At Hamstel Junior School, our aim is to give every child a broad and balanced science curriculum which enables them to confidently explore and discover what is around them to gain a deeper understanding of the world we live in. We want our children to love science. We want them to have no limits to their ambitions and grow up wanting to be astronauts, forensic scientists, toxicologists and microbiologists!

At Hamstel Junior School, our children are scientists who:

• are curious about the world around them

• experience science through touch, sight, sound and feel

• use their science experiences to explore ideas and raise different kinds of questions

• plan different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions

• use relevant scientific language and illustrations

• set up fair tests when appropriate

• use different scientific equipment to measure

• decide what measurements to make

• gather, record, classify and present findings in different ways (diagrams, keys, tables, classification keys and graphs)

• use results to make predictions and set up more tests

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 3

 

In Year 3 children will learn:

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Animals Including Humans

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• to identify that animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition, and that they cannot make their own

• that they get nutrition from what they eat

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Force & Magnets

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• to compare how things move on different surfaces

• to notice some forces need contact between two objects 

• that magnetic forces can act at a distance

• to observe magnetic attraction or repelling

• that some materials are magnetic

• to compare, group together variety of everyday materials based on whether they are attracted to a magnet

• to identify some magnetic materials

• to describe magnets as having two poles

• to predict whether two magnets will attract or repel each other, depending on which poles are face

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Light

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• to recognise we need light in order to see things and dark is the absence of light

• to notice that light is reflected from surfaces

• to recognise that light from the sun can be dangerous and that there are ways to protect eyes

• to recognise shadows are formed when the light from a light source is blocked by a solid object

• to find patterns in the way that the size of shadows change

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Plants

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• To identify and describe functions of different parts of flowering plants: roots, stem/trunk, leaves and flowers

• to identify requirements of plants for life and growth (air, light, water, nutrients from soil, and room to grow) and how they vary in different plants

• to understand the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal

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Rocks

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• to compare and group together different kinds of rocks on the basic of their appearance and simple physical properties

• to describe in simple terms how fossils are formed when things that have lived are trapped within rock

• to recognise that soils are made from rocks and organic matter

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States of Mattter

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• to compare and group materials together, according to whether they are solids, liquids or gasses

• to 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); demonstrate that dissolving, mixing and changes of state are reversible changes

• to explain that some changes result in the formation of new materials, and that this kind of change is not usually reversible

• to identify the part played by evaporation and condensation in the water cycle and associate the rate of evaporation with temperature

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Woking Scientifically

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• to ask and answer relevant questions

• to gather, record, classify and present findings using simple, scientific language, drawings and diagrams, drawing simply conclusions, make simple predictions, identify differences and similarities or changes

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Year 4

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In Year 4 children will learn:

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Animals including Humans

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• to describe simple functions of basic parts of the digestive system in humans

• to identify different types of teeth in humans and the simple functions

• to construct and interpret a variety of food chains, identifying producers, predators and prey

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Electricity

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• to construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming it's basic parts, including cells, wires, bulbs, switches and buzzers

• to 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

• to recognise that a switch opens and closes a circuit and associate this with whether or not a lamp lights in a simple series circuit

• to recognise some common conductors and insulators, and associate metals with being good conductors

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Living Things and their Habitats

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• to recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways

• to use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environments  can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers and have an impact on living things. 

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Sound

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• to identify how sounds are made, associating some of them with something vibrating

• to recognise that vibrations from sounds travel through a medium to the ear

• to find patterns between the pitch of a sound and features of the object that produced it

• to find patterns between the volume of a sound and the strength of the vibrations that produced it

• to recognise that sounds get fainter as the distance from the sound source increases

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State of Matter

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• to compare and group materials together, according to whether they solids, liquids or gasses

• to 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)

• to demonstrate that dissolving, mixing and changes of state are reversible changes

• to explain that some changes result in the formation of new materials, and that this kind of change is not usually reversible

• to identify the part played by evaporation and condensation in the water cycle and associate the rate of evaporation with temperature

 

Woking Scientifically

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• to ask relevant questions, use different enquiries to answer

• to set up simple practical enquiries to answer

• to make systematic and careful observations

• to make accurate measurements using standard units and range of equipment

• to gather, record, classify and present data to help answer questions

• to record findings using simple scientific language using labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts and tables

• to report findings orally and written

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Year 5

 

In Year 5 children will learn:

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Animals including Humans

 

• to describe the changes as humans develop to old age

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Earth & Space

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• to describe the movement of the Earth and other planets relative to the sun in the solar system

• to describe the movement of the moon in relation to Earth

• to describe Earth and the moon as approximately spherical

• to use Earth's rotation to explain day and night and the apparent movement of the sun across the sky

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Forces & Magnets

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• to explain that unsupported objects fall towards the Earth because of the force of gravity acting between the Earth and the failing object

• to identify the effects of air resistance, water resistance and friction the act between moving surfaces

• to recognise that some mechanisms, including levers, pulleys and gears, allow a smaller force to have a greater effect 

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Living Things and their Habitats

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• to describe the differences in the life cycles of a mammal, an amphibian, an insect and a bird

• to describe the life process of reproduction in some plants and animals

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Materials 

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• to compare and group together everyday materials on their properties

• to recognise that some materials will dissolve in liquid to form a solution

• to describe how to recover a substance from a solution

• to use knowledge of solids, liquids and gases to decide how mixtures might be separated

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Working Scientifically

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• to plan different enquiries to ask and answer questions

• to make measurements with increasing accuracy and precision

• to take repeat readings where appropriate

• to record data of increasing complexity using diagrams

• to make predictions for fair testing

• to report and represent findings and explanations in oral and written forms

• to identify evidence to support to refute ideas or arguments

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Year 6

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In Year 6 children will learn:

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Animals including Humans

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• to identify and name the main parts of the human circulatory system

• to describe the functions of the heart, blood vessels and blood

• to recognise the impact of diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle on the way their bodies function

• to describe the ways in which nutrients and water are transported within animals, including humans

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Electricity

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• to associate the brightness of a lamp or the volume of a buzzer with the number and voltage of cells used in the circuit

• to 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

• to use recognised symbols when presenting a simple circuit in a diagram

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Evolution and Inheritance

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• 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

• to recognise that living things produce offspring of the same kind, but normally offspring vary and are not identical of their parents

• to identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution

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Light

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• to recognise that light appears to travel in straight lines

• to use the idea that lights travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye

• to 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

• to use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain why shadows have the same shape as the objects that cast them

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Living Things and their Habitats

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• to describe how living things are classified into broad groups according to common characteristics and based on similarities and differences, including micro-organisms, plants and animal

• to give reasons for classifying plants and animals based on specific characteristics

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Work Scientifically

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• to plan different enquiries to answer own or others questions

• to take measurements with increasing accuracy and precision using equipment and taking repeat readings where appropriate

• to record data and results using scientific diagrams

• to use tests results to make predications for fair testing

• to report and present findings in both oral and written forms

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