Science

Intent

At Eastry Church of England Primary School, we believe that teaching science is about having fun and discovering joy in the world around us, finding answers to our own questions and testing out our ideas about how the world ‘works’!  Children need to understand why a light comes on when they flick a switch or why a puddle disappears when the sun comes out or why their heart beats faster when they exercise! These are all questions that science will answer.
We consider that science is not only a body of knowledge to be learnt but a way of working that will develop confidence, independence and thinking skills.  Therefore, we aim for children to be asking scientific questions and begin to understand the way science will impact the future on a personal, national and global level. By linking science to global issues such as climate change or deforestation, children are able to understand from a scientific point of view how these issues arise and, more importantly, recognise how their individual actions may impact on a local, national and global level. 

 

Implementation

Throughout school, there is an engaging, broad curriculum ensuring that the knowledge and skills within the New Curriculum are met through integrating the ‘Kent Scheme of Work’ as well as strong topic links with other areas of the curriculum.
The curriculum ensures that key areas of scientific learning are revisited and built on either year-on-year eg ‘Animals including humans’, or introduced in a particular year group and revisited later in the key stage eg ‘Electricity’, which is introduced in Year 4 and revisited in Year 6). 
•    The progression for ‘Electricity’ would be evidenced as follows: 

YEAR 4 
•    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 and associate this with whether or not a lamp lights in a simple series circuit
•    Recognise some common conductors and insulators, and associate metals with being good conductors.
This knowledge would be evidenced throughout the topic but will result in an end of unit project, such as the designing and building of a TORCH.

YEAR 6
•    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.
Again, this knowledge would be evidenced throughout the topic but will build up to the designing and building of an electrical device that will include more than one component eg bulbs and a motor, or bulbs and buzzers etc, as well as an accurate recording of the circuits, with scientific symbols for components.

 

Skills Progression - what science looks like in each year group

 

SC1 skills	FOUNDATION STAGE
Skills	Examples (how might this look?)
Asking simple questions   Making observations   Hearing and using basic scientific language	Modelling through play   Drawing, talking, looking, describing what we see   Modelled by adults – seasons, animals etc
SC1 skills	Year 1
Asking simple questions   Using their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions and predicting   Observing closely, using simple equipment	Use of sentence stems eg Why does . . . What would happen if…?   Observing beans – suggest why one has/ hasn’t grown as well as the others   Beginning to take basic measurements e.g. rainfall
SC1 skills	Year 2
Recognising questions can be answered in different ways     Performing simple tests and displaying it in their own way   Identifying and classifying       Gathering and recording data to help in answering questions	Grouping, classifying – knowing there is more than one way – how can you explain this to  a. . child, adult etc.   Listing equipment, proformas giving example structures for next steps   Using varied models to classify materials, plants e.g. – 2 hoop pictures, Venn diagrams, Carroll diagrams   Concrete, pictorial and abstract ideas. Can you use your results to ask a question?
SC1 skills	Year 3
Asking relevant questions and using different types of scientific enquires to answer questions   Setting up simple and practical enquires, comparative and fair tests     Making systematic and careful observations               Reporting on findings from enquiries including oral and written explanations, displays or presentations of results and conclusions       Identifying differences, similarities and changes related to simple scientific ideas and processes	Pose a question for an investigation e.g. conditions for germination     Identifying variables. Asking: How is this a fair test? What is unfair? How could this be improved?   I must – closed questions I should – what did you notice? How does this compare? I could– (as 2 star) with conclusions         I must – define I should – compare I could- predict         Concrete, pictorial and abstract ideas. Can you explain a process using flow charts, diagrams…?
SC1 skills	Year 4
Gathering, recording, classifying and presenting data in a variety of ways to help answer questions   Taking accurate measurements using standard units a range of equipment including thermometers and data loggers   Recording findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts and tables   Using results to draw simple conclusions, make predictions for new values, suggest improvements and     Using straightforward scientific evidence to answer questions or to support their findings	Photos of experiment results, notes of observations, graphs     Measuring distance, length, time, volume, temperature     Word bank - cloze procedure (1 star)       What do you notice? What’s changed? What would happen if? Was our test fair? Why/ Why not?     Write up results. Ask: Why has this happened? What would happen if . . .?
SC1 skills	Year 5
Planning different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions including recognising and controlling variables where necessary   Taking measurements using a range of scientific equipment       Use test results to make predictions to set up further comparative and fair tests	I must- pick correct idea for variable I should – write variables I could – write 2 experiments with different variables   Pick out odd results. Why? Is it important? Write equipment lists. Convert measurements. Discuss which provides the best measurement.   How would you improve? Could you design an improved experiment?
SC1 skills	Year 6
Taking measurements using a range of scientific equipment with increasing accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings where appropriate   Recording data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs   Reporting and presenting findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal relationships and explanations of and degree of trust in results, in oral and written forms such as displays and other presentations   Identifying scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or arguments	Measuring the voltage of different bulbs and the amount of current running through a circuit – creating tables and concluding findings   Creating food chains and classification keys to identify species of animals including key scientific terms such as vertebrae.     Children to choose how they wish to present their findings from an experiment. e.g. create a bar graph to show the distance a light source can travel and write a conclusion of what the graph shows. Pose key questions regarding next steps.   Looking at research from the work of scientists such as Darwin, Linneaus, Eddison, Harvey and Franklin and finding out how their discoveries impacted on people’s understanding of the world around them. Test the arguments in class and discuss.

 

This programme of study allows for reinforcement of children’s current understanding of that topic area, as well as the opportunity to develop further knowledge and understanding of key concepts through a combination of practical investigative activities, outdoor learning, independent or supported research and interactive online resources.
Children are teacher assessed against the expected outcomes for each unit of learning, based on all aspects of their learning within the topic. These outcomes will include their engagement in scientific class-discussion, how they record their observations, ability to ask scientific questions and their understanding of the scientific concepts and their impact on the wider world.
Extra-curricular and promotion of science
There are many opportunities for children to participate in science-based trips and experiences to enrich their learning. So far, children at Eastry have engaged in the yearly Pfizer jamboree, visiting science workshops, forest school days and trips to Quex Park, Wingham, the seaside and the lighthouse.  We have a science and eco-club which run all year.  There is also a live bird box feed and we promote the use of our expansive school grounds and local area. 

 

Impact

Children will be able to confidently ask questions about the world around them.
Children will be able to demonstrate their understanding and engagement in a variety of formats:
•    Photographs of observations with captions to reflect on what they have observed
•    Speech bubbles in books to show questions and comments
•    ‘What if…?’ questions
•    Tables, charts and graphs to record and interpret results
•    Diagrams and flow-charts to show food chains, life-cycles etc
•    Classification keys created by children to sort animals, materials etc by their physical features
•    Venn diagrams (hoops), Carroll diagrams to sort and classify objects and animals
•    Photographs of experiments and investigations with captions relating to expected results and conclusions made
•    Reflections on whether a ‘fair test’ has been carried out- children can identify the different types of variables in an experiment
•    Research on significant scientists, remarking on their impact on the development of scientific ideas or inventions and others’ understanding of the world eg Charles Darwin, Thomas Edison

Children will move on to the next stage of their scientific journey by understanding more about the impact of science on the world around them, and continuing to ask questions that lead them to understand how THEY can make a difference to their world.

Our teaching of science was graded OUTSTANDING in September 2011 during an OFSTED Science survey.

Science Knowledge Organisers - Facts and key knowledge taught in each year group

Science