Harmans Water Primary School

In Nursery and Reception, Science is taught through the EYFS Framework – Understanding the world. The children will look at the natural world around them by exploring and learning about animals, plants, environments and natural changes like seasons. Children are encouraged to look at similarities/ differences to allow them to make sense of the world around them. 

In Year 1, the children start by learning about materials, which is linked to their DT learning. The children then move on to look at parts of the human body and explore their senses. In the Spring term, children will learn about seasonal changes linked to weather, living things and day length. In the Summer term, children move on to learn about plant parts. They then make links to previous learning by learning about animal parts and making comparisons linked to what they learnt about human parts and senses.  

In Year 2, children start the year looking at the survival needs of humans and then move onto studying animals in their habitats. Building on from learning in Year 1 on materials, children will start to learn about the changes of materials through simple manipulation like bending or twisting. The children then continue their knowledge of plants by observing what plants need to grow and stay healthy. Finally, the children will look at what animals need to survive and make links back to their knowledge from earlier in the year about human survival.  

Having learnt about human body parts, senses and survival in KS 1, children will now focus on specific body systems and nutrition. In the Autumn term of Year 3, the children will learn about the skeletal and muscular systems and then make comparisons to animals. The children will also learn about healthy diets alongside their DT project. In the Spring term, properties of materials are revisited, with children learning about magnetic materials and the non-contact force of magnetism. The children will then start to look at contact forces and will investigate how things move over surfaces. They will learn about rocks and soils through their Geography project on Rocks, Relics and Rumbles. In the Summer, the children will identify the plant parts associated with reproduction and water transport. They will then finish the year looking at light and learning about shadows and reflection and learn the meaning of the words opaque and transparent.  

In Year 4, the children start the year by looking at the digestive system and will make comparisons with other animals. Children are then introduced to the concept of sound and will learn about how sounds are made and how they travel. They will learn the terms pitch and volume. In the Spring, children learn about solids, liquids and gases and their characteristics. They will learn about how temperature drives the change of state and this links to learning in the geography unit Misty Mountain, Winding River, in which children learn about the water cycle. The children finish off the term looking at classification and classification keys. In the Summer, children learn about electricity by creating simple circuits and build on their knowledge of martials to identify conductors and insulators.  

In the Autumn of Year 5, children broaden their knowledge of forces by learning about gravity, air resistance and water resistance. Their knowledge of gravity is then used to support their knowledge of space and how forces shape our planets and solar system. They gain an understanding of day and night, which links to learning that was completed in Year 1 about seasons. The children move on to look at the human lifecycle and then revisit this in the Summer term, when children learn about human reproduction. In the summer, the children will also continue their learning on properties of materials by learning about thermal conductivity and solubility. They will also build on their knowledge about reversable changes by looking at irreversible changes.  

In Year 6, the children learn about the circulatory system and its role in transporting water, nutrients and gases. In the Spring term, the Science work on classification is linked to the Geography project of Frozen Kingdoms. In the Spring term, children will revisit electricity by learning about how to record standard symbols for circuit components and investigating the function of different components. The children will also investigate the effects of voltage on a circuit. In the Summer term children will recognise that light travels in straight lines from a source or reflector to the eye. The children will also investigate the shape of shadows. The children finish off the year learning about inheritance and understand why offspring are not identical to their parents. They will also learn about natural selection and how this can lead to the evolution of a species.  

If you would like to find out more about our Science Curriculum, then please speak to a member of SLT or our Science Co-ordinator - Mrs Best.