Science At Camrose

Science

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. Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, pupils are encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. They are encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.

Chemistry focus Progression Grid

Biology focus Progression grid

Physics focus Progression Grid

Scientific Skills Progression grid

Intent

At Camrose we recognise the importance of Science in every aspect of daily life and want our children to be naturally curious about the world around them. Our curriculum has been developed by staff to ensure full coverage of the National Curriculum; key skills are also mapped for each year group and are progressive throughout the school.

Throughout our school children are encouraged to develop and use a range of working scientifically skills including questioning, researching and observing for ourselves.

The curriculum is designed to ensure that children are able to acquire key scientific knowledge through practical experiences; using equipment, conducting experiments, building arguments and explaining concepts confidently. Scientific language is to be taught and built upon as topics are revisited in different year groups and across key stages. We intend to provide all children regardless of ethnic origin, gender, class, aptitude or disability with a broad and balanced science curriculum.

Implementation

Teachers create a positive attitude to science learning within their classrooms and reinforce an expectation that all children are capable of achieving high standards in science. Our whole school approach to the teaching and learning of science involves the following:

Through our planning, we involve problem solving opportunities that allow children to find out for themselves. Children are encouraged to ask their own questions and be given opportunities to use their scientific skills and research to discover the answers. This curiosity is celebrated within the classroom. Planning involves teachers creating engaging lessons, often involving high-quality resources to aid understanding of conceptual knowledge. Teachers use precise questioning in class to test conceptual knowledge and skills, and assess children regularly to identify those children with gaps in learning, so that all children keep up.
We build upon the learning and skill development of the previous years. As the children’s knowledge and understanding increases, and they become more proficient in selecting, using scientific equipment, collating and interpreting results, they become increasingly confident in their growing ability to come to conclusions based on real evidence.
Working Scientifically skills are embedded into lessons to ensure these skills are being developed throughout the children’s school career and new vocabulary and challenging concepts are introduced through direct teaching. This is developed through the years, in-keeping with the topics.
Teachers demonstrate how to use scientific equipment, and the various Working Scientifically skills in order to embed scientific understanding. Teachers find opportunities to develop children’s understanding of their surroundings by accessing outdoor learning and workshops with experts.

Impact

We ensure our children not only acquire the appropriate age related knowledge linked to the science curriculum, but also skills which equip them to progress from their starting points, and within their everyday lives.

All children will have:

A wider variety of skills linked to scientific knowledge and understanding, and scientific enquiry/investigative skills.
A richer vocabulary which will enable to articulate their understanding of taught concepts.

High aspirations, which will see them through to further study, work and a successful adult life.

		Camrose Scientist
End Point in Learning Journey
EYFS	Biology Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons Describe and comment on the outside environment including plants and animals Begin to understand the need to respect and care for the natural environment and all living things. Chemistry Talk about differences between different materials / objects Talk about some important processes and changing states of matter; melting, freezing Physics Talk about forces they can feel such as magnetism, floating, sinking, a push and pull
Key Stage 1	Biology Humans and animals have offspring which grow into adults. Animals, such as chickens or insects, there may be eggs laid that hatch to young or other stages which then grow to adults All animals including humans have basic needs of feeding, drinking and breathing that must be satisfied in order to survive To grow into healthy adults the right amounts and types of food and exercise is needed Good hygiene is also important in preventing infections and illnesses. Knows and understands that all objects are either living, dead or have never been alive. Can describe what a habitat is and explain its importance in relation to the animals and plants that live in it. Knows that within a habitat there are different micro-habitats Chemistry Can identify and name a variety of everyday materials and describe their simple physical properties Can explain that all objects are made of one or more materials that are chosen specifically because they have suitable properties for the task. Is able to identify and compare the suitability of a variety of everyday materials Be able to identify and compare the suitability of a variety of everyday materials Physics Can observe and describe weather associated with the seasons and how day length varies. Is able to use their sense of hearing to identify and name sounds around school and say whether one sound is louder than another.
Lower Key Stage 2	Biology Knows the requirements of plants for life and growth Can identify and describe the functions of different parts of flowering plants: roots, stem/trunk, leaves and flowers Knows the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal Knows that animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition but cannot make their own food; they get their nutrition from what they eat. Can use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment. Can construct and interpret a variety of food chains, identifying producers, predators and prey Know that environments can change and this can sometimes pose dangers to living things Can give examples of human impacts (both positive and negative) on environments Can identify that humans and some other animals have skeletons and muscles for support, protection and movement. Can describe the basic functions of the basic parts of the digestive system in humans Knows the different types of teeth in humans and their basic functions. Chemistry Can compare and group together different kinds of rocks on the basis of their appearance and their physical properties. Knows that rocks are made from rocks and organic matter and describe in simple terms how fossils are formed when things that have lived are trapped within rock. Can compare and group materials together, according to whether they are solids, liquids or gases. Know that some materials change state when they are heated or cooled.- Water Can identify the part played by evaporation and condensation in the water cycle. Physics Know and can explain the force of magnetism and how it effects objects Can compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of whether they are attracted to a magnet, and identify some magnetic materials. Knows that we need light to see things and that dark is the absence of light. Recognise that shadows are formed when the light source is blocked by a solid object. Knows how sounds are made, associating some of them with something vibrating, and that vibrations from sounds travel through a medium to the ear. Can find patterns between the pitch / volume of a sound and explain how the sound is changed. Can construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts, including cells, wires, bulbs, switches and buzzers Knows that a switch opens and closes a circuit and associate this whether a lamp lights in a simple series circuit. Recognise some common conductors and insulators, and associate metals with being good conductors.
Upper Key Stage 2	Biology Knows process of sexual reproduction in many ﬂowering plants, naming parts of the ﬂower and explaining their importance within the process Can describe the differences in the life cycles of a mammal, an amphibian, an insect and a bird and the life process of reproduction in some plants and animals Knows how living things are classified into broad groups according to common observable characteristics and based on similarities and differences, including microorganisms, plants and animals. Knows that living things have changed over time and that fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the Earth millions of years ago. Can explain how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution Can talk about the work of some naturalists and animal behaviourists Can describe the changes as humans develop to old age including during puberty Can identify and name the main parts of the human circulatory system, and describe functions of the heart, blood vessels and blood. Recognise the impact of diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle on the way their bodies function Chemistry Can compare and group together everyday materials on the basis of their properties, including their hardness, solubility, transparency, conductivity (electrical and thermal), and response to magnets Understands that some materials will dissolve in liquid to form a solution and can describe how to recover a substance from a solution Can use knowledge of solids, liquids and gases to decide how mixtures might be separated, including through filtering, sieving and evaporating Know what is meant by reversible and irreversible changes and describe some of these changes To be able to recognise that living things have changed over time and that fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the Earth millions of years ago. Physics Describe the movement of the Earth, and other planets, relative to the Sun in the solar system Describe the movement of the Moon relative to the Earth Describe the Sun, Earth and Moon as approximately spherical bodies Use the idea of the Earth’s rotation to explain day and night and the apparent movement of the sun across the sky. Explain that unsupported objects fall towards the Earth because of the force of gravity acting between the Earth and the falling object Identify the effects of air resistance, water resistance and friction, that act between moving surfaces Recognise that some mechanisms, including levers, pulleys and gears, allow a smaller force to have a greater effect. Recognise that light appears to travel in straight lines to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye Explain that we see things because light travels from light sources to our eyes or from light sources to objects and then to our eyes Use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain why shadows have the same shape as the objects that cast them. Associate the brightness of a lamp or the volume of a buzzer with the number and voltage of cells used in the circuit Compare and give reasons for variations in how components function, including the brightness of bulbs, the loudness of buzzers and the on/off position of switches Use recognised symbols when representing a simple circuit in a diagram

Science At Camrose

Science

Camrose Scientist