The Science Curriculum at Stoke-on-Tern.
Why is science important?
Science starts with knowledge and seeks to explain the material world around us; a high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics.
At Stoke-on-Tern, our science curriculum aims to develop children’s knowledge and their understanding of the world around them, while acquiring skills linked to scientific enquiry. By participating in well-planned, engaging lessons, pupils are encouraged to be inquisitive about the world and to develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. Our curriculum aims to provide pupils with knowledge to enable them to think scientifically, understand the scientific processes and the use of science in their world, the wider community and the wider world.
At Stoke-on-Tern, children are taught in mixed age classes, hence the science curriculum is taught over a rolling 2-year programme (cycle A and cycle B) so that the content is fully covered by the end of each key stage. The science long-term curriculum plan is delivered through the Cornerstones Curriculum, with the names of projects matched to the national curriculum aspects, for example, Living things and their habitats and Earth and space. In Key Stage 1, the aspect of Animals, including humans has been separated so that children study humans before expanding to explore animals. The science projects are sequenced to develop both children’s substantive and declarative knowledge, and if possible, make meaningful links to other projects. For example, in cycle A at Lower Key Stage 2, the projects Plant Nutrition and Reproduction and Light and Shadows are taught alongside the design and technology project Greenhouse and the art and design project Beautiful Botanicals. These links allow for children to embed their substantive knowledge in new and often real-life contexts. The sequencing of projects ensures that children have the substantive knowledge and vocabulary to comprehend subsequent projects fully. Each project’s place in the year has also been carefully considered. For example, projects that involve growing plants or observing animals are positioned at a suitable time of year to give children the best possible opportunity to make first-hand observations. Within all the science projects, disciplinary knowledge is embedded within substantive content.
Please click below to view Stoke-on-Tern’s long-term plan for science:
Science long term plan
Science in EYFS at Stoke-on-Tern.
Science is mainly covered within the ‘Understanding the World’ early learning goal of the EYFS curriculum and is delivered through the Cornerstones Curriculum. Science knowledge and skills are introduced through topics mapped across the year and pupils learn through a mixture of carefully planned play and some adult-led focused activities, as well as from stories and high-quality dialogue. Pupils are encouraged to explore, observe and talk about the world around them and to ask questions about why things happen and how things work. Through this hands-on learning, pupils are able to find things out for themselves and develop skills that will form the foundation of their scientific enquiry skills.
During their time in EYFS, pupils learn that there are changes in the natural world through the seasons; that there are similarities and differences in the natural world; that the world is made up of different animals and plants; that there are important processes and changes that happen; that there are key words (vocabulary) associated with science and that science is used to help us in our everyday lives.
Science in Key Stage 1 at Stoke-on-Tern.
During their time in Key Stage 1, science teaching at Stoke-on-Tern focuses on enabling pupils to experience and observe the natural and humanly-constructed world around them.
In cycle A in Key Stage 1, children start the autumn term with Everyday Materials, linking this learning to the design and technology project Shade and Shelter. In the Human Senses project, they learn about parts of the human body and those associated with the senses. In the spring project Seasonal Changes, they learn broadly about seasonal changes linked to weather, living things and day length. They revisit some of this learning in the following summer term project Plant Parts. They finish with the project Animal Parts, linking back to their knowledge about body parts and senses and identifying commonalities.
In cycle B in Key Stage 1, children begin the autumn term with the project Human Survival, learning about the survival needs of humans, before expanding to study animals within their habitats in the project Habitats. Building on learning from cycle A, children learn about the uses of materials in the spring project Uses of Materials and begin to understand changes of materials through simple physical manipulation, such as bending and twisting. The spring Plant Survival project also explores survival, with children observing what plants need to grow and stay healthy. Finally, in the project Animal Survival, children bring together learning from the autumn term, thinking about what animals need to survive.
Pupils are encouraged to be curious and to ask questions about what they notice and to use different types of scientific enquiry to answer their own questions and develop their understanding of scientific ideas. When talking and writing about what they have found out, pupils learn to use simple scientific vocabulary and language.
Science in Key Stage 2 at Stoke-on-Tern.
As pupils progress through Key Stage 2 at Stoke-on-Tern, science teaching focuses on enabling them to broaden their scientific view of the world around them and to develop a deeper understanding of a wide range of scientific ideas; pre-existing knowledge of everyday physical phenomena is enriched. They are encouraged to explore, talk about, test and develop ideas about everyday phenomena; asking their own questions and analysing relationships more systematically. They should begin to recognise that scientific ideas change and develop over time and should progress to being able to select the most appropriate ways to answer science questions using different types of scientific enquiry. Pupils should draw conclusions based on their data and observations, use evidence to justify their ideas, and use their scientific knowledge and understanding to explain their findings, using the correct scientific vocabulary.
Lower Key Stage 2.
Having learned about human body parts, the senses and survival in Key Stage 1, children now focus on specific body systems and nutrition in Key Stage 2. In the autumn term of cycle A in Lower Key Stage 2, they learn about the skeletal and muscular system in the project Animal Nutrition and the Skeletal System. This learning again links to other animals, with children identifying similarities and differences. Children also learn about healthy diets alongside the autumn term design and technology project Cook Well, Eatwell. In the spring term, properties of materials are revisited in the project Forces and Magnets, with children identifying magnetic materials and learning about the non-contact force of magnetism. They also begin to learn about contact forces, investigating how things move over surfaces. Science learning about rocks and soils is delivered through the geography project Rocks, Relics and Rumbles. Children begin to link structure to function in the summer Plant Nutrition and Reproduction project, identifying the plant parts associated with reproduction and water transport. Children finish the year with the project Light and Shadows, where they are explicitly introduced to the subject of light, with children learning about shadows and reflections, revisiting language from Key Stage 1, including opaque and transparent.
In the autumn term of cycle B in Lower Key Stage 2, children learn about the digestive system, again making comparisons to other animals, in the project Food and the Digestive System. The second autumn term project Sound introduces the concept of sound, with children identifying how sounds are made and travel. They learn and use new vocabulary, such as pitch and volume, and identify properties of materials associated with these concepts. In the spring term project States of Matter, children learn about solids, liquids and gases and their characteristics. They understand how temperature drives change of state and link this learning to the geography project Misty Mountain, Winding River, in which children learn about the water cycle. Up to this point, children have had many opportunities for grouping and sorting living things. In the spring project Grouping and Classifying, children recognise this as ‘classification’ and explore classification keys. Finally, in the summer term, children study electricity by creating and recording simple circuits in the project Electrical Circuits and Conductors. They also build on their knowledge of the properties of materials, identifying electrical conductors and insulators.
Upper Key Stage 2.
In the autumn term of cycle A in Upper Key Stage 2, children broaden their knowledge of forces, including gravity and air and water resistance, in the project Forces and Mechanisms. They revisit learning from design and technology projects, including Making It Move and Moving Mechanisms, to explore various mechanisms and their uses. Their knowledge of gravity supports the autumn term project Earth and Space, so they can understand the forces that shape planets and our solar system. They also develop their understanding of day and night, first explored in the Key Stage 1 project Seasonal Changes. Having learned that animals and plants produce offspring in earlier projects and studied plant and animal life cycles in the geography project Sow, Grow and Farm, children now focus on the human life cycle and sexual reproduction in the spring term project Human Reproduction and Ageing. In the summer term project Properties and Changes of Materials, children revisit much of their prior learning about materials’ properties and learn new properties, including thermal conductivity and solubility. To this point, children have learned much about reversible changes, such as melting and freezing, but now extend their learning to irreversible changes, including chemical changes.
In cycle B in Upper Key Stage 2, the final body system children learn about is the circulatory system and its roles in transporting water, nutrients and gases in the autumn term project Circulatory System. Science learning about classification is delivered through the spring term geography project Frozen Kingdoms. In the spring term, children also build on their knowledge about electrical circuits from Lower Key Stage 2, now learning and recording standard symbols for circuit components and investigating the function of components and the effects of voltage on a circuit in the project Electrical Circuits and Conductors. In the summer project Light Theory, children recognise that light travels in straight lines from a source or reflector to the eye and explain the shape of shadows. Finally, in the project Evolution and Inheritance, children learn about inheritance and understand why offspring are not identical to their parents. They also learn about natural selection and how this can lead to the evolution of a species.
Throughout Key Stage 2, pupils develop their depth of substantive knowledge previously introduced in Key Stage 1 and gradually improve their understanding of more abstract concepts outside their own experience (such as Earth and Space and Evolution and Inheritance). These topics enable pupils to begin to recognise how these ideas help them to understand and predict how the world operates, a notion which will be further developed in Key Stage 3.
Assessing science at Stoke-on-Tern.
Assessment of science at Stoke-on-Tern is very much an integral part of the teaching cycle. Before starting a unit of work, teachers will assess pupils’ existing understanding of the substantive content within the unit, with teaching adjusted in-light of this assessment. Long-term plans identify what pupils should know at the end of each unit of work and this knowledge can be assessed in a variety of different ways, including summative assessments, quizzes, independent pieces of class work, presentations and so on.
Preparing Pupils for the Next Stage.
A positive primary science experience is key to encouraging future generations to study science at secondary school and potentially to follow it as a career. Our science curriculum at Stoke-on-Tern ensures that children progress to secondary school with the enthusiasm to want to know more about the world and the skills to enable them to work scientifically at a deeper level. Providing children with the foundations and knowledge for understanding the world aims to ignite their interest in a range of science-based subjects, promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects so that children learn about the possibilities for future careers in science.
“The important thing is not to stop questioning.”
Albert Einstein