Subject curriculum: Science

Take a look at our Primary Science subject curriculum:

Reception

Year 1

Unit 1 – Ourselves

  1. All about me.
  2. Similarities and Differences.
  3. Compare sizes – height, hands, head.
  4. The five senses – Sight, Smell, Taste, Touch and Hearing.

Unit 2 – Living and Growing

  1. Alive or never been alive.
  2. Places to live.
  3. Offspring.
  4. Life cycle of a frog.
  5. Growing up.
  6. Food groups.
  7. Water Diary.
  8. Tooth Decay.

Unit 3 – Plants

  1. Alive or never Alive.
  2. Different Plants.
  3. Parts of a plant.
  4. Seeds.
  5. Parts of a plant we eat.
  6. Plant detectives.

Unit 4 – Material Properties

  1. What are Materials?
  2. Textures.
  3. Opposites.
  4. Metal, Plastic, Fabric, Wood, Glass.
  5. Properties of Fabric.
  6. Uses of Fabric.

Unit 5 – Forces

  1. How do things move?
  2. Actions.
  3. Push or Pull.
  4. Making things move.
  5. Changing Direction.
  6. Bubbles/Kites.

Unit 6 – Sound

  1. Sound all around.
  2. Music.
  3. Sound Board.
  4. What can you hear?
  5. Looking after your ears.
  6. Helping us to hear.

Year 2

Unit 1 – Living things in their Environment

  1. Sorting Living Things.
  2. Environment
  3. Habitats
  4. Migration and Hibernation.
  5. Changes in the Environment – Endangered Species.
  6. Weather

Unit 2 – Material Properties

  1. Describing Materials
  2. Properties of Materials.
  3. Material choices.
  4. Rocks
  5. Fossils

    Unit 3 – Material Changes

    1. Reversible and Irreversible Change.
    2. Heating and Cooling.
    3. Solids, Liquids and Gases.
    4. Changes in cooking.
    5. Dissolving.

    Unit 4 – Light and Dark

    1. Seeing with Light.
    2. Darkness – Absence of light.
    3. Sources of light.
    4. Reflection.
    5. Light Travels.
    6. Shadows.

    Unit 5 – Electricity

    1. Uses of Electricity.
    2. Electricity – Mains or Cells.
    3. Electrical Safety.
    4. Electrical Circuits.
    5. Switches.
    6. Static Electricity.

    Unit 6 – The Earth and Beyond

    1. What is space?
    2. The Solar System.
    3. Planets in their orbits.
    4. The Earth’s Axis – Day and night.
    5. The Sun and Moon.
    6. Constellations.

    Year 3

    Unit 1 – Plants

    1. Plants are living things.
    2. Life cycle of plants.
    3. Parts of a plant – Roots, Stem, Leaves.
    4. Seed Germination.
    5. Growth in plants – Favourable and unfavourable conditions.
    6. Plants we grow for food.

    Unit 2 – Life Processes

    1. What is living?
    2. Alive, not alive or Never been alive.
    3. The Life Processes- Movement, Growth, Nutrition and Reproduction.
    4. Hibernation
    5. Sorting living things.
    6. Life cycles.

    Unit 3 – Keeping Healthy

    1. Balanced Diet.
    2. Vitamins and Minerals.
    3. Energy.
    4. Food and Health.
    5. Active and Inactive.
    6. Keeping your heart healthy.

    Unit 4 – The senses

    1. The human senses.
    2. Sight.
    3. Touch.
    4. Hearing.
    5. Taste.
    6. Smell.

    Unit 5 – Material Properties

    1. Describing properties.
    2. Sorting materials: Venn diagrams and Carroll diagrams.
    3. Reflective Materials.
    4. Magnetic Materials.
    5. Absorbent and waterproof materials.
    6. Hard and soft materials.
    7. Materials for a purpose.

    Unit 6 – Forces and Motion

    1. Push and Pull.
    2. Weight, mass and force.
    3. Measuring Force.
    4. Moving objects.
    5. Friction.

    Year 4

    Unit 1 – Humans and Animals

    1. Life Processes.
    2. Using your senses.
    3. Sorting living things.
    4. The human skeleton.
    5. X-Rays.
    6. Muscles and joints.

    Unit 2 – Living things in their Environment

    1. Different Environments.
    2. Caring for the environment.
    3. Habitats.
    4. Sorting Animals.
    5. Identification keys.
    6. Waste/Pollution.

    Unit 3 – States of Matter

    1. Solids.
    2. Liquids.
    3. Gases.
    4. Melting Ice.
    5. Liquid to Solid.
    6. Reversible and Irreversible changes.

    Unit 4 – Magnetism

    1. What is a magnet?
    2. Strongest Magnet.
    3. Magnetic Field.
    4. Magnetic Poles.
    5. Uses of Magnets.

    Unit 5 – Electricity

    1. Simple Circuits.
    2. Circuit components.
    3. Electrical appliances.
    4. Batteries and Cells.
    5. Series Circuits.
    6. Switches.

    Unit 6 – Sound

    1. Animal Ears.
    2. How is sound made?
    3. Vibrations.
    4. How sound travels?
    5. Measuring Sound.
    6. Musical Instruments.
    7. Stopping Sound.

    Year 5

    Unit 1 – Life Cycle of Flowering Plants

    1. Habitats and Microhabitats.
    2. Parts of a Plant.
    3. Reproduction in Plants.
    4. Parts of a flower.
    5. Pollination – Fertilisation – Seed dispersal – Germination.
    6. Life cycle diagrams.

    Unit 2 – Characteristics of Plants

    1. Growth.
    2. Germination of seeds.
    3. Factors affecting germination.
    4. Stem, roots and leaves.
    5. Factors affecting growth.

    Unit 3 – States of Matter

    1. Solids, liquids, gases.
    2. Change of State.
    3. Evaporation and condensation.
    4. Water Vapour.
    5. Solutions – Dissolving and separation.
    6. Factors affecting solution.
    7. Water Cycle.

    Unit 4 – The way we see things

    1. Light sources.
    2. Uses of light.
    3. Intensity of light.
    4. Light travels.
    5. Reflection
    6. Mirrors.
    7. Your eyes.

    Unit 5 – Shadows

    1. How are shadows formed?
    2. Shadow puppets.
    3. Materials and light.
    4. Changing shadows.
    5. Sun and shadows.
    6. Sundials.

    Unit 6 – Earth and Beyond

    1. Earth’s movement – on its axis.
    2. Earth’s movement – around the sun.
    3. Our solar system.
    4. The sun.
    5. The moon and its phases.
    6. Planets.
    7. Constellations.
    8. Galaxies.

    Year 6

    Two units are covered each term, not necessarily in the given order.  

    Unit 1 – Humans and animals

    1. The Circulatory System.
    2. The Respiratory System.
    3. The Nervous System.
    4. The Digestive System.
    5. Health of body and Organ Systems.

    Unit 2 – Food chains

    1. Habitats.
    2. Plants, Predator and Prey.
    3. Rainforest food chains.
    4. Ocean food chains.
    5. Savanna Food chains.
    6. Predator and prey adaptations.
    7. Food webs.
    8. Investigating local habitats and food chains.

    Unit 3 – Caring for the environment

    1. Deforestation.
    2. The problem with waste.
    3. Water Pollution and Air Pollution.
    4. Climate change.
    5. Managing Waste.
    6. Energy – Uses and Sources.
    7. Saving Energy.
    8. Protecting Habitats.

    Unit 4 – Material Changes

    1. Changing states of Matter.
    2. Reversible and Irreversible Changes.
    3. Reversible changes – Melting and Freezing, Evaporation and Condensation
    4. Irreversible changes – Burning, rusting.
    5. Changes in cooking.
    6. Mixing solids.
    7. Mixing solids and liquids.
    8. Separating Mixtures.
    9. Growing Crystals.

    Unit 5 – Forces and Motion

    1. Forces.
    2. Measuring Forces.
    3. Mass and Weight.
    4. Force diagrams.
    5. Balanced and unbalanced forces.
    6. Simple machines – Lever, Inclined Planes, Wheel and axle, Gears.
    7. Friction.
    8. Air resistance.

    Unit 6 – Electricity

    1. Circuits.
    2. Electrical current.
    3. Conductors and insulators.
    4. Flow of electric current.
    5. Parallel Circuits.
    6. Switches.