Calendar Dates
- There are no events for the next 10 weeks.
Key Staff
Coordinator: Mrs Nixon
Governor: Mr Shields
“Science has been designated a core subject of the national curriculum, alongside mathematics and English, since the Education Reform Act of 1988. As such, a science education forms an important entitlement for all young people.
Although the precise purposes of science education have been contested for some time, there is a general consensus that it involves pupils learning a body of knowledge relating to the products and practices of science. By learning about the products of science, such as atoms and cells, pupils are able to explain the material world and ‘develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena’ By learning about the practices of science, pupils learn how scientific knowledge becomes established through scientific enquiry. By learning this, pupils appreciate the nature and status of scientific knowledge: for example, knowing it is open to revision in the light of new evidence. As pupils learn science, they also learn about its uses and significance to society and their own lives. This will highlight the significant contribution science has made in the past. For example, by eradicating smallpox and discovering penicillin. But pupils will also learn about the continuing importance of science in solving global challenges such as climate change, food availability, controlling disease and access to water. Science education also provides the foundation for a range of diverse and valuable careers that are crucial for economic, environmental and social development.” (Research Review Series: April 2021)
St Francis' Science Curriculum
Our curriculum consists of four key areas:
The year group plan changes annually to ensure children have covered the curriculum, mastered and refined their skills.
Teachers plan a sequence of lessons using Insight assessment to focus on the skills being taught through various investigative methods. Children are given opportunities to master the four areas of scientific enquiry, biology, chemistry and physics. The curriculum is sequenced to ensure that every child has the opportunity to ask questions, predict the outcome, set up fair enquiries, record observations in a variety of ways and draw conclusions from their results. Children are also encouraged to raise further questions including what could happen if …? This ensures an ongoing process of reflection, self-evaluation, peer assessments and adult assessments infiltrated through each session to ensure progress is maintained. Children ask questions throughout the units and it is important children are listened to and answered.
We have planned what we want children to know by the end of each year group, so that children can learn, practise and develop art and design knowledge and skills ready for their Year 7 curriculum. The knowledge and skills we want children to know are set out below.
Key Skills: I can… | Working Scientifically
| Pupil can, with support, develop relevant, testable questions, Pupil can plan enquiry, such as comparative or fair test, Pupil can set up a comparative test Pupil can use various equipment, as instructed, Pupil can use standard measurements when taking measurements, Pupil can, with prompting, draw and label diagrams Pupil can, with prompting, use tables to record evidence, Pupil can, with prompting, gather and display evidence in various ways, Pupil can, with prompting, write a conclusion based on evidence, Pupil can indicate findings from an enquiry that could be reported, Pupil can, with prompting, recognise patterns that relate to scientific ideas Pupil can, with support, use evidence to produce a simple conclusion Pupil can suggest how an investigation could be extended
| Pupil can develop relevant, testable questions Pupil can plan investigations using different types of scientific enquiry Pupil can set up comparative and fair tests, Pupil can use various equipment, as instructed, repeatedly and with care Pupil can recognise the importance of using standard units and measures accurately Pupil can use words and diagrams to record findings Pupil can use various ways to record evidence Pupil can use various ways to record, group and display evidence Pupil can write a conclusion based on evidence Pupil can present findings either in writing or orally, Pupil can recognise patterns that relate to scientific ideas Pupil can use evidence to produce a simple conclusion Pupil can use evidence to suggest further relevant investigations, | Pupil can, with support, can answer questions using evidence gathered from different types of scientific enquiry Pupil can, with prompting, identifies and manages variables Pupil can start to use labelled diagrams to show more complex outcomes Pupil can, with prompting, write a conclusion using evidence and identifying causal links | Pupil can answer questions using evidence gathered from different types of scientific enquiry Pupil can identify and manage variables Pupil can use labelled diagrams to show complex outcomes Pupil can use evidence to suggest further comparative or fair tests that would develop the investigation Pupil can, in conclusions, indicate how trustworthy they are Pupil can identify how an idea is supported or refuted by evidence |
BIOLOGY: Living things and their habitats
| Describe what each part of a flowering plant does. Explain, with the aid of a diagram or plant, how water is carried up from the soil. Explain how pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal play a role in the reproduction of flowering plants
| Suggest different ways of sorting the same group of living things Use classification keys to group and identify members from a range of familiar and less familiar living things Describe examples of living things that are threatened by changes to environments, | Identify similarities and differences in two different life cycles Describe the changes as humans develop to old age Describe in sequence the stages of reproduction in some plants and animals | Use similarities and differences in observable features to decide how living things should be grouped, e Explain why certain features are useful in classifying living things, e | |
BIOLOGY: Animals including Humans
| Describe why animals depend on the correct nutrition. Explain which parts of the skeleton provide support and protection, and how they allow for movements. | Identify what each of the principal organs in the digestive system do. Describe the function of each type of tooth in the human skull. Use a food chain to represent predator-prey relationships
| None | Describe what heart, blood vessels and blood do, Suggest how their bodies are affected by substances and actions, Describe with aid of diagrams the route that water takes within animals, | |
BIOLOGY: Evolution and Inheritance | Explain how fossils are formed. Describe how soil is made. Examine and test rocks, grouping them according to the results. |
| None | Use fossils as evidence that living things have changed over time, Describe examples of a living thing that has adapted to live in a particular habitat and evolved as a result, | |
PHYSICS: Light (and sound)
| Relate being able to see to the presence of light Describe how some objects reflect light. Describe how and why our eyes should be protected from sunlight. Explain how shadows are made. Describe how to change the size of a shadow.
| Explain, with reference to vibrations, how an object makes a sound. Describe the role of a medium in the transmission of sound. Describe the effect of moving further from the source of a sound. Explain with reference to a particular object how the pitch of the sound can be changed. Explain with reference to a particular object how the volume of the sound can be changed | None | Represent light using straight line ray diagrams. Draw diagrams using straight lines showing light travelling to the eye. Explain how we can see an object by referring to light travelling into the eye. Draw a diagram showing an object, shadow and light to relate object shape to shadow shape. | |
PHYSICS: Electricity |
| List examples of appliances that run on electricity. Construct a simple circuit and name its components. Sort materials into conductors and insulators, identifying metals as conductors Predict whether a particular arrangement of components will result in a bulb lighting. Predict how the operation of a switch will affect bulbs lighting. | None | Explain how number and voltage of cells affects the lamp or buzzer. Explain the use of switches, how bulbs can be made brighter and buzzers made louder. Represent a circuit that has been constructed using symbols. | |
PHYSICS: Forces (and magnets)
| Compare how an object, such as a toy car, will move on different surfaces. Recognise the difference between contact and contact forces Describe how magnets attract or repel each other, and attract magnetic materials. Group materials on the basis of testing for being magnetic. Describe and identify the poles of a magnet Predict outcomes of a particular arrangement of magnets |
| Explain that gravity causes objects to fall towards Earth Describe how motion may be resisted by air resistance, water resistance or friction. Describe how some devices may turn a smaller force into a larger one.
| None | |
PHYSICS: Earth and Space
|
|
| Draw a diagram or use a model to describe planetary orbits. Draw a diagram or use a model to describe the Moon's orbit around the Earth. Describe the Sun, Earth & Moon as spheres Use a diagram or model to explain why the Sun seems to travel across the sky, and what causes day and night.
| None | |
CHEMISTRY: Properties and changes of materials (states of matter)
|
| Group materials according to their state of matter. Describe how evaporation and condensation happen in the water cycle, and how temperature affects evaporation. Identify changes of state and research values of degrees Celsius at which changes happen. | Test and sort a range of materials based on their physical properties Describe how some materials, e.g. sugar, will dissolve and can be retrieved. Justify separation techniques proposed, with reference to materials being separated Show how the original materials can be retrieved from each of these changes Identify reactants and products of chemical changes and recognise these as being irreversible. Use evidence to justify the selection of a material for a purpose.
| None |
IMPACT
Science is everywhere! Through pupil voice, children talk about their interests and prior knowledge of starting points in the units of Science studied, giving them opportunities to make links between causes and effects.