Our approach
Science stimulates and excites pupils’ curiosity about phenomena and events in the world around them. Science links direct practical experience with ideas so it can engage learners at many levels. During the teaching of science an emphasis is placed on the teaching of scientific skills such as predicting, estimating, measuring, fair testing, hypothesising, and drawing conclusions.
Ark Byron has adopted a new approach to science teaching for Key Stage 1 pupils that emphasises practical experiments and investigation. We hold regular "deep learning" days for our Year 1 and Year 2 pupils when they focus on STEM (science, maths and technology) allowing time for exploration.
Where possible we make use of the Park to explore science further.
Year 1
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Everyday Materials • Learning about and understanding what materials are, and why certain materials are chosen for the manufacture of certain objects based on their properties |
Autumn and Winter Taking a seasonal walk Going welly wandering PUPIL PASSPORT Taking leaf rubbings |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Amazing Animals Taking a photograph of an animal |
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| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Spring and Summer Taking a seasonal walk Hosting a Teddy Bear’s picnic |
Plants Growing our own plants Taking leaf rubbings |
Year 2
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Animals: Needs for Survival What animals need to survive? How animals change as they grow up? Why is exercise important? What is a balanced diet? Why is balanced diet important? Why is hygiene important? |
Uses of Materials Identify the materials that different objects are made from How materials are used in my local area? Can you compare the suitability of different materials? What materials are different shapes of objects made from? How can we help to stop plastic pollution? How are new materials discovered? |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Habitats Is it alive? How do you know it is alive? Where do plants live? What animals can we find? Where do worms live? What can we find out about the habitats of the Arctic and the Sahara? Who eats who? What longer food chains can we find? What can we see now in our habitat? What do we know about worms now? |
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| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Protecting our Environment Can I explain the dangers to local environment and the animals within it? Why is recycling important? How can we be energy efficient with water? How can we be energy efficient with electricity? Why are trees important? What difference can I make at home and at school? |
Plants: Bulbs and Growth What is a seed? What is inside a seed? What does a seed need to germinate? What do plants need to grow and survive? What is the life cycle of a plant? Can we explain what seeds need to germinate and grow? |
Year 3
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
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The Skeleton • Identify that human and some other animals have skeletons and muscles for support, protection and movement |
Rocks and Fossils • Compare and group together different kinds of rocks on the basis of their appearance and simple physical properties • Describe in simple terms how fossils are formed when things that have lived are trapped within rock • Recognise that soils are made from rocks and organic matter |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Light • 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 an opaque object • Find patterns in the way that the size of shadows change |
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| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Plants: Needs for Life • Identify and describe the functions of different parts of flowering plants • Explore the requirements of plants for life and growth and how they vary from plant to plant • Investigate the way in which water is transported within plants • Explore the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants |
Forces and Magnets • Compare how things move on different surfaces • Notice that some forces need contact between 2 objects, • Observe how magnets attract or repel each other • Compare and group together a variety of everyday materials • Describe magnets as having 2 poles • Predict whether 2 magnets will attract or repel each other |
Year 4
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
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Teeth and Digestive Systems • Describe the simple functions of the basic parts of the digestive system in humans • Identify the different types of teeth in humans and their simple functions |
States of Matter • Compare and group materials together, according to whether they are solids, liquids or gases • Observe that some materials change state when they are heated or cooled, and measure or research the temperature at which this happens in degrees Celsius (°C) • Identify the part played by evaporation and condensation in the water cycle and associate the rate of evaporation with temperature |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Classification and Environments • Recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment • Recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things Food Chains • Construct and interpret a variety of food chains, identifying producers, predators and prey |
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| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Sound • 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 |
Electricity • Identify common appliances that run on electricity • Construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts, including cells, wires, bulbs, switches and buzzers • Identify whether or not a lamp will light in a simple series circuit, based on whether or not the lamp is part of a complete loop with a battery • Recognise that a switch opens and closes a circuit • Recognise some common conductors and insulators |
Year 5
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Earth and Space • What is the Solar System and how does it fit into the universe? • Night and day: what is the relationship between the Earth and the Sun? • Seasons: what is the relationship between the Earth and the Sun? • What are the phases of the Moon? • What do we know about the inner and outer plants? • How have theories about Earth and space changed over time? |
Forces • What can leavers, pulleys and gears do to a force? • How do forces act in water? • How does air resistance act in the world around us? • How does friction work in the world around us? • How did Isaac Newton help us to understand forces? • What are the forces? |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Properties and Changes of Materials • What factors can affect the dissolving process? • What happens when something dissolves? • How do different materials respond to magnets? • What is conductivity? • How can we classify materials? • How do we improve materials? • How do we create new materials? • How can chemical reactions form new materials? • What is an irreversible change? • How can we separate mixtures? |
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| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Life Cycles • How do the life cycles differ between animal classes (vertebrates)? • How do life cycles differ between animal classes (invertebrates)? • What is gestation? • How do plants reproduce (sexually)? • How do plants reproduce (asexually)? • How are Jane Goodall and David Attenborough significant in the world of animals and plants? |
Getting Older • How do we order the stages of human life? • How do babies develop? • What are the similarities and differences between the aging of humans and other animals? • What are the physical changes in puberty? • What are the other features of puberty? • How do drugs impact the human body? |
Year 6
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Light and Perception • How do we see? • How does light reflect? • How does light move? • What colour is light? • Are shadows always the same shape as the object? • What is light pollution? |
Classification • How did Carl Linnaeus influence classification of living things? • How do we classify vertebrates? • How can we classify invertebrates? • How can we classify plants? • What are microorganisms? • How important are habitats in the conservation of species? |
| Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Evolution and Inheritance • Why is the information fossils give us important? • How has life on Earth changed and why? • Why do living things adapt? • What can happen as a result of living things’ adaptations? • Do living things choose to evolve? • Why is it that living things produce offspring of the same kind? • More about genetics – What is DNA? • What is artificial selection? • Why do things become extinct? • How is some of life on Earth threatened with extinction today? |
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| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Electricity and Circuits • Why is the information fossils give us important? • How has life on Earth changed and why? • Why do living things adapt? • What can happen as a result of living things’ adaptations? • Do living things choose to evolve? • Why is it that living things produce offspring of the same kind? • More about genetics – What is DNA? • What is artificial selection? • Why do things become extinct? • How is some of life on Earth threatened with extinction today? |
Circulation and Lifestyle • What is the role of blood? • What is the role of the heart? • How does the circulatory system work? • How are nutrients distributed? • How does exercise impact the body? How do drugs impact the body? |