At Valley Gardens, we aim to inspire pupils to become inquisitive, confident and problem-solving scientists. Our bespoke curriculum from year 5 to year 8, aims to allow pupils to develop and deepen their understanding of key scientific concepts in upper key stage two and key stage three of the national curriculum for science.ย Through our teaching, we aim to prepare pupils well to achieve success at GCSE and beyond: to pursue careers in STEM, foster a life-long interest in science and fully develop their science capital. Incorporating a rich mixture of scientific disciplines, we aim to deliver relevant and challenging content that fully embeds working scientifically skills through an investigative approach to learning.
Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, pupils should be encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. They should be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.
What does science at Valley Gardens look like?
Our pupils enjoy being challenged and learning science in a variety of ways including investigative work. They thrive on work that is challenging but achievable. They enjoy experimenting and learn science best through experiential activities. In Key Stage 2, pupils have two lessons per week and KS3 have three lessons. We plan engaging lessons with a focus on practical tasks, group work, discussion and investigation.
We develop pupils’ progression in working scientifically skills throughout their four years at Valley Gardens building ever increasing challenge. Key concepts and content from the science curriculum for upper KS2 and most of KS3 are taught at are delivered at age appropriate times across the 4 years at VGMS without restricting to key stage. During lessons, we explore scientific concepts using a range of learning experiences and embed pupils’ knowledge using a variety of retention strategies including knowledge organisers, quick quizzes andย frequent progress checks. Pupil progress in both knowledge and understanding of the content and their skills development is monitored and recorded using target tracker and personal pupil progress sheets. Pupils are supported in their learning to allow all pupils to access the curriculum at an appropriate level of challenge.ย
Curriculum Overview
CURRICULUM MAPS
Autumn Life processes: -What are the seven life processes? -What are the organs of the human body and what are their functions? -What nutrients do our bodies need and where can we get them from? -What is the job of the circulatory system and what us it made up of? -How does exercise affect our pulse rates? -How can we make healthy lifestyle choices? -How do our muscles and bones move our bodies? –Space science: -How do the Earth and Moon move in space? -Why does the Moon appear to change shape? -What do we find in the solar system? -How do we get night and day and the seasons? Spring Forces: -What are the different types of force? -How can measure forces? -What are the effects of gravity? -What are the forces involved in floating and sinking? -What are the effects of air resistance? -What are the advantages of using levers, pulleys and gears? Classification: -How can living organisms be classified? -What are vertebrates and invertebrates? -How can vertebrates and invertebrates be classified and and what are their characteristics? -How can keys be used to help to identify organisms? Summer Animal life cycles: How do the the life cycles of the different vertebrate groups compare? How do invertebrate life cycles compare? What are the stages of the human life cycle? Plant Life cycles: -What are the stages in the life cycle of a flowering plant? -What happens in germination?ย -What are the different parts of the flower? -What happens in pollination and fertilisation? -What are the different methods of seed dispersal? Autumn Materials 1: -What are the properties of materials and and how do these link to their uses? -How do materials compare in terms of heat insulation? -What are the properties of the three states of matter? -How does the particle theory explain the properties of solids, liquids and gases? -What are the effects of air pressure? -What happens when materials change state?ย -What are the processes involved in the water cycle? Inheritance and evolution: – What is variation and what causes it? – How are organisms adapted to their habitat? – What is a fossil and how are they useful in developing scientific ideas? – How does adaptation to habitats lead to the survival of the fittest? Spring Materials 2: -What is dissolving? -Which materials are soluble and insoluble? -What factors affect the rate of dissolving? -How can we separate mixtures using evaporation, filtering, distillation and chromatography? -What are reversible and irreversible changes? -What are simple chemical reactions and what happens when materials burn? Summer Current electricity: -How can we simple circuits? -How can we represent components using symbols and use these to draw electrical circuits? -What happens when we change components in a circuit? -What are the characteristics of series and parallel circuits? -How can we model electrical circuits? -How can we measure current and voltage in a circuit? Autumn Acids, alkalis and simple chemical reactions -How can we work safely in the laboratory and what are hazard labels? -How can we safely use the Bunsen burner? -What are the properties of acids and alkalis? -How can we identify acids and alkalis using indicators? -What is the pH scale and why is Universal Indicator useful? -What is neutralisation and how can it be useful? -How can we predict the products of a neutralisation reaction? -How do metals react with acids and what are the products of this type of reaction? -What are the products of the reaction of a carbonate with acid? -What is produced when metals and non metals react with oxygen? -What are the tests for oxygen, hydrogen and carbon dioxide? -What are the products of combustion and how can the fire triangle be useful? Energy.ย – What forms of energy are there and how can they be transformed? – How can energy transformations be represented diagrammatically? – How can we calculate power? – What are renewable and non-renewable resources and how can they be used to generate electricity? -What are the effects of burning fossil fuels on the climate? Spring Heating and cooling: -What is the difference between heat and temperature? -What happens to materials during heating? -How is thermal energy transferred by conduction, convection and radiation? -What are exothermic and endothermic reactions? Light, Sound and waves – How does light travel? – How does light behave when it hits a surface? – What happens to light when it passes through mediums of varying densities? – How do we get colours from light? – What are the properties of transverse and longitudinal waves? -How does sound travel through materials? -What are the relationships between pitch, frequency and wavelength; loudness and amplitude? How do we hear ? Summer Cells and organisation: -What are the functions of the organs of the human body and flowering plants and how are these organised as systems? -What are the tissues made of? -How can use of microscope to look at cells? -What are the functions of the parts of plant and animal cells?ย -How are plant and animal cells adapted to carry out their functions? -What is the structure of some different unicellular organisms? -What is the structure and function of the musculoskeletal system? Reproduction and inheritance: -How do cells divide? -What are the advantages of internal and external fertilisation? -What is the structure of the human male and female reproductive organs? -How does a foetus develop from fertilisation to birth? -How are biological characteristics passed from one generation to the next? -How can individuals be affected by the environment and inheritance? -What is survival of the fittest and how does it affect future generations? -What is extinction and what causes it? Autumn Food and digestion: -What are the nutrients in food and why does the body need them? -How can we test for food nutrients? -What makes a balanced diet and what are the consequences of unbalanced diets? -How can compare the energy in food? -What are the organs of the digestive system and how are they adapted to carry out their functions? What is the role of enzymes and bacteria in digestion?ย Respiration and Photosynthesis: -What are the reactants and products of cellular respiration?ย -What is the structure of the heart and circulatory system and how are the reactants and products of respiration moved around the body? -What is the structure of the lungs and how are they adapted for breathing? -What is anaerobic respiration?ย -What is the process of photosynthesis and how are leaves adapted to do this? Spring -What is the difference between elements, compounds and mixtures? -What is the structure of an atom? -How can we use symbols to represent elements? -How and why is the periodic table organised in the way that it is? -What are the products of reactions with elements and oxygen? -What are the products of reactions of metals with water and acid? -How can use formulae to represent elements and compounds? -What are the features of combustion, thermal decomposition, oxidation and displacement reactions? -How can we make predictions about reactivity from the periodic table and the reactivity series? -How can we obtain metals from their ores? -How can we demonstrate the conservation of mass in a reaction? -How can use particle diagram models to represent what happens in reactions? Summer -What is a force, what are the types of force, what effects can they have and how are they measured? -How can the size and direction of forces be represented in diagrams? – How do pairs of forces act together? -How does friction affects objects? – What is Hookeโs Law? – What is pressure and how can we calculate it? -What are the effects of pressure in a liquid or gas? – Why are levers and pulleys used and how can we calculate turning effects? – What is speed and how can it be calculated? – What do distance time graphs represent? – What is weight, gravity, mass and how are they linked? – What affects gravitational strength & weight?
Follow the Science department on Twitter