Science Curriculum at Holy Cross Catholic Primary School
Year 1 / Year 2 / Year 3 / Year 4 / Year 5 / Year 6Seasonal changes
- observe changes across the four seasons
- observe and describe weather associated with the seasons and how day length varies.
- Plants
- Identify and name a variety of common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees
- Identify and describe the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees.
- identifyandname a varietyofcommon animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals
- identifyandname a varietyofcommon animals thatare carnivores,herbivoresand omnivores
- describe and compare the structure ofa varietyofcommon animals(birds, fish, amphibians,reptiles,mammalsand invertebrates,and including pets)
- identify,name,draw and label the basicpartsof the human body and saywhich partof the body isassociated with each sense.
- distinguish between an object and the material from which it is made
- identify and name a variety of everyday materials, including wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, and rock
- describe the simple physical properties of a variety of everyday materials
- compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of their simple physical
- observe and describe how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants
- find out and describe how plants need water, light and a suitable temperature to grow and stay healthy.
- notice that animals,including humans,have offspring which growinto adults
- find outaboutand describe the basicneedsof animals, including humans, forsurvival (water, food and air)
- describe the importance forhumans ofexercise,eatingthe rightamountsofdifferent types of food, and hygiene
- identifyandcompare the usesof a varietyof everyday materials,including wood,metal, plastic,glass,brick, rock, paperand cardboard
- find out how the shapes of solid objects made from some materials can be changed by squashing, bending, twisting and stretching
- identifyanddescribe the functions ofdifferentpartsof flowering plants:roots, stem, leavesand flowers
- explore therequirementsofplants forlife and growth (air, light,water,nutrientsfromsoil,and room togrow)and how they varyfromplant toplant
- investigatethe wayin which wateristransported within plants
- explorethepart that flowersplayin the life cycle of flowering plants,including pollination,seed formation and seed dispersal.
- identify thatanimals,including humans,need the righttypes and amountof nutrition,and that they cannotmaketheirown food; they getnutrition from what they eat
- identify thathumans and some animalshave skeletonsand muscles for support,protection and movement.
- compare and group togetherdifferentkinds ofrocksonthe basisof theirappearance and simple physical properties
- describe insimple termshow fossilsare formed when things thathave lived are trapped withinrock
- recognise thatsoilsare made fromrocksand organicmatter
- recognise that they need light in order to see things and that dark is the absence of light
- notice thatlightisreflected from surfaces
- recognise that light from the sun can be dangerous and that there are ways to protect the 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 the shadows change
- compare how things move on different surfaces
- notice that some forcesneed contactbetween two objects, butmagnetic forcescan actat a distance
- observe how magnetsattract or repel each otherand attract some materialsand notothers
- compare and group togethera varietyofeveryday materials on the basisofwhether they areattractedtoa magnet, and identifysome magneticmaterials
- describe magnetsashaving twopoles
- predictwhether two magnetswill attract or repel each other, dependingon which polesare facing.
- Recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways
- Explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment
- recognise thatenvironmentscanchange and that thiscan sometimes pose dangers to living things
- describe the simple functions ofthe basicpartsof the digestive systemin humans
- identify the different types of teeth in humansand their simple functions
- constructand interpreta varietyof food chains,identifying producers, predatorsand prey
- compare and group materials together,according to whether they are solids,liquidsorgases
- observe thatsome materialschange state when they are heated orcooled,andmeasure or research the temperature atwhich thishappens in degrees Celsius(°C)
- identify the partplayedbyevaporation and condensation in the watercycle and associate the rate ofevaporation with temperature
- identifyhow sounds are made,associatingsome of them with something vibrating
- recognise that vibrations from sounds travel through a medium to the ear
- find patternsbetween the pitch of a sound and features of the object thatproduced it
- find patternsbetween the volume ofa sound and the strength of the vibrations thatproduced it.
- Recognise that sounds get fainter as the distance from the sound source increases.
- identifycommon appliances thatrun on electricity
- constructasimple serieselectrical circuit,identifying and naming itsbasicparts,including cells,wires,bulbs,switches and buzzers
- identifywhetherornot a lamp willlightin a simple series circuit,based on whetherornot the lamp ispartofa complete loop with a battery
- recognise thata switch opens and closesa circuitand associate thiswith whetherornot a lamp lightsin a simple seriescircuit
- recognise some common conductorsand insulators,and associate metalswith being good conductors
- describe the differencesin the life cyclesofamammal,an amphibian,an insectand a bird
- describe the life processofreproduction in some plantsand animals
- describe the changes as humans develop to old age.
- compare and group togethereveryday materialson the basis of their properties, including their hardness, solubility, transparency, conductivity (electrical and thermal) and response to magnets
- knowthatsomematerialswill dissolve in liquid to form a solution,and describe how to recovera substance froma solution
- use knowledge ofsolids,liquids and gases to decide how mixturesmightbe separated,including through filtering, sieving andevaporating
- give reasons,based on evidence from comparative and fair tests, for the particularusesofeveryday materials,including metals,wood and plastic
- demonstrate thatdissolving,mixing and changes ofstate are reversible changes
- explainthatsome changes resultin the formation ofnew materials, and that thiskind ofchange isnotusually reversible, including changes associated with burning and the action ofacid on bicarbonate ofsoda.
- explain thatunsupported objectsfall towards the Earth because of the forceofgravityacting between the Earthand the falling object
- identify the effectsofairresistance,waterresistance and friction, thatact between moving surfaces
- recognise that some mechanisms, including levers, pulleys and gears, allow a smaller force to have a greater effect
- Earth and Space
- describe the movementof the Earth,and otherplanets, relative to the Sun in the solarsystem
- describe the movementof the Moon relative to the Earth
- describe the Sun,Earth and Moon asapproximately spherical bodies
- usethe idea of the Earth’srotation to explainday and night.
- describe how living things are classified into broad groups according to common observable characteristics and based on similarities and differences, including micro-organisms, plants and animals
- give reasons for classifying plants and animals based on specific characteristics
- identifyandname themain parts of the human circulatory system,and explain the functions of the heart,blood vessels and blood
- recognise the impactofdiet,exercise,drugs and lifestyle on
- the way theirbodies function
- describethe waysin which nutrientsand waterare transported within animals,including humans.
- recognise thatliving things have changed over time andthat fossilsprovide information aboutliving thingsthatinhabited the Earthmillions ofyearsago
- recognise thatliving things produce offspring of the same kind,butnormallyoffspring varyand are notidentical totheir parents
- identifyhow animalsand plantsare adapted to suit their environmentin differentwaysand thatadaptation maylead to evolution.
- recognisethatlightappears to travel in straightlines
- Use the idea thatlight travelsin straightlinesto explain that objectsareseen because they give outor reflectlightinto the eye
- explain thatwe see things because light travels fromlight sources tooureyesor from lightsources toobjectsand then to oureyes
- usethe idea thatlight travelsin straightlinesto explainwhy shadows have the same shape as the objects that cast them.
- associate the brightnessofa lamp or the volume ofa buzzer with the numberand voltage ofcellsused inthe circuit
- compare and give reasons forvariations in how components function,including the brightnessofbulbs, the loudnessof buzzersand the on/off position ofswitches
- use recognised symbolswhen representing asimple circuit in a diagram.