Science

“The important thing is to never stop questioning.” Albert Einstein
 
Intent:
 At Newlyn School we seek to foster a love of science, encouraging children to be inquisitive throughout their time at the school and beyond. The Science curriculum promotes a healthy curiosity in children about our universe and promotes respect for the living and non-living. We believe science encompasses the acquisition of knowledge, concepts, skills and positive attitudes.

Pupils will develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics.

Children will develop understanding through opportunities to engage in different types of science enquiries that help them to answer questions about the world around them.

Children are equipped with the scientific skills required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.

Implementation

We use the Rising Stars scheme of work to teach our children science. Rising Stars puts working scientifically at the heart of our curriculum with 6 flexible units for every year, each containing exciting new experiments, investigation and STEAM content.

The curriculum incorporates the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum 2014 and Switched on Science scheme of work to ensure progression of skills and knowledge across the school.

We involve problem solving opportunities that allow children to find out for themselves. Pupils are encouraged to ask their own questions and are given opportunities to use their scientific skills to facilitate discovery. This curiosity is celebrated within the classroom.

The skills of working scientifically are embedded into lessons to ensure these skills are being developed throughout the children’s school career and new vocabulary and challenging concepts are introduced through direct teaching.

Teachers use precise questioning in class to test conceptual knowledge and skills, and assess children regularly to identify those children with gaps in learning, so that all children keep up.

Teachers demonstrate how to use scientific equipment, and students become more proficient in selecting and using equipment; collating and interpreting results; and they become increasingly confident in their growing ability to come to conclusions based on real evidence.

Impact:

There is full coverage of the Science National Curriculum.

Children are provided with engaging experiences and develop skills that prepare them for the future. Knowledge and skills are assessed at the end of each unit to ensure impact of provision.

 

SCIENCE WEEK 2022
To consolidate our Science learning from over the year, we took part in a science week. The children were given a range of opportunities to conduct a variety of investigation. We were also extremely lucky to have birds of prey visit us. The children got a chance to develop their working scientifically skills but most importantly have fun!
Year 5 consolidated their learning about life cycles by visiting the local butterfly farm. 
In Year 4, the children have been looking at food chains. To introduce their learning they dissected an owl pellet. Not having teeth, owls will either eat their prey whole or tear it into large chunks with their sharp beaks. Once swallowed, the food travels down the owl’s oesophagus to the gizzard. Soft parts of the prey are then broken up by enzymes, but the hard bony components and other elements such as hair and feathers remain undigested. These are then ‘regurgitated’ or coughed up, as a pellet, before the owl can eat its next meal. 
 
The children carefully used tweezers to dissect their pellets and use their identification chart to identify the bones they had discovered. We identified skulls of rats, shrews and voles. Take a closer look at our findings in the pictures below. 
In Year 4, they have been learning about the human digestive system. To help them learn the different functions of each organ they made their own model. 
 
First, we used scissors to cut, slice and tear the food. 
 
Next the food was passed through the oesophagus and into the stomach. 
 
Once the food was in the stomach, we added some orange juice to act as the stomach acid and gave it a good squeeze. 
 
After that, we passed the food through the small intestines releasing the nutrients into the bloodstream. 
 
Finally, we released the waste and ended up with poo! 
 
Take a look at how much fun we had below.