareness of variables as they begin to design fair and comparative tests, sorting and classifying in more sophisticated ways and communicating their findings more clearly.

  Autumn 1 Autumn 2 Spring 1 Summer 1 Summer 2
Year 3

Animals Including Humans

  1. How do living things get their food?
  2. How can we eat healthily? 
  3. What is a skeleton?
  4. How do scientists find out about the world?  Do our bones grow as we get taller?
  5. Why do we have muscles?
  6. How do scientists find out about the world?  How do animals with no skeleton move?

Forces And Magnets

  1. What is a force?
  2. How do scientists find out about the world?  Which material slows the toy car down the most?
  3. What are magnets?
  4. How do scientists find out about the world?  Which magnet is the strongest?
  5. How do scientists find out about the world?  Can magnets attract through different materials?
  6. What happens when two magnets are pushed together?

Light

  1. What is light?
  2. How does light help us to see?
  3. What is a reflection?
  4. How is a shadow formed?
  5. How do scientists find out about the world?  Can we change the size of a shadow?

Rocks

  1. How can we sort rocks?
  2. What are the different types of rocks?
  3. How do scientists find out about the world?  What rocks can be found in our area and what are they used for?
  4. What is a fossil?
  5. What is soil?
  6. How do scientists find out about the world? Can we compare different soils?

Plants

  1. Why does a plant need water?
  2. Why does a plant need light?
  3. Why does a plant need nutrients?
  4. How does the temperature affect a plant?
  5. Why does a plant have a flower? 
  6. How do seeds travel?
Year 4

Animals Including Humans

  1. What happens to food when you eat it?
  2. What jobs do our digestive organs do? 
  3. Why do we have different kinds of teeth?
  4. How do scientists find out about the world? Which liquids will make our teeth decay more?
  5. What do different animals eat?
  6. What is a food web?

States of Matter

  1. What are the different states of matter? 
  2. How do scientists find out about the world?  Are all liquids the same?
  3. When do different materials change state?
  4. How do scientists find out about the world?  At what temperature do different solids melt?
  5. How do scientists find out about the world?  Where does water evaporate more quickly?

Sound

  1. What is sound?
  2. How does sound travel?
  3. How do scientists find out about the world?  Which material would make the best ear muffs?
  4. What is volume?
  5. How do scientists find out about the world?  Does distance make a difference to volume? 
  6. ​What is pitch?

 

Electricity

  1.  What is electricity?
  2. What do I need to build a circuit?
  3. What does a circuit need to work?
  4. What is a switch?
  5. What are conductors and insulators?
  6. How do we use electricity in our daily lives?

 

Living Things And Their Habitats

  1. What are the features of living things?
  2. How can we sort living things?
  3. What is a classification key and how do we use it?
  4. How can we classify animals?
  5. How can we classify plants
  6. How does the environment affect the plants and animals which live in it?

 

Years 5 and 6

In their final years at primary school, the children are expected to work independently to plan, carry out and evaluate scientific investigations, while developing an increasingly sophisticated understanding of classification.  They build further on their scientific knowledge, tackling some challenging concepts including gravity and the human circulatory system.

  Autumn 1 Autumn 2 Spring 1 Summer 1 Summer 2
Year 5

Properties Of and Changes In Materials

  1. How do scientists find out about the world?  How can we sort our materials and what can they used for?
  2. How do scientists find out about the world?  Which materials are soluble in water?
  3. How do scientists find out about the world?  Does temperature affect solubility?
  4. Can I get my salt back from a solution? 
  5. How can mixtures be separated
  6. What is the difference between a reversible and irreversible change?

Animals Including Humans

This topic is covered using the Relationship and Sex Education scheme, 'Life To The Full'.

Forces

  1. What are forces?
  2. What is gravity
  3. How do scientists find out about the world?  How can we measure gravity?
  4. What are air resistance and water resistance?
  5. How do scientists find out about the world?  Which parachute will fall more slowly?
  6. How can simple machines affect forces?
  7. How do scientists find out about the world?  Does changing the position of the pivot affect the effort and load?

Earth and Space

  1. Why does the moon look different at different times during the month?
  2. How does the Earth move in space? 
  3. What is the solar system?
  4. Who was Galileo?
  5. How do scientists find out about the world?  How do shadows change throughout the day?
  6. How do planets in the solar system differ?

Living Things And Their Habitats

  1. Why do some plants have flowers?
  2. How do other plants reproduce?
  3. Are the life cycles of all mammals the same?
  4. How does the life cycle of an amphibian compare to an insect?
  5. Why do birds lay eggs?
  6. How do scientists find out about the world?

 
Year 6

Living Things And Their Habitats

  1. What sorts of living things are there?
  2. How can we sort animals?
  3. How can we sort animals which have similar characteristics?
  4. How can we sort plants?
  5. How can living things be grouped and why is this useful?
  6. How do scientists find out about the world?  What organisms live in a local habitat?

Electricity

  1. What are the different components in a series circuit and what job do they do?
  2. How do we draw circuits?
  3. How do scientists find out about the world?
  4. What is the difference between a parallel and series circuit?
  5. How do scientists find out about the world?  What happens if there is a break in a parallel circuit?

Animals Including Humans

  1. What is in our blood and how does it travel around the body?
  2. How does the heart work?
  3. What is the circulatory system?
  4. How are nutrients transported around the body?
  5. How can what we eat and how we exercise keep us healthy?

Light

  1. How does light travel?
  2. How do we see things?
  3. How are shadows made? 
  4. What is a reflection?
  5. What happens when light is refracted?

Evolution and Inheritance

  1. What is the theory of evolution? 
  2. What are the different ways animals and plants have adapted to survive in their habitats?
  3. How do fossils provide evidence for evolution?
  4. How have different types of animals developed over time?
  5. Which types of organism lived over each era of time?

 

Useful Documents

You may find the following documents helpful.

The Early Years Framework
The National curriculum for Science
How we meet the National Curriculum in Years 1 and 2
How we meet the National Curriculum in Years 3 and 4
How we meet the National Curriculum in Years 5 and 6
progression in Science knowledge
progression in working scientifically

St Martin's Catholic Primary School | Hosted by New Era Technology | DB Primary | DB Learning Library

X
Hit enter to search