Science Curriculum Overview 2018-2019
Head of Department: Mr. G. Price
Email address: firstname.lastname@example.org
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” - Albert Einstein
We are proud to offer students enhanced facilities and resources including a staff of specialist science teachers and technicians with three modernised laboratories. We aim to stimulate students' interest in science with a mix of practical experiences, theoretical teaching, experimentation and discussion in lessons. Students are given the opportunity to discuss and evaluate science based issues, and learn how scientific ideas contribute to technological change and develop scientific ideas. We run regular visits to the Milton Keynes Science Festival.
In Years 5 & 6 students receive four lessons in Science per fortnight in the science laboratories.
In Years 7 & 8 students receive 6 lessons in Science per fortnight.
Working Scientifically 1
- An introduction to the science laboratories and how scientists investigate.
- Learning about working safely in science
- Identifying and using a variety of scientific equipment, including Bunsen burners. Choosing the correct equipment to measure accurately and recording observations clearly.
- Introduction to scientific terms such as variables, hypothesis and other important planning terms
Animals including humans
- Life processes and where to find the major body organs.
- The heart and the circulatory system, including the transport of water and nutrients around the body.
- Healthy living, diet, exercise, smoking and drugs.
- Human development from new born to old age and an introduction to animal reproduction.
- Properties of materials: e.g. hardness, flexibility, density. Pupils need to be able to recognise differences between materials and how this could be used to classify objects and materials.
- Solids, liquids and gases: know the properties of the three states of matter.
- Reversible changes e.g. melting, freezing, dissolving and separating mixtures.
- Recognising some signs of irreversible changes.
Living things in their habitats
- Plants; learning about the life cycles and reproduction of plants, the names and functions of the parts of plants.
- Classification: How living things are grouped according to their similarities and differences, including plants, micro-organisms and animals.
- Extra – Curricular Opportunities
- Visits to Whipsnade Zoo
- Growing plants from seeds, helping in the garden/allotment – if possible give child responsibility for their own “plot”!:
- Making bread, yoghurt or beer/wine!(under supervision)
Forces & magnetism
- The effects of forces – pushes, pulls and twists.
- Measuring Force.
- Magnets – uses of magnets.
Earth in Space
- Understand the position of Earth in relation to the Sun, solar system, galaxy and Universe.
- Know how the movement of the Earth brings about days, seasons and years.
- Know the relationship between the Moon and Earth.
- Making and drawing simple circuits, recognising circuit symbols
- Identifying electrical conductors and insulators
- Investigating ways to change the brightness of bulbs and loudness of buzzers in circuits.
- Investigate electrical resistance
Light and sound
- 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 a solid object
- find patterns in the way that the size of shadows change.
- 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.
Evolution and inheritance
- The work of Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace, including adaptation and how adaptation can lead to change.
- Variation and inheritance of characteristics.
- How living things have change over time and the use of fossil records.
Working Scientifically 2 and the application of Mathematics
A series of scientific investigations to help pupils understand how to collect and interpret valid data. This will also include opportunities to revise Key Stage 2 Science topics and help improve mathematic skills prior to the Maths SATs including data light homework.
- Reversible changes including dissolving, changes of state and separating mixtures.
- Know some examples and signs of irreversible changes.
Types pf Microorganisms, uses of microbes, dangers of microbes
Cells and reproduction
- Cells, tissues, organs.
- Skeleton and reproduction.
- Introduction to the microscope
Variation and habitats
- DNA, habitats and animals behaviour
Bangs and acids
Acids, alkalis, neutralisation, simple chemical reactions, and firefighting
States of matter and solutions
States of matter, scientific method, solutions, methods of separation and CSI module
Forces and space
- Forces, Newton’s laws; Hooke’s law; speed and time.
- Earth’s position in the solar system and the relation of the planets and the stars to the Earth will be studied.
Introduction to the concept of energy, types of energy, sankey diagrams, complex electrical circuits, resistance and OHMs law
Fitness and diet
Digestion and diet; Food groups and food testing; Energy values; Balanced diet. Gas exchange (including the harmful effects of smoking), sports science and respiration
Bugs and ecology
Microbes, the history of medicine, population growth, sampling plants and animals and animal data representation (food webs, pyramids of biomass and numbers)
Atoms, compounds and metals
Atoms, elements. the periodic table, compounds and separation of mixtures, metals, reactivity of metals and displacement.
Properties of rocks, weathering and erosion, types of rocks and the rock cycle.
Light and Sound”
To learn about light and sound; how we see and hear; visual and auditory impairment, noise pollution, colour, law of reflection and refraction
Temperature scales, heat transfer, conduction, convection, radiation and magnetism
- Pupils will have the opportunity to participate in the “Gardening Club” and Science club
- CREST awards club
- MK science festival trip
Trips to Whipsnade Zoo