Scissett CE Academy

Science

"I really love learning outside and when I can go in the water"  Reception

"I feel confident in Science"  Year 5

"I loved Science Day.  We got to do lots of cool experiments - I especially liked it when Mr Codling set fire to his hand - on purpose"  Year 5 (2022)

Intent

At Scissett CE Academy we aim to ensure that we provide a high-quality science education which provides the foundations to understand the world and how it changes our lives. The disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics will be achieved through the teaching of essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. 

The Science Curriculum at Scissett enables pupils to build up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, enabling them to recognise the power of rational explanation.   We aim for our children to question and investigate and to show real interest in the world around them.

Implementation

Throughout the teaching of Science, we aim to enable pupils to develop a keen interest in science and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. Pupils will understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will develop, and analyse causes.

 Lessons will often start with a starting question to explore.  Children will use a mixture of practical and research to help them find answers and responses.  Sometimes this may lead to other questions.  Work will involve many skills; predicting, measuring, observing and collating evidence.  Children will understand the idea of fair testing and will combine mathematic skills to spot trends and patterns.  Children will learn to justify their responses and offer their own ideas as to why some things are as they are.

Impact

As pupils progress through school they will develop their Scientific knowledge in key areas, including scientific enquiry. Throughout their time at Scissett Academy children will cover the following areas:

 Working Scientifically

• Plants and Animals, including Humans
• Living Things and their Habitats
• Everyday Materials
• Seasonal Changes
• Rocks
• States of Matter
• Light
• Sound
• Electricity
• Forces and Magnets
• Earth and Space

Here is an overview of what pupils will cover in their time at Scissett:

Mapping of Science Units

Assessment and Key Skills Criteria

At the start of each new topic, pupils will demonstrate prior knowledge; this will enable teachers to ensure they have the firm foundations to build upon. 

Children will be encouraged to reflect on the knowledge learnt throughout the topic and their understanding. Key vocabulary and prompts will be displayed in and out of the classroom environment, enabling children to absorb and reflect continuously, supporting long term knowledge development. 

 We hope to be creating the next generation of scientists who may help lead the world forward in the areas of medicine, physics, chemistry, biology and space travel.

Science Day 2022

What a fantastic day! 

After Professor (Miss) James received an interesting email from Odo (a futuristic child) asking if the children could investigate what could have caused a catastrophic explosion on planet Earth, each class eagerly and quickly got to work to become mini scientists for the day, exploring concepts such as viscosity, immiscible/miscible liquids and bubble making.  Things went whizz, bang, pop during investigations and the children came up with many reasons as to how the liquid explosion could have happened.

Take a look at what we got up to!

Light and Darkness 

As part of their unit on Light and Darkness, Year 3 have been investigating how shadows change during the day. They worked in pairs and groups to construct a clay model with a pencil placed vertically in the middle of the clay and observed at different times of the day the changes in the length of the shadow. Their findings were recorded and compared against their hypotheses. 

EGGcellent Investigations

In Science Year 4 have been learning about our teeth and the importance of looking after them. As part of our unit we have conducted an investigation to see how different liquids can effect tooth decay. We have placed eggs into water, juice, milk, cola and squash to observe what will happen over time. We’ve already noticed some very interesting changes…

Animal Day in Reception Class

To support their topic of Living things, Reception class had a very special visit from ‘Animal Club’ who brought some scaly and furry friends along for us to meet. These included 2 bearded dragons, a snake, worms, grasshoppers, a guinea pig, a rabbit, a tortoise and even a whiptail scorpion. We enjoyed gently handling the animals whilst learning lots of different animal facts - some you would never believe!  

Reception Class - Surviving and Growing (Spring 2023)

In class reception we have been busy learning about what plants need to survive and grow. We have planted our own sunflower seeds, one each to take home (which the children were very excited about!) and some to have in school and observe over a longer period of time. We have watered them every other day and placed them in a sunny position on the windowsill to give them the best chance of initial growth before we move and pot them outside when the weather gets a little warmer. Reception class have loved learning and identifying different parts of a plant and how we need to care for them to develop from seed to flower.

We have been learning about, caring for and observing 5 caterpillars that have developed and hatched into beautiful butterflies over the last 5 weeks. We’ve watched them grow from tiny caterpillars in big fluffy ones that put themselves in to the metamorphic stage and eventually wriggled out in to interestingly patterned butterflies. We placed some orange segments and banana for the butterflies to get some energy before it was time to release them in the warm sunshine which helps their wings to fly. We learned a fantastic fact that butterflies taste with their feet – did you know this?

What does air weigh? (Year 4 Summer 2023)

Year 4 investigated the question, how much does air weigh?  They used either weighting scales or a coat hanger as a balance scale to find out how much it weighs.  Based on their findings they gave recommendations for if they were to do it again what would they do differently.

Year 3 - Science - How plants grow (Spring 2024)

Year 3 have loved learning about the process involved in growing plants. The children planted their own bean seeds, some of the children had fantastic results at the end of the experiment. 

We also investigated how nutrients are transported within the plant.

 

Reception and Year 2 Class School Trip - Ponderosa (Summer 2024)

Reception class and Year 2 had a great day (if a little wet!) at Ponderosa Zoo. We explored different habitats of lots of weird and wonderful animals from Snakes and Tracheales to Reindeers and Porcupines. Getting up close and personal, we took a walk through the Lemur enclosure and timed it just as they were tucking into the morning snack. Two of our favourite animals were Dobby the Kinkajou in the Nocturnal house who was just having his playtime and the noisy Otters having what we learned was a conversation between father and son.

Useful links:

https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/  National Geographic for kids. A child friendly website filled with fun and unique activities.

https://www.stem.org.uk/ Continue Science learning and explore different activities based on chemistry, physics and biology.

https://www.nasa.gov/ NASA kid’s club. Play games and learn about Space!

https://www.servicesforeducation.co.uk/blog/advice-for-parents/5-experiments/ Science experiments you can do at home.

https://thinkforensic.co.uk/ Crime scene investigation workshops for kids.

https://www.sublimescience.com/free-science-experiments/ 101 fun science experiments you can do at home.