Throckley Primary School Science Overview Early Years
Autumn
Children experience art and design through EY Curriculum ‘World’ strand: ‘Understanding the World. Use all their senses in hands-on exploration of natural materials. Explore collections of natural & human-made materials with similar and/or different properties. Talk about the differences between materials, and changes they notice: cooking & melting, changing state, sinking or floating, letting or preventing light passing.
Spring
Explore how things work via cogs, pulleys & toys. Explore and talk about different forces they can feel (water pushing up on a boat, elastic, magnets).
Year 1
Year 2
Seasonal changes
Use of materials
Light
Living things & their habitats
Living things & their habitats
Living things & their habitats
Observe the seasons change; associated weather; day length
Compare use; rate as effective against function; change of shape
Light & shadow; dark as absence of light
Classification keys Human impact on the environment
Life cycles of animals Sexual & asexual reproduction
Binomial classification
Seasonal change (Y1)
Classification (Y4) Plant life cycle (Y3)
Classification (Y4) Plant life cycle (Y3)
Seasonal changes (Y1)
Plants (Y3)
Living things & their habitats (Y4)
Living things & their habitats (Y5)
Rocks
Electricity
Properties & changes of materials
Animals, including humans
Group/ compare rocks fossil formation
Appliances; series circuits; conductors & insulators
Reversible and irreversible change
Cardiovascular system
Habitats (Living things - Y2)
Uses of materials (Y2)
Materials (KS1) Magnets (Y3) Electricity (Y4)
Digestive system (Y4) Need for exercise (Y2) Muscles (Y3)
States of matter (Y4)
Animals, including humans (Y5)
Daily weather chart (Reception). Wearing coats or sun cream based on weather (EYFS)
Year 3
Everyday materials (Y1) Living things & their habitats
Materials/ objects; name everyday materials; group by property
Living, once living & never alive; habitats provide for needs; simple food chains
Summer
Recognise some environments that are different from the one in which they live (both natural & human made, local & national). Understand the effect of changing seasons on the natural world (noting & recording the weather over the seasons, witnessing the effect on animals and plants).
Year 6
Different textures of materials; features of classroom environment (EYFS)
Identify animals and plants (Y1) Seasonal Change (Y1)
Use of materials (Y2)
Animals, including humans
Animals, including humans
Forces & Magnets
Animals, including humans
Forces
Light
Identify common vertebrates; carnivores, herbivores and omnivores; structure of animals; link human body parts to senses
Offspring grow into adults; basic needs of animals: nutrition, hygiene, exercise; oxygen
Objects & surfaces magnetic poles & attraction
Digestive system; teeth food chains
Gravity; mechanisms Air & water resistance
Properties of light
Materials (KS1)
Human nutrition (Y3) Parts of the body (Y1)
Forces act between objects & surfaces (Y3)
Names of common animals (EYFS); life cycle of a butterfly (Reception)
Describe animals (Y1) herbivores, carnivores, omnivores (Y1)
Living things & their habitats (Y2) Plants
Animals, including humans (Y3)
Electricity (Y4)
Sound
Earth & space
Function of plant parts; water transportation; needs & pollination
Formation of sound Volume & pitch
Movement of the Earth, Sun & Moon. Night & Day; Moon phases.
Linking parts of the body to senses (Y1)
Seasonal change (Y1) Light (Y3)
Light (Y3)
Sound (Y4)
Weather and seasons (Y1)
Forces & Magnets (Y3)
Light & shadow (Y4)
Earth & Space (Y5)
Animals, including humans (Y1)
Plant seeds and care for growing bulbs to observe growth and decay. Understand the key features of the life cycle of an animal, nurturing caterpillars while they metamorphosise.
Year 5
Food chains (Y4)
Objects, materials & properties (Y1)
Everyday materials
Year 4
Bulbs/germination (Y2) Plant structure (Y1)
Working scientifically investigations Assessment & consolidation of prior knowledge.
Plants (Y2) Plants
Plants
Animals, including humans
States of matter
Animals, including humans
Evolution & Inheritance
Identify and name plants; different trees structure of plants
Seeds & bulbs; germination and survival needs
Animal nutrition; skeleton & muscles
Classify solids, liquids & gases. Ordering change. Water cycle.
Ageing in humans Adolescence, puberty & menstruation
Conceptualising evolution via adaptation
Names of common plants; planting a seed (EYFS)
Different trees (Y1) Plant structure (Y1)
Human nutrition (Y3) Parts of the body (Y1)
Everyday materials (Y1) Use of materials (Y2)
Human body (Y1) Human offspring (Y2)
Living things change over time (Y4) Fossils (Y3)
Rocks (Y3)
Animals, including humans (Y4)
Plants (Y1) Weather and seasons (Y1)
Animals, including humans (Y2)
Forces (Y5) Electricity
Working scientifically investigations Assessment & consolidation of prior knowledge.
Linking component output to voltage Electricity (Y4) Properties & changes of materials (Y5)