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Science AT DOWNSHALL KEY STAGE 1 AND 2

Science Image

Subject Leader: Ms Kazmi (KS1) and Ms Sultana (KS2)

Introduction

The Downshall science curriculum aims to foster a lifelong curiosity and appreciation for the natural world, empowering students to become critical thinkers and problem solvers. Our vision is to provide a rich and engaging learning experience that encourages exploration, investigation, and discovery. By nurturing scientific inquiry skills and promoting hands-on experimentation, we aim to equip students with the knowledge and understanding needed to make sense of the world around them. Our ultimate outcome is to inspire a generation of scientifically literate individuals who are capable of contributing positively to society and addressing the challenges of the future with confidence and creativity.

What does it mean to be a Scientist at Downshall?

Being a scientist Downshall means exploring the world through curiosity, observation, and experimentation. It involves asking questions about how things work, making hypotheses, and testing them through simple experiments or investigations. Being a scientist involves activities like conducting simple science experiments, observing nature, learning about the scientific method, and developing critical thinking skills. It's about fostering a love for learning and discovery, encouraging students to think scientifically about the world around them, and nurturing their natural curiosity.

Subject Drivers

  • Children develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding;
  • Children develop understanding of the processes and methods of scientific enquiry that help to answer questions about the world around us;
  • Children develop an understanding of the uses of science in the world today and for the future.

National Curriculum

Please use this link to access the National Curriculum programs of study.

 

 

Our Curriculum Subject Vision Document

Please use this link to access our most up to date Curriculum Subject Vision document.

Please follow this link to access our most up to date Skills and Knowledge progression grid.

Topics Covered EYFS Topics Covered KS1 Topics Covered LKS2 Topics Covered UKS2
  • Understanding the world

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Autumn

  • Everyday materials Y1
  • Human senses Y1
  • Habitats Y2

 

Spring:

  • Seasonal changes Y1
  • Uses of materials Y2
  • Plant survival Y2

 

Summer:

  • Plant parts Y1
  • Animal parts Y1
  • Animal survival Y2

 

 

 

Autumn

  • Skeletal and Muscular systems Y3
  • Digestive system Y4
  • Sound Y4

 

Spring:

  • Forces and magnets Y3
  • States of matter Y4
  • Grouping and classifying Y4

 

Summer:

  • Plant nutrition and reproduction Y3
  • Lights and shadows Y3
  • Electrical circuits and conductors Y4

 

Autumn

  • Forces and mechanism Y5
  • Earth and Space Y5
  • Circulatory system Y6

 

Spring:

  • Human reproduction and aging Y5
  • Electrical circuits and components Y6

 

Summer:

  • Properties and changes of materials Y5
  • Light theory Y6
  • Evolution and inheritance Y6

 

 

British Science Week

This term, Downshall celebrated British Science Week. The theme for this year’s science week was time so all year groups carried out science activities related to time. We launched this year’s Science Week with a visit from a company called the Science Wizards. The scientist Jenny jumped right in with some brilliant Science based experiments.  She engaged and entertained the children with some well-known science-based topics and used experiments to demonstrate the theories behind them. Here’s what some of the children said about the assembly:

‘The most exciting part of the assembly was when the science put water in a cup and tipped it on someone’s head. Surprisingly no water fell out! This was because she put a powder which absorbed all the liquid. I found out this is the same powder used in nappies. I definitely want to go home and try these experiments myself.’ Christian 5S

‘After watching the assembly, I want to be a scientist because it is so cool and fun to do those experiments as your job.’ Hannah 4A

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ENRICHMENTS

Children in Reception explored 'Sneaky Shadows'. Children discussed how shadows were made outside, exploring their own shadows and the shadows of other objects. They also explored how shadows can be made with other sources of light inside, by creating puppets and using torches.

Year 1 completing the 'Changing apples' activity for Science Week. We started by exploring different types of apples and discussing the different, sizes and colours. We then cut the apples into slices and tasted the different apples. "My favourite was the Pink Lady apple. it is so sweet and crunchy" Kiyan 1O said. We then placed the cores into ziplock bags and observed the changes. Over the course of the week, the children were able to see the cores change: "The cores are changing colour. They are turning brown and look old" Miguel 1O said.

In Year 2, children explored the life cycle and metamorphosis of a pond frog through games. The aim was to go through the life stages of a frog before becoming a frogspawn again. The game ended when the first player has completed a life cycle or players can sit out when they become frogspawn and wait for others to finish. Zaynab - 'I really liked pretending to be a frog' Haseeb - 'The frogspawn are the eggs of frogs and they turn into tadpoles.' Maryam - 'I liked turning into a tadpole and then hopping around to be a frog. 

For Science week, Year 3, children explored ‘reaction times.’ The purpose was to see how long it takes someone to respond to a catching a ruler once it as dropped. The children could see that the ruler has been dropped, and how the eyes send a signal to your brain which processes the information and starts a response by sending a signal to your hand and arm muscles, which tells them to catch the ruler. The children were very slow at catching the ruler first, but the more they repeated it they found their response time was quicker. Aaira 3k ‘There is always a slight delay between noticing something and your body reacting to it.’

In year 4, children made their own bubble mixture. I'm not sure why it did not work as the bubbles popped quickly.  We could try adding more sugar to the mixture next time and observe the changes.  (Khadija 4A) The bubbles experiment was so much fun and it was mind blowing to see the bubbles stay intact and stick to the cloth.  Next time, we should try to make larger bubble makers and see if it still works.  (Karun 4B) I predicted that the bubbles wouldn't burst and would stay on the cloth.  I thought this because the sugar takes away some of the chemicals which make the bubbles thin.  Ayaan 4K.

In Year 5, we conducted a few exciting experiments relating to time.

The first experiment was 'Water Clocks', this experiment allowed us to use a timer to measure a volume of water running through a small hole.

The second experiment was 'Pendulum Patterns', this experiment required us to pull a weight at various heights and make links between gravity and the force of friction.

We found that people in ancient times used to use different devices to measure time. Water clocks work by collecting water at a constant flow rate into or out of a marked container. We created out own water clocks which last for 5 minutes. This is so useful because now I can time how quickly I can do different things without a stopwatch! – Yusra 5U

In Year 6, children investigated the temperature and humidity in their classroom.

Abdur Rahim said, ‘To prepare for this Science Week activity, we recorded the morning and afternoon temperatures in our classroom over a week. We also recorded the morning and afternoon humidity in our classroom over the same period.

We then drew two-line graphs based on the data we collected. Two patterns I could see in our data was that morning temperatures always were lower than afternoon temperatures and that humidity was always higher in the morning than in the afternoon.

If we continued to record this data, I predict that the afternoon temperatures will stay higher than the morning temperatures, though both sets of temperatures should increase as we enter spring and summer. I also predict that humidity will increase in the morning as we are exiting winter and moving into spring.’

Sulaiman said, ‘We recorded these two measurements over 2 weeks and then we plotted the data on a line graph. We interpreted the line graph and wrote our observations and conclusions. I noticed that when the temperature increases there is a decrease in humidity. This could be because the warmer temperature causes the water in the atmosphere to evaporate quicker.’

 

Quotes from the Children

“There’s lots of experiments which we can test out and different ingredients you need to make a science experiment” – Manha (5SH).

“I like it because we test out theories and find out if they’re true or false. We find out big ideas linked to topics. We do cool experiments and know what will happen in the future. It tells us what will go through when we grow up” – Samit (6O).

“Science is interactive and we can look at what we’re learning about. We enjoy doing experiments because it’s fun. We enjoy researching different things on laptops. We get to test different things. I get to learn new things every day”- Muhammad-Ibrahim (5S).

Trips

Reception – In connection with the topic of "Understanding the World," the children will visit a park to view minibeasts and flowers.

Year 1 - Children visited the park in Autumn 2 to look at signs of Winter. They completed the trip as a warm-up lesson for the subject of seasonal changes.

Year 2 – Children will participate in a material hunt at the Olympic Park that is related to their study of materials.

Year 3 – Students visited the Natural History Museum to view Mary Anning's pioneering fossils and volcanoes.

Year 4 - In the first week of November 2022, Year 4 visited the Science Museum as a part of their learning on the Digestive System.

Year 5 The children visited the Royal Observatory (Planetarium) to gain more knowledge about the planet and outer space.

Year 6 – The children will be going to the Natural History Museum for their Science Unit; Evolution and Inheritance.

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