Science
Science Curriculum Design
Our science curriculum aims to develop a sense of awe and wonder, as each child is encouraged to explore their curiosity about natural and scientific phenomena. Our children are supported to develop a deep understanding of the specific disciplines of science and continue to build on their substantive knowledge and concepts as they work scientifically, developing their disciplinary knowledge.
Our curriculum aims to facilitate contextual learning to ensure understanding and create meaning for our children. Our children are exposed to real life experiences which allow them to appreciate how science has impacted the world we live in and how essential science is for our world. Our curriculum puts an emphasis on practical learning, using the outdoors as a resource wherever possible. The children are given choice and encouragement to develop their own lines of enquiry and questioning, allowing further exploration and development of scientific knowledge. Children are given opportunities to work both independently and in teams. Teamwork is encouraged to allow our children to lead and support each other, explore together and to challenge each other’s ideas. This not only allows the children to answer scientific questions using rational explanations but gives our children the confidence and self-belief to challenge and ask scientific questions of their own.
Children's knowledge is assessed at the start of each unit in order to see if knowledge has been embedded in previous year groups. This will ensure lessons are sequenced and knowledge is built upon. A variety of teaching strategies (including growth mindset strategies) are used in lessons to regularly check the children's knowledge. Adaptations are made to suit children of all abilities and support is given where possible.
Scientific Enquiry
At St Peter's, we ensure that children are involved in setting up and planning enquiries to answer their own questions. We use the following 5 different types of enquiry so that the children understand that questions can be answered in different ways.
Enrichment
EXAMPLES
Real Life: This half term in Year 3, one of our science topics is ‘Animals, including humans’. This week, the students created their own model skeletons in order to investigate which organs and parts of the human body are protected by our skeletons.
Year 3 choosing which piece of equipment to use to measure the ingredients for our firework experiment.
Year 3 have been learning how to classify different types of rocks. They each came up with different questions to investigate. The children wanted to know if all rocks were round and smooth, if all rocks were hard and if all rocks were waterproof (permeable).
Year 1 - Science - Senses
The children explored their senses. They chose which sense they wanted to explore hearing or sight.
Y4 We had to troubleshoot a circuit's faults
Year 1
We talked about parts of the body and what we use them for. We then labelled our own outline of the body.
We went on an Autumn walk. We looked for signs of Autumn.
Y4 used their knowledge of states of matter to explain how the water cycle occurs and continues
Y4 Exploring how shadows change size
Year - Animals
We identified and named a variety of common animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
Y4 know how to group animals into vertebrates and invertebrates and also use classification keys to sort a group of animals
Year 6
Children have been independently investigating the question ‘How can we prove that light travels in a straight line?’ We have each made a periscope and looked at how the light travels from the light source and reflects off each of the mirrors in the periscope before hitting our eye.
Y2 have been exploring the school grounds to look for item/objects which are living, dead and never alive.
Y2 have been sorting, exploring and comparing the difference between things that are living, dead and non - living.
Year 3 have been working in teams to identify any patterns in the way that shadows change size.
Year 3 have been working in teams to investigate the functions of different muscles in the body and their location.
Y4 Exploring how shadows change over time
Year 5 - Working together to see if we can separate different materials.
We worked together looking at reversible and irreversible changes. We used rice with flour, sand with water and rice with paperclips. We used filtering, sieving and used magnets to separate these which showed that mixing these materials together were reversible changes.
SummerChanges
The children noticed lots of bees in the wild flowers they planted earlier this year.
Reception-Life cycle of a frog
Reception children have been observing frog spawn changing to tadpoles.
Reception-growing a beanstalk and observing changes
After reading Jack and the Beanstalk the children added water to beans which were left in different places. The even chose to leave a bean in a dark cupboard. They noticed changes and wrote about these. Aanu wrote several pages.
Science - materials
Henry the dog wrote to Year 1 to see if they could find a material that was water proof so he could make a new coat. We investigated which materials were water proof and which weren't.
Year 1
We smelt and then tasted the crisps using our senses. We then predicted what flavours they were.
Year 3 have been experimenting and recording data to see if there are any patterns in the way that shadows change size.
Year 4 - we demonstrated the digestive system to help us understand what happens the organs.
Year 5 - Life Cycles
After watching our live lesson looking at life cycles of a cow and a sheep, we then researched other life cycles. We had to look at an insects, a birds and an amphibians life cycle. We created these into cycles in our books. We now have our own caterpillars in class to watch their life cycle happen in front of our eyes.
Year 6: Environmental Science Visitor
This week, the Yr 6 children were given tasks that linked their maths and English through the topic of the environment, and how we can protect and fight against climate change. In maths the children had to use what they had learned in their arithmetic to find how much land different areas had lost to rising sea levels. Meanwhile in English, the children were tasked with writing letters to their local supermarkets, with the aim of persuading them to take more environmentally friendly stances within their stores.
Later in the day, the students were visited by a environmental warrior and took part in a class trial. The children were asked to use the trial in order to decide whether only humanity was guilty or not guilty for the damage done to the environment.
To begin collecting evidence for their trial the students took part in a class quiz about the size and scope of damage done to the planet. They were then split into groups and had to do discuss how much of an impact humanity has had on the environment.
“We should help the environment by using reusing plastic, this can help to continue the human race in the future.”
”I enjoyed the debate, it was quite fun. I also liked the quiz. In the debate we decided it was humanity’s fault that the environment was being damaged, we could have loads of trees but we keep cutting them down.”
“I enjoyed the quiz, I learned that 2 football pitches worth of forests are destroyed every second. The talk really made me think about how much I could help by doing one simple thing. We can all do a little bit to help and change the planet.”