Snap Science 2nd Edition Course Guide

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO TEACH PRIMARY SCIENCE

Snap Science is an award-winning digital programme that provides everything you need to teach outstanding science and is simple to implement across your whole school.

Your subscription provides access to a wealth of digital resources including:

• editable lesson plans

• resource sheets

• slideshows

• tailored animations

• videos

• interactive activities

Comprehensive module summaries make clear what children will learn and when and explain what resources are needed to organise lessons. Information to support all teachers’ understanding and knowledge of each topic and how to successfully teach it is also provided alongside guidance in making end-of-module assessments.

Year 2, Module 6: Growing healthy plants

Lesson 1: How can we care for our plants?

What children will learn and do

● Children revisit the conditions required for seed germination.

● They learn that seeds germinate into seedlings, and seedlings grow into mature plants.

● They learn that mature plants produce seeds.

● Throughout this module they answer the question: ‘How can we care for our plants?’

● They identify whether a mature plant is healthy or unhealthy.

You will need

● healthy and unhealthy plants (one of each per group of children)

You could use bedding plants or indoor plants such as pansy, polyanthus, busy lizzie or basil. These can be grown from seed or bought from a garden centre and can be kept in the classroom or planted out after the investigation. If growing plants from seeds, these need to be planted well in advance so that the plants are mature. Prepare the unhealthy plants by keeping them in a dark, cool place, without water for at least a week (the exact time taken to show ill effects will depend on the type of plant).

Snap resources:

● Slideshow 1: Stages of a plant’s life

Make sure you have opened/printed any Snap resources you intend to use in this lesson.

● Slideshow 2: Is this plant healthy? (optional)

If you are unable to provide healthy and unhealthy plants for children to observe, you could provide print-outs of Slideshow 2 as an alternative.

National Curriculum

Conceptual knowledge:

● find out and describe how plants need water, light and a suitable temperature to grow and stay healthy

Working scientifically:

● using their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions

Key vocabulary

Tier 2 vocabulary: describe

Tier 3 vocabulary: explain/explanation bulb, conditions, germinate/germination, healthy, mature, seed, seedling

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Health and safety

Please refer to CLEAPSS for Health and Safety guidance and ensure that any identified hazards are managed appropriately.

Tell children that by the end of the module they will be plant experts and they will be able to give advice to adults about how best to grow healthy plants. They will answer the question, ‘How can we care for our plants?’

Getting started

Remind them that earlier in the year they learnt about seeds and bulbs (Year 2 Module 3, Growing seeds and bulbs). Ask them what they can remember about the conditions needed for seed germination and to make bulbs sprout.

Display Slideshow 1: Stages of a plant’s life. Show slides 1 and 2. Slide 2 provides an opportunity to reinforce that trees are plants (covered in Year 1 Module 6, Identifying plants and their parts). Ask children how they know that trees are plants.

At this point you are introducing the life cycle of a flowering plant. There is no need for children to use this term, which they will learn more about in Year 3 (Module 6, Flowering plants life cycle). Ensure that children understand that the images on the slides are not to scale.

Show slide 3. Ask children whether it matters that the pictures are in a different order. Ensure that children understand that you can consider any stage of a plant’s life cycle to be the start. Ask children to name the stages of the plant’s life cycle, represented by red question marks (seedling, mature plant, seed).

Show slide 4. Ask children to name the terms represented by the blue question marks (grows, makes seeds, germinates). Show the completed diagram on slide 5.

Tell children that they will now be looking at mature plants and how to keep them healthy. Ask them to think of things humans can do to keep healthy (refer back to Year 2 Module 4, Growing up (animals and humans)). Ask them if they think this is the same for plants.

The task

Provide children with the pre-prepared unhealthy and healthy mature plants (or use the photographs in Slideshow 2). Ask them to describe what they see, focusing on their colour, whether the stems and leaves are droopy, or any other features they may notice.

Display the following sentence frame: Plant … is (unhealthy/healthy) because …

If you have plants in your school grounds, take children outside and ask them to find an example of a healthy plant and an unhealthy plant. Using the sentence frame above, ask children to describe why they think their chosen plant is healthy or unhealthy.

Ask children if they can remember the names of any plants. (For example, in Year 2 Module 3 children learnt about plants that grow from seeds, such as tomato plants, oak trees and sunflowers, and about plants that grow from bulbs, such as onions, tulips and daffodils.)

Adaptations and support

Provide a list of key vocabulary to support children in describing why their chosen plant is healthy/unhealthy.

Take it further

Some children could prepare a guide for gardeners: How to spot an unhealthy plant.

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Every lesson is built around a question - often a science enquiry question. In the lesson, children are taught new knowledge to enable them to answer that question.

language

key Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary lists taught explicitly..

Guidance for how to provide extra support or challenge as appropriate

”We love the fact that Snap Science supports and enhances our practical, hands-on approach to science teaching.”

Christine Holmes, Science Leader, Beverley St Nicholas Primary School

Remind the children of the lesson question: ‘How can we care for our plants?’ and remind them that they will be considering the answer to this question throughout the whole module.

Reflect and review

Give children the opportunity to describe to their peers the key vocabulary from this lesson. They should be able to explain the difference between seeds, seedlings and mature plants and between germination and mature plant growth.

Ask children to tell you how they know whether a plant is healthy or unhealthy.

Answers

All seeds and bulbs need water to start germination. Most seeds and bulbs do not need light to germinate; they are usually found under the soil, where it is dark.

Getting started:

Trees are plants because they have roots, stems and leaves, and most have flowers.

Humans keep healthy through their food choices, personal hygiene and physical activity. This is different from what plants need to be healthy.

The task:

Symptoms of an unhealthy plant may include: discolouration (such as leaves and stems turning yellow, brown or black); stems and leaves wilting/drooping/shrivelling; fungus/bacteria growing in the soil.

Homework suggestions

Children could identify mature plants that look unhealthy at home, in a park, or on the way to school.

Assessment and evidence of learning

Children can:

● recall that seeds and bulbs need water, but not light, to germinate

● state that seeds germinate into seedlings

● identify whether a mature plant is healthy or unhealthy by making reference to its colour and whether or not the stems and leaves have wilted or shrivelled.

● state that seedlings grow into mature plants

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Every lesson ends with a ‘reflect and review’ activity where children can consolidate and summarise their learning, reflecting on new knowledge gained and skills used.

Context specific descriptors are provided to assess children’s learning in the lesson.

Slideshows are fully downloadable.

”The animations, videos and slideshows are excellent.”

Sonia Wenberg Moller, Teacher, Kingscourt School

DISCOVER SNAP SCIENCE

Snap Science is the UK’s No.1 science programme, and recent updates to the 2nd edition mean that it’s now better than ever!

The programme is shaped by an informed understanding of the purpose and value of primary science, aiming for every child to engage with a coherent progression of the scientific skills and concepts specified in the National Curriculum.

. A coherent and connected curriculum is broken down into clear steps, with a focus on acquiring and applying essential knowledge and skills

. Clearly mapped progression ensures that conceptual and disciplinary knowledge build through the primary years.

. It is explicit about what children need to know and remember at each stage to ensure secure progression in their science learning.

. Clear, editable lesson plans allow you to deliver content effectively tailored to the needs of your class.

. Packed with practical activities, using a range of high-quality resources to ensure every lesson is rich, lively, and engaging.

MEET THE EXPERTS

SERIES EDITOR: JANE TURNER

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, BA (HONS), PGCE, MED, CSCITEACH

Jane has taught in primary schools in Hertfordshire and London. She is the director of the Primary Science Quality Mark, based at the University of Hertfordshire, is immediate past chair of the Associate of Science Education, and has been a consultant to the DfE, BBC, EEF, Wellcome Trust, Learned Societies and industry on primary science assessment and curriculum.

Jane’s team of Snap Science 2nd edition authors, Nicola Beverley, Naomi Hiscock, Liz Lawrence, Bryony Turford, Claire Seeley, David Allen, Jules Pottle and Dr Alex Sinclair are all highly experienced teachers, lecturers, curriculum designers, consultants and authors who are well known and respected in the primary science education sector.

”I’m really thrilled for what it has done right the way across the school.”

Alison Richards, Head Teacher, Hertingfordbury Cowper Primary School

WHAT’S NEW

ACCESS CLEAR PROGRESSION –lessons build on previous learning and each lesson is clear on what pupils will learn. Clear guidance is provided for teachers to identify whether learning intentions have been met with further guidance on making summative judgements against National Curriculum expectations. Snap Science also includes expertly planned explicit teaching of vocabulary to support substantive and disciplinary knowledge acquisition.

ENSURE FULL CURRICULUM COVERAGE IN A MANAGEABLE NUMBER OF LESSONS

– easier timetabling with 6 modules per year planned so that the science is taught regularly and logically, with each National Curriculum statement broken into a series of steps.

ENSURE ALL PUPILS CAN SEE THEMSELVES REFLECTED IN SCIENCE

LESSONS – all lessons and activities have been reviewed with representation and inclusion at the forefront.

REVIEW, TRACK AND RECORD EVERY CHILD’S PROGRESS with formative assessment built into every lesson, clear guidance for making summative assessment judgments at the end of each module, and a straightforward system for tracking children’s progress.

IMPROVE ALL TEACHERS’ CONFIDENCE TO TEACH SCIENCE when planning lessons with accessible, teacher subject knowledge in every module and CPD for subject leaders to use to share current research, ensuring a consistent approach to science teaching and learning across the whole school.

Snap Science offers a considered response to Ofsted’s recommendations in the Research Review Series (2022) and Subject Report (2023). High-quality practical science is at the heart of the programme. Progression in both disciplinary and substantive knowledge is planned for and assessed. Snap Science supports teachers to instil a belief in children that science is for everyone with opportunities throughout for pupils to develop their science capital.

TEACH SCIENCE THAT’S RELEVANT FOR TODAY’S PUPILS with sustainability and environmentalism integrated throughout. Recent scientific developments and current scientists are also featured.

”Supports teachers who are not science specialists, as well as stretching those who are very comfortable with their knowledge.”

Kulvinder Kaur Johal, Assistant Head Teacher and Fellow of the Primary Science Teaching Trust

Download a response on the implications for primary science from the Ofsted Finding the Optimum report.

EFFECTIVE ASSESSMENT

Developed with in-depth formative and summative assessment at its core, Snap Science offers simple, yet robust tools for judging and recording whether a child is meeting National Curriculum expectations. Engaging formative assessment opportunities are built into every lesson plan, along with guidance to enable teachers to use what a child has said, written, made, or drawn in a lesson to confidently assess their learning. For every National Curriculum Statement, a Snapshot assessment activity will help you to check children’s understanding and develop their learning.

Snapshot assessments are short, fun activities that a teacher or other adult can use with a child or small group of children. Each Snapshot has four elements:

1. The activity resources (images, cards, etc. that adults will need to prepare).

2. Instruction for the adult leading the activity.

3. Questions for adults to use to check and probe understanding.

4. Guidance for adults to assess that a child has achieved the National Curriculum statement.

SNAP SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Snap Science Foundation has been created for practitioners in EYFS settings to support them to develop young children’s scientific knowledge and skills through exploration of the world around them.

Snap Science Foundation contains 24 flexible activity plans. Each activity plan is accompanied by a slideshow of a short fictional story based on meaningful scientific context that leads to a problem or question for pupils to answer. Downloadable resource sheets and photo banks are also available for each plan. It enables you to organise a stimulating and challenging programme of science activities that will lay the foundation for children’s future learning in science.

”It’s one of the only frameworks we’ve ever seen that understands and plans for Early Years!”

Natasha Clemitshaw, Canon Popham Primary School

YOU CAN TRY SNAP SCIENCE WITH YOUR CLASS FOR FREE!

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