At Waterside Primary School, we aim to provide a learning atmosphere which encourages curiosity, perseverance, open-mindedness, critical reflection and co-operation.  We endeavour to provide a broad and balanced learning experience for all our pupils and, wherever possible, opportunities to develop skills and gain an understanding of science concepts through first-hand experience and practical work.

 

Our aims in teaching Science include:

  • building on children’s natural curiosity and developing a scientific approach to problems;
  • encouraging open-mindedness, self-criticism, perseverance and responsibility;
  • preparing children for life in an increasingly scientific and technological world;
  • fostering concern about, and appreciation of, our environment;
  • building children’s self-confidence to enable them to work independently and developing their social skills to work co-operatively with others;
  • helping children to acquire a progressive understanding of scientific ideas;
  • giving children the experience of scientific processes;
  • helping children to acquire practical science skills;
  • providing children with an enjoyable experience of Science, so that they will develop a deep and lasting interest and be motivated to study Science further.

Pupils will be given opportunities to:

  • develop their understanding through systematic enquiry, using both first hand and secondary sources as appropriate;
  • use ICT to collect, store, retrieve and present scientific information;
  • relate their work in Science to everyday life;
  • consider simple scientific ideas and the evidence for them and, collect evidence to test scientific ideas in a variety of ways;
  • communicate scientific ideas and observations using appropriate scientific vocabulary;
  • present information in a variety of ways including drawings, diagrams, tables and charts and in speech and writing; at key stage 2, pupils should also use standard units of measurement and include graphs to record and present information;
  • consider health and safety in the context of their Science work and take action to control risks;
  • find out about scientific ideas and theories based upon famous scientists from past or present.

Science Lead: Miss A Curtis


 

Curriculum Map

Curriculum Progress

Materials

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

 

Everyday materials

Use of everyday materials

Forces and magnets

States of matter

Properties and changes of materials

 

 

Distinguish between an object and the material from which it is made

Identify and name a variety of everyday materials, including wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, and rock

Describe the simple physical properties of a variety of everyday materials

Compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of their simple physical properties.

 

 

 

 

Identify and compare the suitability of a variety of everyday materials, including wood, metal, plastic, glass, brick, rock, paper and cardboard for particular uses

Find out how the shapes of solid objects made from some materials can be changed by squashing, bending, twisting and stretching.

 

 

Compare how things move on different surfaces

Notice that some forces need contact between two objects, but magnetic forces can act at a distance

Observe how magnets attract or repel each other and attract some materials and not others

Compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of whether they are attracted to a magnet, and identify some magnetic materials

Describe magnets as having two poles

Predict whether two magnets will attract or repel each other, depending on which poles are facing.

 

 

Compare and group materials together, according to whether they are solids, liquids or gases

Observe that some materials change state when they are heated or cooled, and measure or research the temperature at which this happens in degrees Celsius (°C)

Identify the part played by evaporation and condensation in the water cycle and associate the rate of evaporation with temperature.

 

 

Compare and group together everyday materials on the basis of their properties, including their hardness, solubility, transparency, conductivity (electrical and thermal), and response to magnets

Know that some materials will dissolve in liquid to form a solution, and describe how to recover a substance from a solution

Use knowledge of solids, liquids and gases to decide how mixtures might be separated, including through filtering, sieving and evaporating 

 

Give reasons, based on evidence from comparative and fair tests, for the particular uses of everyday materials, including metals, wood and plastic

Demonstrate that dissolving, mixing and changes of state are reversible changes

Explain that some changes result in the formation of new materials, and that this kind of change is not usually reversible, including changes associated with burning and the action of acid on bicarbonate of soda

Animals Including Humans

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Animal including humans

Identify and name a variety of common animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals

Identify and name a variety of common animals that are carnivores, herbivores and omnivores

Describe and compare the structure of a variety of common animals (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, including pets)

Identify, name, draw and label the basic parts of the human body and say which part of the body is associated with each sense.

 

Notice that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults

Find out about and describe the basic needs of animals, including humans, for survival (water, food and air)

Describe the importance for humans of exercise, eating the right amounts of different types of food, and hygiene.

 

Identify that animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition, and that they cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat

Identify that humans and some other animals have skeletons and muscles for support, protection and movement.

 

 

Describe the simple functions of the basic parts of the digestive system in humans

Identify the different types of teeth in humans and their simple functions

Construct and interpret a variety of food chains, identifying producers, predators and prey.

 

Describe the changes as humans develop to old age.

 

Identify and name the main parts of the human circulatory system, and describe the functions of the heart, blood vessels and blood

Recognise the impact of diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle on the way their bodies function

Describe the ways in which nutrients and water are transported within animals, including humans.

Living things and their Habitats

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Plants/Living things and their habitats

Year 1 -

Identify and name a variety of common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees

 identify and describe the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees.

 

Year 2 -

Observe and describe how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants

Find out and describe how plants need water, light and a suitable temperature to grow and stay healthy.

 

Explore and compare the differences between things that are living, dead, and things that have never been alive

Identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe how different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants, and how they depend on each other

Identify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including micro-habitats

Describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain, and identify and name different sources of food.

 

Identify and describe the functions of different parts of flowering plants: roots, stem/trunk, leaves and flowers

Explore the requirements of plants for life and growth (air, light, water, nutrients from soil, and room to grow) and how they vary from plant to plant

Investigate the way in which water is transported within plants

Explore the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal.

 

Recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways

Explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment

Recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things.

 

Describe the differences in the life cycles of a mammal, an amphibian, an insect and a bird

Describe the life process of reproduction in some plants and animals.

 

Describe how living things are classified into broad groups according to common observable characteristics and based on similarities and differences, including micro-organisms, plants and animals

Give reasons for classifying plants and animals based on specific characteristics.

 

Forces and the earth

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Seasonal Change

Rocks

Sound

Earth and space

Forces

Observe changes across the four seasons

Observe and describe weather associated with the seasons and how day length varies.

 

Compare and group together different kinds of rocks on the basis of their appearance and simple physical properties

Describe in simple terms how fossils are formed when things that have lived are trapped within rock

Recognise that soils are made from rocks and organic matter.

 

Identify how sounds are made, associating some of them with something vibrating

Recognise that vibrations from sounds travel through a medium to the ear

Find patterns between the pitch of a sound and features of the object that produced it

Find patterns between the volume of a sound and the strength of the vibrations that produced it

Recognise that sounds get fainter as the distance from the sound source increases.

 

Describe the movement of the Earth, and other planets, relative to the Sun in the solar system

Describe the movement of the Moon relative to the Earth

Describe the Sun, Earth and Moon as approximately spherical bodies

Use the idea of the Earth’s rotation to explain day and night and the apparent movement of the sun across the sky.

 

Explain that unsupported objects fall towards the Earth because of the force of gravity acting between the Earth and the falling object

Identify the effects of air resistance, water resistance and friction, that act between moving surfaces

Recognise that some mechanisms, including levers, pulleys and gears, allow a smaller force to have a greater effect.

 

Light and Electricity

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

 

Light

Electricity

Light

Electricity

 

Recognise that they need light in order to see things and that dark is the absence of light

Notice that light is reflected from surfaces

Recognise that light from the sun can be dangerous and that there are ways to protect their eyes

Recognise that shadows are formed when the light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object

Find patterns in the way that the size of shadows change.  

 

Identify common appliances that run on electricity

Construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts, including cells, wires, bulbs, switches and buzzers

Identify whether or not a lamp will light in a simple series circuit, based on whether or not the lamp is part of a complete loop with a battery

Recognise that a switch opens and closes a circuit and associate this with whether or not a lamp lights in a simple series circuit

Recognise some common conductors and insulators, and associate metals with being good conductors.

 

Recognise that light appears to travel in straight lines

Use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye

Explain that we see things because light travels from light sources to our eyes or from light sources to objects and then to our eyes

Use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain why shadows have the same shape as the objects that cast them.

Associate the brightness of a lamp or the volume of a buzzer with the number and voltage of cells used in the circuit

Compare and give reasons for variations in how components function, including the brightness of bulbs, the loudness of buzzers and the on/off position of switches

Use recognised symbols when representing a simple circuit in a diagram.

Evolution and Inheritance

Covered in Year 6 – as a 2 week topic/project – transition to Year 7

Recognise that living things have changed over time and that fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the Earth millions of years ago.

Recognise that living things produce offspring of the same kind, but normally offspring vary and are not identical to their parents

Identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution.

 

Displaying our learning

Science - Displaying our learning

Our awesome learning opportunities

Science - Our awesome learning opportunities