Science
At St Wilfrid's we use Collins Connect Snap Science long term plan and supporting documentation to support the planning of science lessons.
Science enables us to plummet the mysteries of the mind of the Creator of the universe and inform our world view through a deeper understanding of the inter-connectedness of all levels of creation. Scientific exploration and discovery, helps our children to recognise their potential and responsibility through the development of humility and the dependence on their ability to discern how to make the right choices. Science encourages children to respond to the big questions of the purpose and meaning of life as it works in collaboration with other disciplines within the curriculum.
A high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all pupils should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, pupils should be encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. They should be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.
Key concepts:
Through the science curriculum, pupils will develop an understanding of the following key concepts. These concepts are revisited through different units as pupils move through the school. By the end of primary school, children will know and understand these key concepts.
Biology
• Organisms require a supply of energy and materials: Living things are special collections of matter that reproduce, use energy and grow. Food provides materials and energy for life and growth. Plants and bacteria use energy from the sun to generate food. Animals break down food and are ultimately dependent on green plants for energy. In any ecosystem there is competition for the energy and materials needed to live and reproduce.
• Genetic information: Genetic information is passed down from one generation of organisms to another. Genes determine the development and structure of organisms
• Evolution: The diversity of organisms is the result of evolution. Different kinds of life, animals, plans and microorganisms, have evolved into different forms best suited to the environments in which they live. Organisms not able to respond sufficiently to changes in their environment become extinct
Chemistry
- All matter (stuff) in the universe is made of tiny building blocks
- Materials (properties and changes): The arrangement, movement and types of building blocks of matter, and the forces that hold them together/push them apart, explain all the properties of matter (eg: hot/cold, soft/hard, light/heavy etc…)
- States of matter: Matter can change if the arrangement of these building blocks change (eg: chemical reactions)
Physics
- The universe follows unbreakable rules that are all about forces, matter and energy
- Forces are different kinds of pushes and pulls that act on all the matter in the universe. Changing the movement of an object requires a force to be acting on it. Gravity is a universal force of attraction between all objects, however large or small
- Energy: There are many different forms of energy eg: light, sound, electricity, heat and wind. Energy can be transferred from one object to another and can cause changes. The total amount of energy in the universe is always the same but energy can be transformed when things change or are made to happen
Earth Science
- The earth in relation to the universe: The Earth is one of 8 planets orbiting the sun. Our solar system is a very small part of one of millions of galaxies in the universe.
- The earth spins on its axis: The Earth is tilted and spins on its axis leading to day and night, the seasons and climate
Enquiry strategies
As part of working scientifically which is embedded throughout all units, pupils will also learn to use a variety of enquiry strategies to answer scientific questions. Different questions lead to different types of enquiry and are not limited to fair testing. By the end of primary school, children will be able to use these enquiry strategies confidently and know that different strategies may be needed at different times.
- Observing over time: (observing or measuring how one variable changes over time)
- Identifying and classifying: (identifying and naming materials/living things and making observations or carrying out tests to organise them into groups.)
- Looking for patterns: (making observations or carrying out surveys of variables that cannot be easily controlled and looking for relationships between two sets of data)
- Comparative and fair testing: (observing or measuring the effect of changing one variable when controlling others)
- Answering questions using secondary sources of evidence: (answering questions using data or information that they have not collected firsthand)
As well as this, pupils will learn about:
- Using models: (Developing or evaluating a model or analogy that represents a scientific idea, phenomenon or process)
Disciplinary concepts:
Through each unit of science, the following second order concepts are explored. These can be used across all aspects of a subject to organise the substantive knowledge taught.
- Responsibility: (working safely, how science can solve problems, climate change and sustainability)
- Similarity and difference: (making comparisons, finding patterns, noting differences and drawing conclusions)
- Cause and consequence: (models and laws, reactions between materials, observing processes)
- Continuity and change: (observing what changes and what stays the same)
- Significance: (significant scientists, discoveries, laws, models and theories)
- Written and oral expression: (Using scientific terminology, evaluation, drawing conclusions, objectivity, explaining processes, describing and explaining patterns, presenting and interpreting data)
By then end of EYFS, children will:
- Explore the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants.
- Know some similarities and differences between the natural world around them and contrasting environments, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
- Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons and changing states of matter.
By the end of Key Stage 1, children will:
- Explore animals, humans and changes within environments and begin to develop simple scientific vocabulary linked to this.
- Children explore the properties and suitability of materials to given uses.
- Children use different types of scientific enquiry to answer a range of questions.
- Children are encouraged to ask questions, discuss their findings and present the ideas in a variety of ways.
By the end of key stage 2, children will:
- By the end of KS2, pupils have a deep understanding of a range of scientific ideas.
- Children are able to link scientific ideas to the world around them and, through research, understand how scientific ideas are developed over time.
- Children use secondary sources of information and purposeful, practical enquiry to draw conclusions and find things out.
Any child working below their age-related expectation, will benefit from tailored support within lessons.
Characteristics of a Scientist
- The ability to think independently and raise questions about working scientifically and the knowledge and skills that it brings.
- Confidence and competence in the full range of practical skills, taking the initiative in, for example, planning and carrying out scientific investigations.
- Excellent scientific knowledge and understanding which is demonstrated in written and verbal explanations, solving challenging problems and reporting scientific findings.
- High levels of originality, imagination or innovation in the application of skills.
- The ability to undertake practical work in a variety of contexts.
- A passion for science and its application in past, present and future technologies