Science

At Toftwood Junior School, we believe science is a vital part of children’s learning, enabling them to gain an understanding of how the world around them works.

In our school each class has a weekly science lesson linked to topics where possible covering the science objectives in the National Curriculum (Sept. 2013, updated May 2015). Scientific enquiry skills are emphasised and addressed in each lesson.

Lessons have clear learning intentions, which are shared and reviewed with the pupils. A variety of strategies, including questioning, discussion, concept mapping and marking, are used to assess progress. Activities inspire the pupils to experiment and investigate scientific subject matter and to help them raise their own questions such as “Why…?”, “How…?” and “What happens if…?” Activities develop the skills of enquiry, observation, locating sources of information, selecting appropriate equipment and using it safely, measuring and checking results, making comparisons and communicating results and findings. Pupils have regular opportunities to develop their skills and show progress in their approach to enquiry throughout their time with us.

A range of enrichment activities and visits take place to enhance the children’s science learning e.g. Sculthorpe Moor as part of “Living things and their habitats” and Year 5 were able to study borrowed “moon rocks” for “Earth and space”. These activities provide the children with further opportunities to develop their skills of observation and encourages the generation of independent questions.

In our KS2 classes, we all have a Science working wall. On this we have out Federation Stars, which set out what we think good Science teaching and learning looks like, and the five types of Scientific enquiry we work with thorughout our time in the Federation. They may all look different because they reflect our learning and development through a Science area of learning over time. Have a look and see if you can see what we have been studying in Science. We use our working walls to support and reinforce our learning over time, and to help us recall the important information and make sure we remember it over time.

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ExpeRimental - bringing science home

A new series of short films for parents explains how to do fun, easy and cheap science activities at home.

www.rigb.org/about/news/summer-2014/experimental-launch

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Science Core Knowledge for Key Stage 2

The National Curriculum Objectives are grouped into the following areas:

• Year 3 – plants, animals including humans, rocks, light and, forces and magnets.
• Year 4 – living things and their habitats, animals including humans, states of matter, sound and electricity.
• Year 5 - living things and their habitats, animals including humans, properties and changes of materials, forces and, Earth and space.
• Year 6 - living things and their habitats, animals including humans, evolution and inheritance, light and electricity.

The main focus in all of our science work is to encourage children to work scientifically in all the areas of study. This approach means that children are constantly asking questions about the new ideas they meet and then deciding how they can find answers which are sensible and convincing. As they move through Key Stage 2, they develop their questions from the simple to more complex. Along with this, the ways in which they choose to investigate their ideas also progresses from using straightforward scientific evidence to identifying evidence which both supports and refutes their ideas.

Since asking questions is a vital part of scientific enquiry, you can support your child at home by asking them questions about what they have been learning in science. You might just find your kitchen turning into a laboratory!!

For example, you could ask:

• “How do you know that is true?”
• “Can you show me something which proves that?”
• “Can you give me another example?”
• “I’m not sure that’s true, can you give me another example?”

 

Science Core Knowledge:

Physics; Chemistry; Biology

These are the science topics taught in each year group:

Year 1 - Seasonal Changes; Everyday Materials; Animals (Incl Humans); Plants

Year 2 - Growing Plants; Uses of Everyday Materials; Animals (Incl Humans); Living Things and their Habitats

Year 3 - Forces & Magnets; Light; Plants; Animal nutrition; Rocks

Year 4 - Sound; Electricity; States of matter; Animals and Digestion; Habitats

Year 5 - Forces; Earth & Space; Materials & Properties; Life Cycles; Human Development

Year 6 - Light; Electricity; Habitats; Evolution; Human Circulatory System

These are the types of questions your child should be able to answer after they’ve been taught a topic area

 

Year 1-

Seasonal Changes-

1. Describe the typical weather that you might see in the summer?
2. Where does rain come from?
3. Are days longer or shorter in the Winter than the Summer?
4. Is it safe to look directly at the sun?

 

Everyday Materials-

1.What precise, scientific word do we use to describe a material that will not let water pass through it? 2. Can you name something that is shiny? Flexible? Transparent? 3. What would be the best material to line a dog’s basket with?

 

Animals-

1. Name some types of animals that live on the earth or fly in the air.
2. What is the precise, scientific name for animals that never eat meat?
3. Which 3 types of animals live in or near water?
4. What is the name of the body part that helps your leg to bend?
5. Which body part allows humans to smell?

 

Plants-

1. Can you name the main parts of a plant?
2. What is the precise, scientific name for trees that lose their leaves in the Autumn and Winter?
3. What things do plants grow from?
4. What do plants produce in place of the flower after it has withered?
5. Can you name the main parts of a tree?

 

Year 1 answers

Seasonal Changes 1. Sunshine. 2. It collects in the sky as clouds and then rain is released when they get heavy. 3. Shorter. Daylight is less in the winter months. 4. No! Never.

Everyday Materials 1. Waterproof 2.Foil or metal. Plastic. Glass. 3. Soft fabric that is washable.

Animals 1. Mammals, birds, 2. Herbivores. 3. Reptiles, amphibians, fish 4. Knee. 5. Nose.

Plants 1. Petal, flower, leaf, stem, roots 2. Deciduous 3. Bulb or seed 4. Fruit 5. Trunk, leaf, branch, roots

 

Year 2

Growing Plants

1. What do plants need to grow healthily?
2. What do seeds and bulbs have inside them that helps them to grow?
3. Name a typical plant you might find growing on a lawn?
4. Will a plant grow well if the temperature is very cold?

 

Uses of Everyday Materials

1. Should a spoon be made from glass? Why?
2. What would be a good material to use to make an umbrella?
3. Name 4 everyday objects made from metal.
4. What could you do to change the shape of a material like plastic?

 

Animals including humans

1. In what order are the 3 stages of growth for a chicken?
2. Name 5 adult animals and their babies
3. What do all animals need to survive?
4. What should humans do to live healthily?

 

Living Things and their Habitats

1. Name some creatures that might live in a woodland
2. What is the precise, scientific name for a place that something lives? (starts with h)
3. Describe what a ‘food chain’ is
4. Name something living, something dead and a thing that has never been alive

 

Year 2 answers

Growing Plants 1. Water and light. 2. They store food. 3. Daisy or clover. 4. No. Uses of Everyday Materials 1. No. It will break too easily. Metal and plastic are better 2. A waterproof fabric. 3. Cars, coin, table legs, tools 4. Stretch, bend, twist, squash, melt Animals including humans 1. Egg, chick, chicken 2. Sheep and lamb, cow and calf, chicken and chick, butterfly and caterpillar, cat and kitten, dog and puppy 3. Air, food, water 4. Eat a balanced diet, exercise, hygiene Living Things and their Habitats 1. Deer, foxes, badgers, birds, adders, beetles, worms 2. Habitat 3. It is how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals 4. Human, withered leaf, a rock

 

Year 3

Forces and Magnets

1. What is a magnet made out of?
2. What are the two ends of a magnet called?
3. What word do we use when a magnet ‘pushes’ another magnet away?
4. What word do we use when a magnet ‘pulls’ another magnet towards it?
5. Do magnets need to be touching certain materials to pull them?
6. Can you name a material that won’t be ‘pulled’ by a magnet?
7. Can you name a material that will be ‘pulled by a magnet?
8. How do you change whether a magnet ‘pushes’ or ‘pulls’ another magnet?

 

Light

1. What object in space gives light to the Earth?
2. What is the precise, scientific word for when light bounces off something?
3. What causes darkness? For instance, at night-time.
4. When light gets blocked by an object, what can we see behind that object?
5. What is the precise, scientific name for an object that blocks light?
6. In what two ways can light be bad for you?
7. Why is it warmer when it is sunny?

 

Plants

1. Name of the parts of a plant that anchor it in the ground
2. How can plants take in water?
3. Why do plants have seeds?
4. Name at least three things a plant needs in order to live.
5. What is the word for when an insect spreads one plant’s pollen onto another plant?
6. Name at least two ways in which plants disperse their seeds.
7. What is the difference between a flower and a leaf?
8. What does a leaf on a plant need to have hit it so it can make food for the plant?

 

Animal Nutrition

1. What is the precise, scientific word for the energy an animal gets from its food?
2. What is the precise, scientific word for the foods an animal eats? (Hint: begins with a ‘d’)
3. Why do all animals eat?
4. Does my cat eat the same food as my gerbil?
5. What is the word for ALL of the bones in your body?
6. What is the word for the strong things attached to your bones that move your arms, legs, mouth, fingers and so on?
7. Why do animals need to move around to get their food?

 

Rocks

1. What are the three types of rock?
2. Which rock comes from volcanoes?
3. Which rock comes from being crushed or smoothed by the weather?
4. Which rock comes right out of the Earth itself?
5. What two things is soil made from?
6. How do we know that dinosaurs existed?
7. How are the answers from question 6 made?
8. What word do we have for animals, like dinosaurs or dodos, that aren’t around anymore?

 

Year 3 Answers: Magnets: 1. Metals, normally iron and nickel 2. Poles 3. Repels 4. Attracts 5. No 6. Anything other than metal (and some metals) 7. Metals, specifically iron and nickel 8. Change which pole is pointing at the other; if they’re the same they’ll repel, if they’re different they’ll attract. Light: The Sun 2. Reflect 3. When there is no light 4. A shadow 5. Opaque 6. It can damage your eyes and the heat can burn or damage your skin 7. The energy from the sun gives off heat Plants: 1. Roots 2.Through the stem (trunk in trees) 3. That’s how they spread more plants 4. Three out of light, water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, nutrients from soil, nutrients from animals (if plant is carnivorous) and room to grow 5. Pollination 6. Two from fruit, exploding seeds, sticky seeds, seeds carried by wind and seeds carried by water 7. A flower has pollen and attracts insects, a leaf makes ‘food’ from sunlight 8. Sunlight Animal Nutrition: 1. Nutrition 2. Diet 3. To get energy 4. No. Different animals have different diets. 5. Skeleton 6. Muscles 7. They cannot make their own food so need to go and find it. Rocks: 1. Igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary 2. Igneous 3. Sedimentary 4. Metamorphic 5. Rock and organic matter 6. From their fossils 7. Animals die and leave behind their bones. Soil layers over the bones leaving a ‘cast’. Eventually the bones rot away leaving hollow shapes inside the rock. 8. Extinct.

 

Year 4

Electricity

1.Name at least ten things that use electricity as energy

2.What is the precise, scientific word for the circle/track we make that allows electricity to flow?

3.What do we call the metal ‘string’ that links these electrical bits together?

4.What do we call the object we can press/move which breaks the circle, making the electricity stop and start?

5.What do we call a material which really easily allows electricity to flow through it?

6.What do we call a material that is really hard or impossible for electricity to flow through?

7.What do we call the object that houses the electrical energy (hint: you put them into remote controls)?

8.Is electricity completely safe?

 

Sound

1.How does sound travel?

2.What is the precise, scientific word for the jiggling of the air particles?

3.Why can no-one hear you scream in space?

4.What is the precise, scientific word for the louder or quieter a sound is?

5.What is the precise, scientific word for when soundwaves get nearer together as you pull an elastic band tighter and tighter?

6.Why are things louder when you get nearer to them?

7.What is the Doppler Effect?

8.How do our ears allow us to hear?

 

States of Matter

1.What are the three states of matter called?

2.What is the precise, scientific word for when a liquid turns into a gas?

3.What is the precise, scientific word for when a gas turns into a liquid?

4.What do you have to do to a liquid to make it turn into a gas?

5.What role does the Sun have in the water cycle?

6.What is a cloud?

7.What unit do we measure temperature in?

8.What happens to the soil when it rains?

 

Animal Digestion

1. Name at least five parts inside our bodies that help us to eat food.
2. What is the precise, scientific word for when our bodies break down food into energy?
3. What is the difference between an incisor and a molar?
4. What do we call the individual parts of a body system (for instance; the stomach)? It begins with an ‘o’.
5. What is the precise, scientific word for the ‘journey’ where plants are eaten by herbivores who are then eaten by carnivores/omnivores?
6. What do we call the animal that eats other animals? Begins with a ‘P’
7. What do we call the animal which is eaten by other animals? Begins with a ‘P’
8. What is the precise, scientific word for the plants that start the energy? Begins with a ‘P’

 

Habitats

1. What is the precise, scientific word for a place where plants and animals live? (Begins with an ‘h’)
2. What is the precise, scientific word for the relationship the plants and animals have with each other; mostly eating each other? (Begins with an ‘e’)
3. What is the precise, scientific word for the way in which we put animals into groups?
4. What are the differences and similarities between a dog, a cat, a tortoise and a snail?
5. What is the precise, scientific word for an animal with a backbone/spine?
6. What is the precise, scientific word for an animal without a backbone/spine?
7. Why do forests, woods, meadows and jungles have more animals than a desert?
8. How are humans affecting animals through deforestation?
9. Why is having too many animals in one place a bad thing?

 

Year 4 answers

Electricity: 1. Parents’ discretion 2. Circuit 3. Wire 4. Switch 5. Conductor 6. Insulator 7. Battery 8. No, it can be harmful, even deadly. Sound: 1. It collides with air particles, crashing from one to another 2. Vibrate 3. There are no air molecules so nothing to vibrate 4. Volume 5. Pitch 6. The vibrations haven’t spread out as much so there are more that will hit your ears 7. As sound particles come toward you they bunch up into a ‘mmmmMMMEEEE’, as they move away they spread out in a ‘EEEEEEMMMMmmm’. Like a racing car. 8. The outside of your ear ‘catches’ the sound waves and channels them into the ear where they strike your ear drum. States of Matter: 1. Solid, liquid and gas 2. Evaporation 3. Condensation 4. Heat it 5. The sun’s light also gives heat which evaporates water 6. Water molecules which have become a gas, risen up but then started to cool down and condense into water 7. Degrees Celsius 8. It can erode/weather due to the water molecules striking it. Animal digestion: 1. Any five from tongue, teeth, throat/oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and mouth 2. Digestion 3. An incisor is sharp and designed to cut and rip meat; a molar is flat and rough, designed to crush and chew plants 4. Organs 5. Food chain 6. Predator 7. Prey 8. Producer Habitats: 1. Habitat 2. Ecosystem 3. Classification 4. Parent’s judgement 5. Vertebrate 6. Invertebrate 7. There are more plants in those regions and these provide more food at the start 8. Humans remove animals’ ‘homes’ and food 9. They will eat too much of a certain type of food and run the risk of wiping out that plant/animal. If this starts to happen, the large number of animals will either begin to leave or starve, reducing their number.

 

Year 5

Forces

1. If you throw an object into the air, it will come back down. What is this force called?
2. If the Earth is spherical, why do people on the bottom not fall off?
3. Which has more of this force: a heavy planet or a lighter moon?
4. What is the precise, scientific expression for air molecules hitting into a moving object and slowing it down?
5. What is the precise, scientific word for an object designed to slip through these air molecules?
6. What is the precise, scientific expression for when water molecules slow you down or make it hard to dive deeply?
7. What is the precise, scientific word for when the ground slows an object down or you ‘burn’ your knee on a carpet?
8. Name three simple machines that humans have invented which allows a small force to become stronger

 

Earth and Space

1. Name the eight planets of the solar system.
2. What is the name of the star in the middle of that solar system?
3. What is the difference between a planet and a moon?
4. Why doesn’t the Moon crash into the Earth? 5. What shape are orbits of planets around stars; or moons around planets?
5. Why are the rules of movement different in space from Earth; why does the Earth or moon never slow down?
6. What causes daytime and night-time?
7. Why does the moon change ‘shape’ throughout a month?
8. What causes the seasons? (Remember that the Earth is nearest our star in January yet that’s winter in Britain.)

 

Materials and their Properties

1. What is the precise, scientific word for an object which light can pass through and not create a shadow?
2. What is the precise, scientific word for ‘heat’?
3. What is the precise, scientific expression for when an object allows heat to move through it?
4. What is the precise, scientific word for two different materials (solids or liquids) which are combined but don’t dissolve; easily being sieved or separated without much effort?
5. If a solid dissolves in a liquid, what do we call this new thing?
6. How would you get the solid and liquid to separate out again?
7. What is the precise, scientific word for turning a solid into a liquid?
8. What is the precise, scientific word for turning a liquid into a solid?
9. How does adding or taking away heat (cold) change a material’s state of matter?
10. What is the precise, scientific word for when you change an object chemically but can then change it back?
11. What is the precise, scientific word for when you change an object chemically but can’t then change it back?

 

Life Cycles

1. What is the precise, scientific word for the reproduction in certain plants and bacteria where they can simply grow new ‘babies’?
2. What is the precise, scientific word for the reproduction in certain plants and most animals where they need a female and male to have ‘babies’?
3. Name the only type of animal that gestates its babies inside its body (they don’t lay eggs)
4. Name the type of animal that spends its ‘childhood’ in water and then changes its body completely to come out to live on land.
5. Name the type of animal that lays eggs in a nest, hatches blind and featherless young and takes care of them until they are developed enough to leave this nest.
6. Name the type of animal that sometimes change from a ‘baby’ to an adult by using a cocoon.
7. Why do frogs stay near water sources?

 

Human Development

1. What two things are inside the womb to help the embryo eat and breathe in the womb?
2. How do babies fit inside the womb?
3. Name at least two things which change as a new-born baby gets older into a toddler
4. What are the three-letters responsible for the ‘recipe’ of how you look, which you get from your mum and dad?
5. Why do we get wrinkled and grey as we get older?
6. How does a human develop in the womb?
7. What is the precise, scientific word for when human bodies change as they become teenagers (for instance more hair, stronger, voice changes)?

 

Year 5 answers

Forces: 1. Gravity 2. The Earth’s gravity pulls objects towards its centre 3. A heavy plant (it’s not about the size of an object, it’s about the mass/density of it) 4. Air resistance 5. Aerodynamic 6. Water resistance 7. Friction 8. Lever, pulley and cogs (other exist such as wedges and inclined planes) Earth and Space: 1. (In order from nearest to Sun) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune 2. The Sun 3. A planet’s movement is only affected by stars; a moon’s movement can be affected by other planets, large objects and so on (this is why Pluto was de-listed as a Planet) 4. The moon is always falling into the Earth but because of the lack of air resistance and friction in space, it never slows down. The gravity of the circular Earth always changes where ‘down’ is 5. Circular (or elliptical) 6. No air resistance nor friction 7. The Earth’s rotation means the Sun’s light only hits us ‘half’ the time 8. The moon is in the darkness of space and the ‘shape’ of the moon results from the angle of the Sun’s light striking it from where we can see it on Earth 9. The Earth is tilted slightly on its axis and the UK is towards the top, at an angle. When the tilt is facing the Sun, we get more light (longer days) and heat. When the tilt is facing away from the Sun we get less light (short days) and less heat. Materials and their Properties: 1. Transparent 2. Thermal energy 3. Conductor 4. Mixture 5. Solution 6. Heat the solution so the water and solid molecules separate from each other 7. Melting 8. Freezing 9. It gives the molecules energy so they jiggle around and break apart from each other. The more heat, they spread out into gas. When there isn’t much heat, there isn’t much energy and they bunch together into a solid. 10. Reversible 11. Irreversible. Life Cycles: 1. Asexual 2. Sexual 3. Mammal 4. Amphibian 5. Bird 6. Insect 7. Because they need the water to lay their eggs and have their young develop. Human Development: 1. Placenta and umbilical cord 2. They grow from single-celled life to many-celled. They squeeze into the foetal position 3. Some of their bones fuse together, they lose their brown fat, their hair-colour and eye-colour can change, their muscles strengthen, they lose some of their reflexes 4. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) 5. Every time our cells copy themselves they get weaker and weaker, losing colour and strength 6. The mother’s body and blood allows the baby to grow and develop safely over 9 months until it is ready to survive outside her body. 7. Puberty.

 

Year 6

Electricity

1. How could you make a bulb shine more brightly in an electrical circuit?
2. What happens to the electrical energy when it goes into a bulb?
3. What happens to the electrical energy when it goes into a buzzer?
4. Draw at least three symbols for some components of an electrical circuit.
5. Why do batteries run out?
6. What is the precise, scientific word for the electricity ‘molecules’?
7. How can I create a fast circuit?
8. How does electricity move? Does it always need wires?
9. What kind of energy do you get in a battery before it turns into electrical energy? This is how lemons can act as batteries.

 

Light

1. In which direction does light travel?
2. Which organ do animals have that takes in light?
3. How can we see the sun’s light, even if we can’t see the sun?
4. How does a sun-dial work?
5. Why are periscopes built at right-angles rather than looped?
6. Why do objects ‘bend’ when placed in water?
7. What’s a rainbow?

 

Evolution and Inheritance

1. What scientific proof do we have in rocks that some animals have changed over time?
2. What is the precise, scientific word for animals changing their bodies over a very long period of time?
3. Why do I look a bit like my dad/mum?
4. What is the precise, scientific word for the DNA you get from your mum and dad?
5. What happens when a poodle and a Labrador have a baby?
6. Why do brothers and sisters not look exactly the same (apart from some twins!)?
7. Why do chaffinches in different parts of Madagascar have different beaks?
8. What is the precise, scientific word for animals’ bodies changing to suit where they live?
9. Why will animals who are better at getting food and staying alive have more offspring?
10. Would an eye have developed overnight?

 

Habitats

1. What is the precise, scientific word for the grouping of animals and plants?
2. What is the precise, scientific word for a single-celled animal?
3. What is the precise, scientific word for a multi-celled animal?
4. What is the precise, scientific word for animals we cannot see with the naked eye?
5. What are some differences and similarities between a lobster and a scorpion?
6. What are some differences and similarities between a dog and a cat?
7. What are some difference and similarities between a salmon and a whale?

 

Human Circulatory System

1. What is the precise, scientific expression for the heart, blood and blood vessels in a human?
2. Why is the heart made mostly of muscle?
3. Why do red blood cells have no nucleus?
4. How does blood help us to get energy and nutrients?
5. What happens if you eat more food than you expend energy?
6. What is a drug?
7. Which drugs can we legally eat or drink?

 

Year 6 answers

Electricity: 1. You add more batteries (or take away another component of the circuit) 2. It changes into heat/thermal and light energy 3. It changes into sound energy 4. Check on internet 5. The stored energy in the battery is lost through heat, light and sound until it runs out 6. Electrons 7. Increase batteries, decrease components, have better conductors for wires 8. Electrons move through the circuit, carrying a charge. Electricity can move without ‘solid’ conductors such as lightning and static electricity. 9. Chemical energy Light: 1. A straight line 2. Eyes (of varying designs) 3. Light reflects off surfaces so can ‘bounce’ around until we see it 4. The angle of the sun in relation to the opaque dial moves the shadow around 5. Light reflects in straight lines so a periscope needs to be straight with right-angled mirrors 6. The water molecules refract the light, causing an illusion 7. The sun’s white light broken into the six constituent parts (red/orange/yellow/green/blue and indigo; there is no real difference between indigo and violet) by air and water molecules in the atmosphere. Evolution and Inheritance: 1. Fossils 2. Evolution 3. You get your DNA from both of your parents so will share similarities to both 4. Genes 5. They will have a mixture between the two; a cockapoo. All dogs are the same species and can have mixed babies. 6. The genes we get from our parents is not always exactly the same each time so one child may have a nose like their mum and the other child like their dad 7. They have adapted to get to different food sources 8. Adaptation 9. They are much more likely to mate and will be more desirable to a partner 10. No; it would have taken millions of years. Habitats: 1. Classification 2. Prokaryote 3. Eukaryote 4. Micro-organism 5. 6. and 7. Adults’ discretion. Human Circulatory System: 1. Circulatory system 2. It needs to be strong to pump all that blood 3. To maximise the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide they carry 4. Blood cells carry oxygen and take away waste gases. The plasma delivers glucose energy from our food. 5. The body stores this energy as fat 6. A drug is a substance which affects/changes your body in some way when it gets into your circulatory system 7. Adults’ discretion but likely to be medicines, caffeine, alcohol and nicotine (although the last two are obviously age-related). Chocolate potentially.

 

Year 5's brilliant Rainforest ballads

AR5 Deforestation Poem

CS5 Poem Swinging around from vines to trees

The Ballad of the Rainforest by RL5

Year 5 ballad images

Spring 2019

Summer 2019 STEM Day

Spring 2 2019 – British Science Week

Spring 2 2019 – British Science Week

Spring 2 2019 – British Science Week

Spring 2 2019 – British Science Week

Working Walls

Here's what we are learning in science at the moment

British Science Week in Key Stage 2

What a wonderful British Science Week we all enjoyed this year! The theme for the week was “Journeys” and, since agriculture is so important to our region, we chose to look at journeys involving food including where it comes from, how it is processed and the journeys it makes through our bodies.

As part of the week, all the children did some cooking using fresh ingredients to create some wonderful results; they made scones, vegetable samosas, baked bread and even made their own fresh pasta for a tasty lasagne! We definitely spotted some great chefs in the making!

As well as cooking, the children also carried out their own research to find out where in the world some of their ingredients might have come from; from oat milk to chocolate and peppercorns to carrots, we learned how far some of our tasty food travels for us to enjoy and thought about the good and bad things effects this travel could have.

Throughout the week, all of the children in Key Stage 2 had the opportunity to work with and learn from some really interesting visiting scientists. We were lucky to have staff from both Northgate and Neatherd High Schools come to work with the children different aspects of the digestion of our food. We even had a visit from a local dental health team to examine our teeth.

We were also fortunate to be visited by scientists form Norwich Research Park who talked to the children about their work and how they had become scientists. Dr Phil Smith (MBE) spoke to the children about how plants and not just animals can become sick and what symptoms we can look out for to identify “poorly” plants. The children also really enjoyed their work with the UEA’s Dr Simone Payne, a bacteriologist, who showed the children the sort of bacteria that live on their bodies – they were all really shocked to see what had grown on agar plates after they were touched with “clean” hands!!

The children found out about lots of the fascinating science happening in their local area and around school. They always tell us how much they enjoy science and know how important it is in their lives. In British Science Week 2019, the children in Key Stage 2 have enjoyed lots of hands-on work inspiring many of them to think about following a career in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). Who knows what our super young scientists will go on to achieve in Norfolk and beyond!

• Reception Understanding the World

  Autumn 2020

  This term in reception the children enjoyed exploring Ted’s den, looking at plants and trees, birdwatching and seeing what they can dig up in the digging area. We have also been learning about our bodies, naming the body parts and finding out what food keeps us healthy. 

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Autumn Term 2019

Reception Understanding the World- Autumn 1

This term in reception the children have been learning about healthy and non-healthy food. The children read The Very Hungry Caterpillar focusing on what is a fruit, a vegetable and a special treat. They have also been learning that some foods give us lots of energy and why is it so important to have a balanced diet. Everyone in the year group looked at body parts and spent time learning the names of them. To help us remember the names of some body parts the children have been singing the song ‘heads, shoulders knees and toes.”

Summer Term 2019

Reception

This term the children have enjoyed exploring the outdoor areas. They have encountered several mini beasts and this led to lots of questions! When the children found a worm they were very keen to try and measure the length of the worm and made estimations first. They also thought carefully about what they could do to help a spider that they found. Some of the children were inspired to write their own mini beast story about what they found!

• Year 1 Science Autumn 2020

  The children have enthusiastically started to learn about animals and humans in our new topic ‘Animal Life’. They were able to build on their prior knowledge and experiences of animals (such as pets and trips to zoos/farms) to name and classify animals into different groups. This led to the children working together to classify animals into Mammals, Insects, Birds, Fish, Amphibians and Reptiles. They then painted their favourite animal and discussed which group the animal belonged to. The children thought carefully about what animals eat and categorised the animals into Carnivores, Herbivores and Omnivores. We used actions to help us remember each group. The children have been thinking about accurately labelling diagrams and can now label animal and human body parts using correct vocabulary. After labelling the different human body parts we thought about what our bodies could do. The children completed some brilliant home learning and discussed the 5 senses in class.

  

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• Mad Science, wicked weather workshops – Spring Term 1 2020

  As a start to the year 1 topic ‘Weather Experts’ the children had a visitor, Dr Dee Enay, from Mad Science. She started with a whole school assembly focussing on how electricity travels. Dr Dee Enay explained how there were tendrils of electricity trying to get to the Earth as quickly as possible and that materials are either conductors or insulators. This built on the children’s learning from last term (everyday materials) and provided them opportunities to ask questions to further their understanding. She explained how the electricity could travel through a human circuit and demonstrated with several children from Reception and KS1.

  “The electricity went through 6 people”.

  “Dr Dee Enay made a dimmer switch with the children she said dim dim dim off and it turned off”.

  Afterwards Dr Dee Enay worked with each year 1 class to explore rainbows and how light bends.  She started by discussing the children’s previous science learning, how they had been observing the changes in the seasons, and provided children opportunities to share their own experiences. The children discussed what they knew about the sun and light and Dr Dee Enay extended their learning by providing fun facts such as:

  • The sun is 93 million miles away
  • The light from the sun is called white light
  • If you bend the light you can see the colours of the rainbow

  The children were able to wear special light bending glasses to observe all the colours in white light. They also discussed how white light and laser light are different. Finally the children witnessed how the lightning in the Vander graph could create static electricity. The children learnt that static electricity is caused by friction and that it could be transferred to others.

  These sessions extended the children’s current science skills and knowledge and prepared them for the learning that will be taking place this half term. The children are now enthusiastic to learn more and become Weather Experts!! Each class will be completing an enquiry where they observe changes over time. The children will create weather diaries recording what they could see and hear. After each recording the children will discuss the similarities, differences, patterns and changes between the weather we have. We are looking forward to some exciting science this term!

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Autumn Term 2019

This half term we have focussed on identifying and classifying enquiries about animals. The children worked together to classify animals into groups (mammals, fish, insects, reptiles, birds and amphibians). They also thought carefully about animal diet and classified the animals as carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. We thought of fun actions to help us remember the names of the groups!

The children also had an amazing educational visit to Banham Zoo, learning more about animals and completing a workshop about animal diet with expert zoo staff. For more information about this please see our Year Groups, Year 1 page.

The children have also enjoyed a ‘Mad Science’ visit for another fun filled assembly and we are sure the after school club will inspire the children who attend to continue to be curious and to ask lots of scientific questions.

Summer Term 2019

Year 1 children have enjoyed learning about inventors during our Step Back in Time topic. We have learnt about Thomas Edison and how he invented the light bulb. We explored lamps, wires and batteries and investigated how to make a circuit. We were very pleased when we found out how to do it and we switched all the lights off so we could see our lamps shining!

We also learnt about Alexander Graham Bell and his telephone. We looked at different photos of telephones through the years and made our own phones using cups and string. We explored how the different length of string affected the sound.

• Year 2 Science Autumn 2020

  In year 2, the children have been exploring materials this half term. The children have discussed the properties of different materials as well as conducting a number of enquiries.

  They looked at whether certain materials could be bent, stretched, squashed, or twisted as well as investigating which type of paper was the strongest.

  The children have also learnt about the materials that can be recycled and learnt about the process of recycling too.

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Autumn Term 2019

In science this half term, year 2 have been looking at different materials. They have enjoyed exploring materials such as wood, plastic and metal and described them. The children also enjoyed going on a material hunt around the school. The classes discussed the objects they found around school and what materials they were made from and then discussed the suitability of these materials for their uses. The children also learnt a materials song which helped them to understand the properties and suitability of a range of different materials. Have a listen and sing along at home; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOKr462HLc0

Well done to all the children who completed some amazing home learning linked to this work!

Summer Term 2019

This term the children have enjoyed learning about habitats and environments. They built on their previous knowledge and explored the school grounds, including the pond area, identifying and classifying different animals. The children researched some of the animals they found and created amazing non-fiction fact file booklets in Literacy.

As part of this topic we visited Easton Farm and were able to ask lots of scientific questions about the animals and their habitats. More information about this can be found on the Year 2 tab of the website.

• Year 3 Light Sources

  This half term, Year Three have investigated light sources and the need for light to be able to see. We investigated materials which best reflected light and the purpose for which we might need reflective materials, for example, to be safe when walking home. We also investigated the reasons why we need to protect ourselves when out in the sun and looked for patterns in the way that the size of shadows change when we move the light source in relation to an opaque object. Fair testing was a big focus in these investigations to ensure that we were manipulating the variables. 

  To finish off the term, we combined our learning in history about mummification with an investigation over time on drying out tomatoes. The children chose between rice, flour and salt to absorb the liquid from the tomatoes and then left them for over a week to see the effect. It was very interesting to see the results that each choice had on the tomatoes!

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Autumn 2018

Forces: We looked at different push and pull forces and acted out different activities that would require a push or pull force for the rest of the class to act out. We also investigated which materials were magnet or not using different magnets. We predicted which magnet would be the strongest and would be able to move the highest number of paperclips without touching them! Finally we discussed what friction is and the impact different surfaces have on a moving object! We found the rough carpet slowed the car down more than the shiny surfaces!

Mummifying tomatoes: The children enjoyed applying the mummification process to tomatoes! We followed instructions and used salt, a tomato, and a plastic bag to represent the process. The children observed what happened over a period of a week, and we looked at them closely and thought about how they had changed and why.

 

Summer 2018

Year 3

Year 3 have learnt lots of interesting facts within their science lessons this term. We began by learning about different scientists and inventors and researched the discoveries they made. We learnt that William Smith used fossils to find the age of rocks and then set up an experiment to show different materials being separated into layers. We also learnt about Marie Curie and her involvement in the introduction of X-RAYS. We had a radiographer visit our classes and tell us about her job taking X-Rays. She was able to show us different X-Ray pictures of broken bones and we enjoyed guessing which bone was being shown on the X-Ray. We used our knowledge to create our own X-Ray pictures using black paper and art straws and explained what function the bone we created had.

After the half term, we started our Fantastic Beasts topic and looked at different animals including humans. We looked at how living things obtain food and discussed the different food groups, thinking about the importance of a balanced diet. We also discussed the importance of the different nutrients as well. As part of our topic we visited Banham Zoo and learnt about the different types of skeleton and the reasons why animals need skeletons. We were able to hold different animals and discuss the skeleton is has and also what food it would need to eat in order to survive. We continued our learning in school and labelled the different bones on an outline of a person using both the common names such as ‘skull’ and scientific names such as ‘cranium’. We learnt more about the functions of bones: support, movement and protection and labelled the bones based on their function.

 

Autumn 2018

In Year 4 we have enjoyed a wonderful term of science. The children began by investigating the different states of matter, gas, liquid and solid. They carried out lots of investigations and used even used their understanding for changing states to build their own “cool pots” which can keep food fresh in the desert. Finally, they brought all their learning together to create a “water cycles in a bag”! We have also been learning about sound and how vibrations are made and travel. As part of this topic, the children have been doing lots of measuring. They measured the volume of sounds using dataloggers and answered questions using tables and bar graphs.

Summer 2018

In the last term, our science focus in year 4 has been on biology. At the start of the term, the children were thinking about how we classify all living organisms into different groups. They developed their observational skills by looking carefully at the features of a variety of organisms and deciding which of the five kingdoms of life they belonged to. When working scientifically, they also surveyed our school field to find out which different types of plants they could identify and to answer the question “Are daises or dandelions more common on our field?” In the second half of the term, the pupils have been looking more closely at the animal kingdom and learning about eating and digestion. They have particularly been focussing on the names and function of the organs of the human digestive system. Finally, we looked at food chains and considered the events which can cause animals to become threatened by losing their sources of food.

As well as all this, on STEM Day, we investigated human fingerprints. The children took their own fingerprints and examined them carefully to determine which of type of fingerprint they had (arch, whorl or loop). They went on to use the data they collected for their class to find out if the fingerprints of children in year 4 showed the same ratios as the rest of the population. They constructed graphs and charts to show what they had discovered.

 

By Anais and Kobe

By Sam and Emily

Autumn 2018

In Year 5 this term, we have been great scientists, working on really big ideas like the solar system and really small ideas like how to separate tiny particles!

In our Space topic, we thought about great scientists of the past like Copernicus and Galileo and also found out about how the moon orbits our planet. As well as that, we investigated how shadows change as the Earth moves around our sun.

As part of our work on materials, we have thought about all the ways that materials can change for example when we heat them to cook or when metals rust. We have come up with lots of questions we would like to answer and thought about the best ways to find our own answers. We loved being creative in finding different ways to separate different materials using their properties.

Summer 2018

This term in Year 5 we have been learning about different Animal Life Cycles. We have looked at the parts and functions of flowering plants and even had a go at growing our own plants. We took cuttings from the parent plant so that the new plant produced was a clone of the parent. We have enjoyed watching these changes over the last few weeks. We discovered that there are three different types of mammals; marsupials, monotremes and placentals. They all have different characteristics and we used the internet to safely research the life cycles of these different mammals. We had great fun in creating and performing a TV advert that was designed to persuade the audience to donate money to the Jane Goodall institute for all her hard work with chimpanzees. Year 5 have also been exploring metamorphosis. We looked at animals that go through metamorphosis and compared these with those that do not. Year 5 have been asking many meaningful questions to support their learning and have learnt lots of new scientific vocabulary!

Autumn 2018

This term we have been looking at the properties of electricity in a context of creating a burglar alarm. The children developed skills in working scientifically to investigate how electric circuits work. They looked at circuits using bulbs, buzzers, switches and voltage of cells in a circuit. It was great fun experimenting with the components needed to sound the burglar alarm!

We have also been experimenting within the topic of light. The children learnt that light travels in straight lines and investigated how this causes shadows. They used torches to examine how the position of the light affects the shape and direction of the shadow. We also really enjoyed making our own periscopes! This showed us how light bounces off objects and into our eyes.

Summer 2018

This term, year 6 have been learning about living things in their environments. The children classified animals according to specific characteristics (for example 2 legs/more than 2 legs or mammal/not mammal), created a classification system and identified the features of mammals, reptiles, crustaceans and the other animal groups. They really enjoyed creating a new creature which had features of more than one animal group, which they then had to describe.

We also learnt about micro-organisms, in particular viruses, bacteria and fungi, and planned and carried out an investigation into the conditions which best encourage the growth of mould on bread.

Year 6 have also done some cross curricular work involving art, as we studied and sketched plants living in their habitats within the school environment. In addition, we enjoyed learning about fingerprints and how they are used to solve crimes on our STEM day in June. We then used our own finger prints to create some pictures.