Science

 'A high-quality science education provides the foundation for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics.  Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world's future prosperity and all pupils should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science.'

Department for Education 2013

Science stimulates and excites pupils' curiosity about phenomena and events in the world around them.  It also satisfies their curiosity with knowledge.  Because science links direct practical experience with ideas, it can engage learners at many levels.

At Wheatfields our key aims are:

  • To stimulate and excite children's curiosity and enthusiasm for science
  • To help pupils to learn to question and discuss scientific issues that may affect their own lives
  • To engage pupils as learners at many levels through linking ideas with practical experience and developing an ability to apply principles to new situations
  • To present a variety of experiences to broaden, challenge and change children's ideas

At Keystage One pupils observe, explore and ask questions about living things, materials and physical phenomena.  They begin to work together to collect evidence to help them answer questions and to link this to simple scientific ideas.  They begin to evaluate evidence and consider whether tests or comparisons are fair.  They begin to use reference materials to find out more about scientific ideas.  They share ideas and communicate them using scientific language, drawings, charts and tables with the help of computers if it is appropriate.

At Keystage Two pupils learn about a wider range of living things, materials and physical phenomena.  They make links between ideas and explain things using simple models and theories.  They apply their knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas to familiar phenomena, everyday things and their personal health.  They think about the effects of scientific and technological developments on the environment and in other contexts.  They carry out more systematic investigations, working on their own and with others.  They use a range of reference sources in their work.  They talk about their work and its significance, using a wide range of scientific language, conventional diagrams, charts, graphs and computing to communicate their ideas.

The Science Curriculum is divided into two areas; Working scientifically and Science Knowledge (Biology, Physics and Chemistry)

Here is the overview outlining the topics and key skills taught during each key stage:

 

Key Stage 1

Working Scientifically:

During years 1 and 2, pupils should be taught to use the following practical scientific methods, processes and skills through the teaching of the units listed below.

  • asking simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways
  • observing closely, using simple equipment
  • performing simple tests
  • identifying and classifying
  • using their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions
  • gathering and recording data to help in answering questions

Year 1    

Plants – identifying and naming common plants and describing their basic structure

Animals, including humans – identifying and naming common animals and their diets

Everyday Materials – identifying and naming everyday materials, describing properties and grouping materials

Seasonal Changes – observing changes and describing weather in each season

Year 2

Living things and their habitats – exploring and comparing differences between living, dead and things that have never lived, studying habitats, simple food chains

Animals, including humans – life cycles, basic needs of animals, diet, exercise and hygiene

Growing plants – plant life cycles, what plants need to survive  

Uses of everyday materials – identifying and comparing everyday materials, finding out how some materials can be changed

Key Stage 2

Lower KS2 Working Scientifically:

During years 3 and 4, pupils should be taught to use the following practical scientific methods, processes and skills through the teaching of the units outlined below.

  • asking relevant questions and using different types of scientific enquiries to answer them
  • setting up simple practical enquiries, comparative and fair tests
  • making systematic and careful observations and, where appropriate, taking accurate measurements using standard units, using a range of equipment, including thermometers and data loggers
  • gathering, recording, classifying and presenting data in a variety of ways to help in answering questions
  • recording findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts, and tables
  • reporting on findings from enquiries, including oral and written explanations, displays or presentations of results and conclusions
  • using results to draw simple conclusions, make predictions for new values, suggest improvements and raise further questions
  • identifying differences, similarities or changes related to simple scientific ideas and processes
  • using straightforward scientific evidence to answer questions or to support their findings.

Year 3

Plants – identifying and describing the functions of the parts of a flowering plant, exploring what plants need for growth, investigating how water is transported in plants, life cycles including pollination, seed formation and dispersal

Light – recognise that light is needed to see, notice that light is reflected from surfaces, protecting our eyes from light, recognise how shadows are formed and change

Rocks – comparing and grouping rocks, describing how fossils are made, recognising how soils are made

Animals, including humans – digestive system, teeth, food chains

Animals, including humans – nutrition, skeletons 

Year 4

Living things and their habitats – grouping and classifying living things, changing habitats

Sound – how sounds are made, how sounds travel, pitch, volume

Forces and magnets – comparing how things move, how magnets repel and attract, describing magnets as having two poles

States of matter – solids, liquids and gases, changing states, water cycle

Electricity – constructing circuits with switches and buzzers, recognising common conductors and insulators  

Upper KS2 Working Scientifically:

During years 5 and 6, pupils should be taught to use the following practical scientific methods, processes and skills through the teaching of the units listed below:

  • planning different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables where necessary
  • taking measurements, using a range of scientific equipment, with increasing accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings when appropriate
  • recording data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs
  • using test results to make predictions to set up further comparative and fair tests
  • reporting and presenting findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal relationships and explanations of and a degree of trust in results, in oral and written forms such as displays and other presentations
  • identifying scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or arguments

Year 5

Living things and their habitats – differences in life cycles between mammals, amphibians, insects and birds, reproduction in some plants and animals

Animals, including humans – changes in the human life cycle, puberty, gestation periods

Living things and their habitats – classifying living things, micro-organisms

Properties and changes of materials – comparing and grouping materials, dissolving, separating materials, reversible and irreversible changes

Forces – gravity, air resistance, water resistance, friction, mechanisms (levers, pulleys, and gears) 

Year 6

Evolution and inheritance – recognise changes over time, adaptation, evolution

Earth and Space – solar system, movement of the planets, day and night

Animals including humans – circulatory system, diet, exercise

Light – how light travels, how we see, shadows

Electricity – electrical symbols changing the brightness of a lamp in a circuit, comparing circuits, using