Working scientifically
Across all year groups scientific knowledge and skills should be learned by working scientifically. (This is documented in the Essentials for progress section.)
Biology
Plants
- Look at the function of parts of flowering plants, requirements of growth, water transportation in plants, life cycles and seed dispersal.
Evolution and inheritance
- Look at resemblance in offspring.
- Look at changes in animals over time.
- Look at adaptation to environments.
- Look at differences in offspring.
- Look at adaptation and evolution.
- Look at changes to the human skeleton over time.
Animals and humans
- Look at nutrition, transportation of water and nutrients in the body, the muscle and skeleton system of humans and animals.
- Look at the digestive system in humans.
- Look at teeth.
- Look at the human circulatory system.
All living things
- Identify and name plants and animals
- Look at classification keys.
- Look at the life cycle of animals and plants.
- Look at classification of plants, animals and micro organisms.
- Look at reproduction in plants and animals, and human growth and changes. • Look at the effect of diet and exercise and drugs.
Chemistry
Rocks and fossils
- Compare and group rocks and describe the formation of fossils.
States of matter
- Look at solids, liquids and gases, changes of state, evaporation, condensation and the water cycle.
Materials
- Examine the properties of materials using various tests.
- Look at solubility and recovering dissolved substances.
- Separate mixtures.
- Examine changes to materials that create new materials that are usually not reversible.
Physics
Light
- Look at sources, seeing, reflections and shadows.
- Explain how light appears to travel in straight lines and how this affects seeing and shadows.
Sound
- Look at sources, vibration, volume and pitch.
Electricity
- Look at appliances, circuits, lamps, switches, insulators and conductors. • Look at circuits, the effect of the voltage in cells and the resistance and
- conductivity of materials.
Forces and magnets
- Look at contact and distant forces, attraction and repulsion, comparing and grouping materials.
- Look at poles, attraction and repulsion.
- Look at the effect of gravity and drag forces.
- Look at transference of forces in gears, pulleys, levers and springs.
Earth and space
- Look at the movement of the Earth and the moon.
- Explain day and night.