Science Department

Curriculum Overview

Reception

Life Processes and Living Things
• Recognise is something is living or has never been alive.
• Name some common animals
• Name some external parts of the human body
• Name the main parts of a plant

Materials and their Properties
• Recognise and name metal, plastic and wood
• Describe simple properties of a given object
• Sort objects according to simple properties

Physical Processes
• Name some common light sources and recognise that the Sun is a source of light

Year One

Life Processes and Living Things
• Recognise and name external parts of the human body
• Recognise similarities and differences between themselves and others
• Identify animals as creatures that move, feed, grow, reproduce and use their senses
• Know that plants need light and water to grow
• Recognise and name the flower, stem, root and leaf of a flowering plant

Materials and their Properties
• Communicate observations of materials in terms of their properties and sort materials on the basis of these properties
• Recognise and identify metal, plastic, wood, paper, rock and fabric
• Predict if a material's shape can be changed by squashing, bending, twisting or stretching and say whether the change is reversible or irreversible

Physical Processes
• Recognise that sound come from a variety of sources and name some of these
• Recognise and name appliances that use electricity. Be able to build a simple circuit to operate a device.
• Be aware of the rules for electrical safety
• Know that pushes and pulls are forces and give examples of both

Year Two

Life Processes and Living Things
• Sort things into the groups living and never been alive and explain the reasons for these groupings
• Name the five senses and the sense organs and ways in which humans and other animals use that sense
• Know that taking exercise and eating the right types and amount of food help humans stay healthy
• Recognise that different living things are found in different places, Name simple ways in which a creature is suited to its environment.

Materials and their Properties
• Suggest suitable materials for a given task in terms of their properties.
• Know that some materials can be changed by heating/cooling and say whether a given change is reversible or irreversible

Physical Processes
• Name a variety of sources of sound and describe the sound in terms of loudness and pitch
• Identify a range of light sources; including the Sun. Know that darkness is an absence of light.
• Name some appliances that use mains electricity and some that use batteries.
• Build a switch and include it in a circuit
• Be aware of the potential dangers of mains electricity
• Describe the movement of objects in terms of speed and direction
• Recognise that a push/pull is required to make things speed up/slow down
• Recognise gravity and magnetism as examples of forces

Year 3

Life Processes and Living Things
• Describe the function of each type of tooth and the main needs for the care of teeth
• Describe the functions muscles and the skeleton
• To describe the function of the root, stem and leaf in a plant
• To use keys and, with help, make keys
• To build up a simple food chain for a familiar habitat and recognise that most food chains start with a green plant
Materials and their Properties
• Compare materials in terms of their thermal insulation
• Describe differences between solids and liquids in terms of ease of flow and maintenance of shape
• Measure temperature using a thermometer
• Recognise that some solids dissolve in water and others do not
• Choose an appropriate method to separate mixtures
• Recognise if changes are reversible/irreversible and that some non reversible changes result in the formation of a new substance
Physical Processes
• Describe the effect of changing the number of components in a series circuit.
• Name some good and poor electrical conductors
• Recognise friction as a force that slows moving objects
• Know that light travels forma source and give a simple explanation of the formation of shadows
• Know that the Sun, Moon and Earth are approximately spherical and the orbit times of the Moon and Earth.
• Give a simple explanation of day and night in terms of the spin of the earth

Year 4

Life Processes and Living Things
• Classification of vertebrate and invertebrates
• Plants

Materials and their Properties
• Introduction to the Lab
• Safety rules
• Drawing and naming apparatus
• Measuring
• Properties of Materials
• Solids, liquids and gases
• Dissolving
• Water cycle

Physical Processes
• Energy form the Sun
• Light
• Sound
• The Solar system
• Day, night and seasons
• Forces and Gravity

Year 5

Life Processes and Living Things
• Characteristics of living organisms
• Human organs and systems, to include respiration, circulation, reproductive, nervous, urinary, digestive and skeleton
• Flowering plant organs
• Flowers and pollination
• Fruits, seeds and dispersal

Materials and their Properties
• Safety rules
• Materials
• Solids, liquids and gases
• Solutions, suspensions and filtration
• Chemical and physical changes
• Air and air pollution
• Rusting

Physical Processes
• Measuring force
• Magnetism
• Electrical safety
• Electrical circuits - series and parallel

Year 6

Life Processes and Living Things
• Habitats
• Microbes
• Cells and microscopes

Materials and their Properties
• Separating substances, including decanting, filtration, evaporation, distillation and chromatography
• Acids, alkalis and |Indictors
• Acid rain

Physical Processes
• Electricity
• Electrical resistance
• Magnetic fields
• Electromagnets
• Energy transfers
• Energy resources
• Light
• Sound

Year 7

Life Processes and Living Things
• Human reproduction
• Plant reproduction
• Characteristics of living things
• Human nutrition
• Human blood and circulation system
• Breathing and the effects of smoking
• Respiration in plants and animals
• Movement and the skeleton
• Plant nutrition
• Feeding relationships
• Competition
• Habitat study
Materials and their Properties
• Changing materials
• Chemical and physical changes
• Particle theory
• Solutes, solvents and solubility
• Relating change of state to energy transfer
• Oxidation and decomposition
• Word equations
• Burning and rusting
• Air pollution and the greenhouse effect
Physical Processes
• Measuring, including volume, displacement, density and speed
• Travel graphs
• Tension force, Hookes law and elastic limits
• Uses of line graphs
• Moments, pulleys and levers

Year 8

Life Processes and Living Things
• Habitat study of two ponds from IOW trip
• Variation and Inheritance

Materials and their Properties
• Elements, mixtures and compounds, including simple atomic structure
• Metals, non metals ad the periodic table
• The reactivity series
• Acids, bases and salts

Physical Processes
• Electric circuits and electrical resistance
• Measuring current and voltage
• AND and OR gates
• Forces and Pressure calculations
• Earth and space, including stars, planets, satellites, solar system and galaxies
• Day, night and seasons
• Phases of the moon
• Solar and lunar eclipses
• Energy transfers and resources
• Making electricity
• The difference between temperature and heat
• Light, including reflection, refraction and dispersion