Science

Purpose of study 

• Science education at Norton St Nicholas C of E School will provide the foundations for understanding the world through biology, chemistry and physics,
• All pupils will be taught the essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science,
• All pupils will build up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts,
• There will be opportunities to develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena,
• Pupils will be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse cause.

Aims

When children leave Norton St Nicholas they will:

• have developed a curiosity for enquiring about, and investigating, scientific phenomena;
• have developed scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics;
• have developed understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of scientific enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them;
• be equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.

What we teach

Early Years

 

Year 1

 Animals including humans

• Parts of the human body and face.
• The five senses.
• Names and features of common animals.
• What animals eat.

Everyday materials

• Materials different objects are made from.
• Sorting objects into groups made from the same material.
• Describing the properties of different materials.
• Designing a shelter based on knowledge of different materials.

Plants

• Plants in the local area.
• Parts of a flowering plant.
• Deciduous and evergreen trees.
• How plants change over time.

Seasonal changes

• The four seasons.
• Weather where we live and across the United Kingdom.
• How people prepare for the weather.

Year 2

 Animals including humans

• What animals need to stay alive.
• What humans need to eat to stay healthy.
• Activities humans can do to keep their bodies healthy.
• Stages of an animal's life cycle.

Living things and their habitats

• Objects that are alive, dead or have never been alive.
• Why living things live where they do.
• How living things in habitats depend on each other.
• Food chains.

Plants

• The structure of a flowering plant and a tree.
• Where plants come from.
• What plants need so they can grow.
• How different plants grow.

Uses of everyday materials

• Properties of everyday materials.
• Why certain materials are chosen for some objects.
• How some solid materials can be changed.
• Selecting suitable materials for a task.

Year 3

 Animals including humans

• The nutrition animals need to survive.
• How bones and muscles help animals.

Forces and magnets

• How objects move on different surfaces.
• Magnets and magnetic objects.
• How magnets attract or repel.

Light

• How we see things.
• Different sources of light.
• UV light and the damage it can cause.
• Shadows.

Plants

• Parts of flowering plants and what they do.
• Water transportation in plants.
• How plants reproduce.
• What plants need so they can grow.

Rocks

• Properties of different types of rocks.
• Soil.
• How fossils are formed.

 

Year 4

 Animals including humans

• The digestive system.
• The types of teeth humans have and what they are used for.
• Food chains.

Electricity

• Household appliances that run on electricity.
• Simple circuits.
• Electrical conductors and insulators.

Living things and their habitats

• Grouping animals.
• Effects of natural changes to environments.
• Effects of human changes to an environment.
• Changes to habitats over the seasons.

Sound

• How sounds are made.
• How sounds travel.
• Changing the pitch of a sound.

States of matter

• Solids, liquids and gases.
• How materials change when they are heated or cooled.
• Accurately measuring temperature.
• Changes to states of matter in the water cycle.

Year 5

Animals including humans

• How humans change as they grow older.
• Changes that happen to human bodies to prepare for reproduction.

Earth and Space

• How planets in our solar system move.
• Why we have day and night.
• The Moon's movement.

Forces

• Gravity.
• How air resistance and water resistance affects objects.
• How levers, pulleys and gears work.

Living things and their habitats

• How animals reproduce.
• How plants reproduce.

Properties and changes of materials

• Grouping materials based on their properties.
• Properties of materials that are considered when choosing materials for a purpose.
• Materials for insulation.
• Separating mixtures.
• Reversible and irreversible changes.

Year 6

 Animals including humans

• The circulatory system.
• Different things that affect the way our bodies function.

Electricity

• Key components in a circuit.
• Circuit diagrams.
• Changing circuits to affect how components work.

Evolution and inheritance

• How we know about things that lived on Earth long ago.
• What we inherit from our parents.
• How plants and animals are suited to their environments.
• Why plant and animal species change over time.
• Evolution.

Light

• How light travels.
• How we see.
• How and why shadows change in shape and size.

Living things and their habitats

• Classifying living things.
• Vertebrates and invertebrates.
• Classifying plants.