At Bushy Hill we recognise the importance of science in our lives: in the past, in the present and in the future. We encourage curious minds so that children develop their understanding of, and are inquisitive about, the wider world.
Children will learn key scientific knowledge (as laid out in the National Curriculum for Science) and develop scientific enquiry skills, taught through and alongside the subject content. These ‘working scientifically’ skills include planning, predicting, measuring, recording and reporting findings, drawing conclusions and problem-solving. Children will have the opportunity to use a wide range of scientific instruments and equipment.
Opportunities are provided to include mathematical knowledge (such as in collecting, presenting and analysing data) and to use learnt literacy skills through extended writing opportunities. We are fortunate at Bushy Hill to have a wonderful outside learning environment, which we use in our science teaching to provide local ‘real life’ context.
On leaving Bushy Hill a successful learner of this subject will:
- Have developed a sense of curiosity about our awe-inspiring world;
- Have gained a secure and deep understanding of the scientific knowledge set out in the statutory requirements in the National Curriculum for Science;
- Be familiar with, and use, scientific vocabulary accurately and precisely;
- Be able to select the most appropriate ways to answer science questions using different types of scientific enquiry, including observing changes over different periods of time, noticing patterns, grouping and classifying things, carrying out comparative and fair tests and finding things out using a wide range of secondary sources of information;
- Be able to take measurements, using a range of scientific equipment, with increasing accuracy and precision, and understand the need to repeat readings;
- Seek answers to questions through collecting, analysing and presenting data;
- Draw conclusions based on their data and observations, use evidence to justify their ideas;
- Use their scientific knowledge and understanding to explain their findings;
- Recognise that scientific ideas change and develop over time ;
- Know about the significance of the work of different scientists from the past and the present, identifying scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or arguments;
- Be aware of the possibility of careers in STEM in later life;
- Be excited about science in secondary school.
Science Subject Report
Working Scientifically Skills
| Year Group |
Autumn |
Spring |
Summer |
| 3 |
Friction and Forces
Skills:
- Understanding push and pull forces
- Testing the effects of friction
- Exploring the use of magnets
|
Rocks and Fossils
Skills:
- Knowing different types of rock and how they are formed
- Appreciating the work of Mary Anning
- Describing how fossils are formed
- Understanding how soil is created and its importance in the eco system
|
Plants
Skills:
- Describing the life cycle of plants
- Understanding different seed dispersal methods and how they have adapted to their environments
|
|
Animals including humans
Skills:
- Knowing what a balanced diet is and its benefits
- Naming human bones and muscles and understanding their uses
|
Plants
Skills:
- Naming the parts of a plant and describing their function
- Knowing what plants need to grow
- Investigating how water is transported in plants
|
Light
Skills:
- Recognising the importance of light
- Investigating how light is reflected
- Knowing the dangers of sunlight and how to prevent it
- Understanding how shadows form and change
|
| 4 |
Animals including humans
Skills:
- Understand the human digestive system
- Explain the different functions of teeth
- Investigate how and why teeth decay
- Creating food chains for different eco systems
|
Sound
Skills:
- Understanding that sound is caused by vibrations and how it travels
- Investigation the differences in volume and pitch
- Designing and creating instruments
|
Living things and their habitats
Skills:
- Grouping and classifying animals
- Describing the similarities and differences in vertebrates and invertebrates
- Creating animals to suit different habitats
|
|
Electricity
Skills:
- Naming items that use electricity
- Understanding how electrical circuits work
- Investigating different elements of an electrical circuit and their uses
- Appreciating the life and work of Michael Faraday
|
States of matter
Skills:
- Compare solids, liquids and gases
- Investigating changes in state
- Describing the planet’s water cycle
|
Living things and their habitats
Skills:
- Understanding the impact of global changes in the environment
- Describing lifestyle changes that can reduce the impact on the environment
- Appreciating the work of Rachel Carson
|
| 5 |
Earth and space
Skills:
- Describe the movement of Earth, the Moon and other planets
- Explain how the Earth’s rotation causes day and night and the apparent movement of the sun
|
Properties and changes of materials
Skills:
- Compare and group materials using their thermal and conductive properties
- Know that some materials dissolve in liquid
- Investigate how materials can be separated
|
Living things and their habitats
Skills:
- Describe the different life cycles of mammals, birds and amphibians
- Understand the processes of plant reproduction
|
|
Forces
Skills:
- Explore the forces of gravity
- Identify the effects of , water and air resistance
- Recognise the changes in forces in simple mechanisms
|
Properties and changes of materials
Skills:
- Describe the differences between reversible and irreversible changes
- Investigate the effects of oxidisation
- Research the life and work of Spencer Silver and Ruth Benerito
|
Animals including humans
Skills:
- Explain the progression in foetal development in humans
- Understand how the body changes through puberty
- Describe the effects as humans develop to old age
|
| 6 |
Evolution and inheritance
Skills:
- Recognise that living things have changed over time
- Explore how living things produce offspring that are different to the parents
- Identify how animals and plants have evolved to suit their environments
|
Electricity
Skills:
- Understand the effects of varying voltages in a circuit
- Investigate how a range of electrical components function
- Create circuit diagrams using recognised symbols
|
Light
Skills:
- Recognising that light travels in straight lines
- Explain how objects are seen by the eye through reflection and light
- Show how light creates shadows in the same shape as the objects casting them
|
|
Animals including humans
Skills:
- Describe the main parts of the human circulatory system
- Recognise the impact of diet, lifestyle and drugs on the human body
- Describe ways in which nutrients and water are transported within animals
|
Living things and their habitats
Skills:
- Explore the classification of living things including micro-organisms, plants and humans
- Explain the reasons behind the classification of plants and animals based on their characteristics
|
Animals including humans
Skills:
- Understand why the body changes through puberty
|
