Science Overview
Our Science expectations at the end of each year group
Early Years
In nursery and reception all learning is based on enquiry and exploration in the topic 'Understanding the World'. Children will explore scientific concepts linked to the seasons and our planet; day and night; how things freeze and melt, which animals are which, including where they inhabit and how humans and plants function and grow. They will be able to make observations and will be able to ask relevant questions.
Year 1
Working Scientifically: At the end of Year 1 our children should be asking simple questions and answering them in different ways. They should be able to observe, use equipment and perform simple tests. They should be able to identify and classify; gather and record data and conclude to suggest answers to questions.
Plants:
• identify and name common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees
• identify and describe the basic structure of common flowering plants, including trees
Animals including humans:
• identify and name common animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals
• identify and name common animals that are carnivores, herbivores and omnivores
• describe and compare the structure of common animals (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, including pets)
• identify, name, draw and label the basic parts of the human body and say which part of the body is associated with each sense
Everyday materials:
• distinguish between an object and the material from which it is made
• identify and name everyday materials, including wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, and rock
• describe the simple physical properties of everyday materials
• compare and group together everyday materials by their simple physical properties
Seasonal changes:
• observe changes across the four seasons
• observe and describe weather associated with the seasons and how day length varies
Year 2
Working scientifically: By the end of Year 2 children should be asking simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways alongside observing/obtaining evidence. They should be able to observe closely, using simple equipment and perform simple tests. Children should also be able to record data to help in answering questions and conclude to suggest answers to questions.
Plants:
• observe and describe how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants
• find out and describe what plants need in order to grow
Animals including humans:
• notice that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults
• find out about and describe the basic needs of animals, including humans, for survival
• describe the importance for humans of exercise, eating the right amounts of different types of food and hygiene
Living things and their habitats:
• explore and compare the differences between things that are living, dead and have never been alive
• identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe them
• identify and name plants and animals in their habitats, including micro-habitats
• describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals through simple food chains.
Uses of everyday materials:
• identify and compare the suitability of everyday materials for particular uses.
• find out how the shapes of solid objects made from some materials can be changed by squashing, bending, twisting and stretching.
Year 3
Working scientifically: By the end of Year 3 our children will be asking relevant questions and using different types of scientific enquiries to answer them by setting up practical investigations and fair tests. They will be observing/obtaining evidence when investigating through taking accurate measurements and using a range of equipment. Children will be able to record, gather, classify and present data in a variety of ways to help in answering questions and they will be able to use scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts and tables. In addition to this, they will understand how to conclude using their findings which will include identifying differences, similarities or changes related to simple scientific ideas and processes. Similarly, children will be able to suggest improvements to their testing through evaluation.
Plants:
• explore the life cycle of a plant
• 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
Animals including humans:
• identify that humans and some other animals have skeletons and muscles for support, protection and movement.
• identify that animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition, and that they cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat
Rocks:
• compare and group different types of rocks on the basis of physical properties
• describe how fossils are formed
• recognise that soils are made from rocks and organic matter
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 a solid object
• find patterns in the way that the size of shadows change
• recognise that they need light in order to see things and that dark is the absence of light
Forces and magnets:
• notice that some forces need contact, but magnetic forces can act at a distance
• observe how magnets attract or repel each other and some materials
• compare how objects move on different surfaces
• compare and group everyday materials on the basis of whether they are attracted to a magnet, and identify some magnetic materials
• describe magnets as having two poles
• predict whether two magnets will attract or repel each other
Year 4
Working scientifically: By the end of Year 4 our children will be asking relevant questions and using different types of scientific enquiries to answer them by setting up practical investigations and fair tests. They will be observing/obtaining evidence when investigating through taking accurate measurements and using a range of equipment. Children will be able to record, gather, classify and present data in a variety of ways to help in answering questions and they will be able to use scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts and tables. In addition to this, they will understand how to conclude using their findings which will include identifying differences, similarities or changes related to simple scientific ideas and processes. Similarly, children will be able to suggest improvements to their testing through evaluation and make predictions.
Animals including humans:
• construct and interpret a variety of food chains, identifying producers, predators and prey
• 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
Living things and their habitats:
• explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name living things
• recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things
States of matter:
• identify evaporation and condensation in the water cycle and associate the rate of evaporation with temperature
• compare and group materials that 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)
Sound:
• 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
• recognise that sounds get fainter as the distance from the sound source increases
• identify how sounds are made, associating some of them with something vibrating
Electricity:
• recognise some common conductors and insulators, and associate metals with being good conductors
• identify common appliances that run on electricity
• construct a simple series electrical circuit identifying and naming its basic parts
• identify whether or not a lamp will light in a simple series circuit
• recognise that a switch opens and closes a circuit
Year 5
Working scientifically: At the end of Year 5 our children will be able to plan different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables. They will be able to take measurements, using a range of scientific equipment, with increasing accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings where appropriate. They will then be able to record their data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs. They will be able to report and present findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal relationships and explanations of trust in results. Additionally, they will be confident when evaluating using test results to make predictions to set up further tests or support or refute ideas or arguments.
Animals including humans:
• describe the changes as humans develop to old age
Living things and their habitats:
• describe the differences in the life cycles of a mammal, an amphibian, an insect and a bird
• describe the life process of reproduction in some plants and animals
Properties and changes of materials:
• use knowledge of solids, liquids and gases to decide how mixtures might be separated through filtering, sieving and evaporating
• give reasons, based on evidence from tests, for uses of everyday materials
• demonstrate that dissolving, mixing and changes of state are reversible changes
• explain that some changes result in the formation of new materials
• compare and group everyday materials on the basis of their properties, including their hardness, solubility, transparency, conductivity and response to magnets
• know that some materials will dissolve in liquid to form a solution and how to recover it
Forces:
• explain that unsupported objects fall towards the Earth because of the force of gravity
• identify the effects of air resistance, water resistance and friction
• recognise that some mechanisms, including levers, pulleys and gears, allow a smaller force to have a greater effect
Earth and space:
• use the idea of the Earth’s rotation to explain day and night and that apparent movement of the sun across the sky
• describe the movement of the Earth, and other planets, relative to the Sun
• describe the movement of the Moon relative to the Earth
• describe the Sun, Earth and Moon as approximately spherical bodies.
Year 6
Working scientifically: At the end of Year 6 our children will be able to plan different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables. They will be able to take measurements, using a range of scientific equipment, with increasing accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings where appropriate. They will then be able to record their data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs. They will be able to report and present findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal relationships and explanations of trust in results. Additionally, they will be confident when evaluating using test results to make predictions to set up further tests or support or refute ideas or arguments.
Animals including humans:
• identify and name the main parts of the human circulatory system, and describe the functions of the heart, blood vessels and blood
• recognise the impact of diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle on the way their bodies function
• describe the ways in which nutrients and water are transported within animals and humans
Living things and their habitats:
• describe how living things are classified into broad groups according to common observable characteristics and based on similarities and differences (micro-organisms, plants, animals)
• give reasons for classifying plants and animals based on specific characteristics
Evolution and inheritance:
• identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways
• recognise that living things have changed over time and that fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the Earth millions of years ago
• recognise that living things produce offspring but normally offspring vary and are not identical to their parents
Light:
• use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain why shadows have the same shape as the objects that cast them.
• use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye
• explain how we see
Electricity:
• use recognised symbols when representing a simple circuit in a diagram.
• associate the brightness of a lamp or the volume of a buzzer with the voltage
• compare and give reasons for variations in how components in a circuit function.
