Science
At Redlands Primary School, we are passionate about fostering curiosity, creativity, and a deep understanding of the world through science. We follow the Developing Experts science programme, a comprehensive and engaging scheme that provides a well-structured, knowledge-rich curriculum designed to inspire young scientists and deepen their understanding of scientific concepts.
Developing Experts offers a carefully sequenced curriculum that builds on prior knowledge, ensuring pupils make meaningful connections across biology, chemistry, and physics. The programme is designed to develop pupils’ scientific knowledge and working scientifically skills through hands-on investigations, engaging lessons, and real-life contexts. It also introduces pupils to a wide range of STEM careers, helping them to understand how science shapes the world and their future.
We recognise that effective science learning requires regular opportunities to revisit and build on key concepts. Our teaching encourages pupils to ask questions, make predictions, and draw conclusions, while providing them with a strong foundation of scientific vocabulary and knowledge. The programme also includes a variety of interactive tasks and experiments to develop both practical and critical thinking skills.
While the Developing Experts scheme provides a strong framework, our teachers adapt lessons where necessary to meet the needs and interests of our pupils. These adaptations are carefully planned to ensure all learners are challenged and supported, and they are regularly monitored by the subject lead to maintain high standards and consistency.
| Year 6 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Living things and their habitats | Light | Electricity | Looking after the environment | Animals including humans | Evolution and inheritance |
| Classify living organisms |
Explore how light travels |
Describe the parts of an electric circuit | Learn about climate change | Understand the function of the heart and its role in the circulatory system | Understand how offspring vary and are not identical to their parents |
| Understand the kingdoms of life | Explore reflection and explain how it can be used to help us see | Explore voltage and its effect on an electrical circuit | Explore ways to reduce how much rubbish is sent to landfill | Identify and compare blood vessels | Learn about animal adaptations |
| Classify living things using the Linnaean system | Investigate how shadows can change | Apply knowledge to identify and correct problems in a circuit | Explore ways to reduce energy consumption | Explore blood | Learn about plant adaptations |
| Identify the characteristics of different types of microorganisms |
Investigate how we can show why shadows have the same shape as the object that casts them | Investigate what affects the output of a circuit | Explore what happens when fuels are burnt | Learn how the body transports water and nutrients | Explore what we can learn from fossils |
| Investigate asexual reproduction through spore dispersal | Investigate how we see objects | Build a set of traffic lights | Explore the outcomes of COP26 |
Investigate what affects your heart rate | Explore the theory of evolution |
| Classify and describe a living organism | Apply knowledge of conductors and insulators | Compare data associated with the weather |
Learn about the impact of drugs and alcohol on the body | Explore human evolution | |
| Year 5 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forces | Properties of materials | Change of Materials | Earth and Space | Living things and their habitat | Animals, including humans |
| Explore gravity and the life and work of Isaac Newton | Exploring properties of materials | Use evaporation to recover the solute from a solution | Explore the solar system and its planets | Understand the life process of a plant | Identify the key stages of a mammal’s life cycle |
| Examine the connection between air resistance and parachutes | Explore thermal conductors and thermal insulators | Recognise and describe reversible changes | Understand the heliocentric model of the solar system | Understand the life cycles of mammals | Explore the gestation periods of mammals |
| Explore factors which affect an object's ability to resist water | Explore the hardness of materials | Observe chemical reactions and describe how we know new materials are made | Explain the Earth’s movement in space | Compare the life cycles of insects and amphibians | Learn about foetal development |
| Investigate the effects of friction on different surfaces | Discover materials that become soluble in water | Investigate rusting reactions | Explain the Earth’s rotation and night and day | Understand the life cycle of birds and reptiles | Investigate the hand span of different aged children |
| Investigate mechanisms - levers and pulleys |
Investigate the solubility of materials | Investigate burning reactions | Explain the movement of the Moon |
Know about the life and work of Jane Goodall and David Attenborough |
Learn about the changes experienced during puberty |
| Explore how mixtures could be separated by | Design a planet using knowledge gained | Research and present the life cycle of a creature | Describe the changes humans may experience during adulthood and old age | ||
| Year 4 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| States of Matter | Sound | Electricity | Living things and their habitats | Animals including Humans | Living things and their habitats – Conservation |
| Compare and group the 3 states of matter | Identify how sounds are made |
Renewable energy source |
Explore different habitats | Identify the organs in the digestive system |
Describe |
| Explore how particles behave in solids, liquids and gases | Explore how vibrations from sounds travel through a medium to the ear |
Explore electrical appliances and electrical safety | Research a habitat | Describe the functions of the main organs in the digestive system | Understand human impact on the environment through deforestation |
| Investigate melting points | Explore sound insulation | Learn about electrical components in a series circuit | Explore how animals can be classified | Identify the types of human teeth and their functions | Explore air pollution |
| Explore freezing and boiling points | Explore volume and pitch | Investigate electrical circuits | Create a classification key | Investigate the effects of different liquids on the teeth | Understand water pollution |
| Explore evaporation and condensation | Explore sounds from near and from far | Explore conductors and insulators | Adaptations and classification within species | Understand food chains | Explore methods that can be used to conserve water |
| Understand the water cycle | Learn about electrical switches | Explore and classify pond plants | Explore food webs | Understand that humans can have a positive impact on nature |
|
| Investigate how electrical components can change within a circuit | |||||
| Year 3 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocks | Scientific Enquiry | Light Unit | Forces and magnets | Animals, including humans | Plants |
| Explore the formation and properties of igneous rocks | How can a solar oven be made more effective: posing questions and writing predictions | Identify the difference between light sources and non light sources | Explore contact and noncontact forces | Explore the 5 key food groups | Compare the effect of different factors on plant growth |
| Explore the formation and properties of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks | How can a solar oven be made more effective: recording and presenting results | Explore the light that comes from the sun and how to stay safe | Compare how things move on different surfaces | Learn about the nutrition in the food we eat | Identify and describe the functions of different parts of a flowering plant and how they are used in photosynthesis |
| Weathering and the suitability of rocks for different purposes | Cleaning coins: writing a method and carrying out a practical test | Explore materials which are reflective | Explore different types of magnets | Learn about the different types of skeletons | Investigate the way in which water is transported within plants |
| Explore how water contributes to the weathering of rocks | Cleaning coins: writing a conclusion |
Discover how shadows are formed | Explore the properties of magnets and everyday objects that are magnetic | Learn about the human skeleton | Explore the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants |
| Understand how fossils are formed | Making a cake: fair testing, controls and variables | Investigate how shadows change throughout the day | Understand that magnetic forces can act at a distance | Learn about animals and their skeletons | Understand the pollination process and the ways in which seeds are dispersed |
| Explore different types of soil | Making a cake: scientific enquiry | Investigate how you can change the size of a shadow | Explore the everyday uses of magnets | Explore the role of muscles | Compare the effect of different factors on plant growth |
| Year 2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uses of everyday materials | Living things and their habitats | Living Things and their habitats – Habitats from around the world | Animals, including humans 1 - Health & survival | Animals, including humans 2 - Life cycles | Plants |
| Identify different materials and their uses | Explore and compare the differences between things that are living, dead, and things that have never been alive | Learn about habitats | Describe the needs of animals for survival | Order the stages of the human life cycle | Know the difference between seeds and bulbs |
| Understand how to select the right materials to build a bridge | Identify and name a variety of plants and animals in a microhabitat | Appreciate that environments are constantly changing | Describe the needs of humans, for survival | Describe the stages of a human life cycle | Design an experiment to find out what plants need to grow |
| Explore and test the stretchiness of materials | Design a suitable microhabitat where living things could survive | Explore the rainforest and its problems | Explore the importance of eating the right food | Identify the offspring and parent of an animal | Describe what plants need to grow and stay healthy |
| Understand that materials can change their shape by twisting, bending, squashing or stretching | Find out what animals eat to survive in their habitats | Describe life in the ocean | Describe what a healthy, balanced diet looks like | Explore the life cycle of a chicken | Describe the life cycle of a plant |
| Find out about Charles Macintosh and explore how materials are suitable for different purposes | Understand a food chain | Discover the Arctic and Antarctic habitat | Investigate the impact of exercise on our bodies | Describe the life cycle of a butterfly | Observe and record the growth of plants over time |
| Discover which materials change shape when making a road with John McAdam | Understand the journey food makes from the farm to the supermarket | Create a model of a habitat | Investigate the importance of hygiene | Explore the life cycle of a frog | Understand that plants adapt to suit their environment |
| Year 1 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonal changes | Animals, including humans 1 - All about me | Everyday materials - Exploring everyday materials | Everyday materials - Building (based on the Three Little Pigs) | Plants | Animals, including humans 2 - All about animals |
| Understand there are four seasons | Discover the basic parts of the human body | Identify and name a variety of everyday materials |
Build a structure strong enough to withstand wind | Understand that seeds grow into plants | Discover animal families |
| Understand the changes that take place in autumn | Learn about eyes and sight | Distinguish between an object and the material it is made from |
Build a waterproof structure | Identify the basic parts of a plant and tree | Learn about the differences between mammals and birds |
| Understand the changes that take place in winter | Learn about ears and hearing | Describe the properties of everyday materials | Understand the properties of glass and its uses | Understand that different plants can grow in the same environment | Learn about the differences between amphibians, reptiles and fish |
| Understand the changes that take place in spring | Explore the tongue and taste | Identify objects that are natural and those that are manmade | Understand that materials are used to create a variety of furniture | Know the difference between deciduous and evergreen trees | Discover the types of food living things eat |
| Understand the changes that take place in summer | Explore the sense of touch | Predict and identify if an object will float or sink | Explore a variety of fabrics and understand their different properties | Know that fruit trees and vegetables are varieties of plants | Explore the difference between wild animals and pets |
| Investigate how you can measure rainfall | Discover how your nose smells | Explore which materials are best for different objects | Explain the uses of materials and why they are suitable | Record the growth of a plant | Explain the characteristics of an animal |
| EYFS |
|---|
| See: Understanding of the World LTP |