know simple terms such as hard, soft, wet, cold, hot to describe objects, animals and environments
know common features or properties (e.g. when investigating materials, human and animals, plants, sound and light)
can discuss what they notice verbally or with symbols
can observe and identify familiar objects and living things in different circumstances (eg silhouettes,animals, materials)
can explore objects for their properties
can investigate using simple equipment like torches, instruments or mirrors.
can investigate a topic by using their senses
can investigate a topic within a range of environments
Upon completing Step Three pupils:
know how to be safe when using equipment and understand simple safety rules
know some simple scientific vocabulary to describe what is happening
can explore living things, showing respect and care
can use their knowledge to help answer questions on a range of topics e.g. where an animal might live, where sources of light can be found, seasonal changes
have a growing knowledge of the world and can use it to answer questions (e.g. materials, living things, light, sound,)
can show what they think is unfair and fair
Upon completing Step Four pupils:
know some things our bodies need and what harms them
know to be aware of safety (with animals, equipment etc)
know where living things are found and what makes a good home
can communicate findings and ideas through pictorial representation
can observe cycles of life in living things (humans, animals, plants, trees, seeds) and discuss the changes
can make a collection of related objects
can make connections and explain relationships between objects (e.g. magnetic objects, conductors, seed germination)
can observe carefully and notice patterns or regular changes
Upon completing Step Five pupils:
know and can discuss the similarities and differences (e.g. animals/humans/friends/plants)
know and can describe a wide range of living things (e.g. animals (wild/pets/farm), plants
know and can name the features of a wide range of living things (e.g. the face and the main external parts of the body, parts of plants
can ask questions about what they have seen
can match living things to sources of food
can predict what might happen and give reasons for their views (e.g turn on a switch, change the state of water by heating/cooling)
can use what they know to make connections (e.g. relate weather to states of water, predict outcomes of tests using electricity, light sources, sound sources)
can identify danger (e.g. electricity, animals, melting ice, heavy rain/rivers )
can explain change as result of an action
Upon completing Step Six pupils:
know some of the common names (e.g. for different groups of animals: birds, fish, mammals including pets, plants, amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates
can suggest ways to test an idea
can carry out simple scientific tests
can take simple measurements
can make connections between actions and movement
can make connections between actions and change (e.g. heating, cooling
can ask questions – Why does that happen? What will happen if ..? are aware that some changes may be permanent
can compare for a common attribute (e.g. speed, direction, volume, pitch)
can follow safety rules
Upon completing Stage One pupils:
know and can identify a variety of common wild and garden flowers and deciduous and evergreen trees
know and can identify common animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals
know and can identify, name, draw and label the basic parts of the human body and link parts to my senses
know and can identify carnivores, herbivores and omnivores
can identify and describe the basic structure of common flowering plants including trees
can observe changes across the four seasons
can identify and name a variety of everyday materials including; wood, plastic, glass, water and rock
can compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of their simple physical properties
can distinguish between an object and the material of which it is made
can observe and describe the weather associated with the season and how day length varies
can describe some of the physical properties of everyday materials
can compare the structure of a variety of common animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and pets
can perform simple tests
can gather and record data to help them answer question
can observe closely using simple equipment
can use their observations and ideas to answer questions
can ask simple questions and recognise they can be answered in different ways
can identify and classify
Upon completing Stage Two pupils:
know and can identify and describe different habitats and how they provide for the basic needs of different animals and plants and how they depend upon each other
can observe and describe how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants
can find out and describe how plants need water, light and a suitable temperature to grow and stay healthy
can find out how the shapes of solid objects made from some materials can be changed
can identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited
can explore and compare the differences between things that are living and dead and have never been alive
can observe and describe the weather associated with the season and how day length varies
can notice that animals, including humans have offspring which grow into adults
can identify and name different sources of food using the idea of a simple food chain
can identify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including micro-habitats
can describe how animals obtain their food from other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain
can find out the basic needs of animals, including humans, for survival
can perform simple tests
can identify and classify
can gather and record data to help me answer questions
can ask simple questions and recognise they can be answered in different ways
can use my observations and ideas to answer questions
can observe closely using simple equipment
Upon completing Stage Three pupils:
know how fossils are formed
know that some forces need contact, yet magnetic force can act at a distance
know that light reflects from surfaces
know that soils are made from rocks and organic matter
know that sunlight can be dangerous
know how shadows are formed and why they change shape
know that animals including humans eat for nutrition
know the function of a skeleton and muscles
know about the parts of a plant and their job
know that darkness is the absence of light
know that animals including humans cannot make their own food
know the functions of different parts of flowering plants, including pollination
know how different plants fulfil their requirements e.g. for light, nutrients
know how water is transported in plants
know the functions of the different parts of flowering plants
can set up simple practical enquiries, comparative and fair tests know the response of different materials to magnets and identify some magnetic materials
know how things move on different surfaces
know that magnets have 2 poles and can work out whether they will attract or repel
know that magnets can repel or attract and work at a distance
know similarities and differences between objects
can record their findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts and tables
can use results to draw conclusions
can use a range of equipment, including thermometers and data loggers
can report on findings orally / with sign and in writing
can make accurate measurements, where appropriate, using standard units
Upon completing Stage Four pupils:
can explore and use classification keys to help, group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment
know that environments can change and this can sometimes pose dangers to living things
know that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways
know that some materials change state when they are heated, cooled and measure or research the temperature at which it happens
know the part played by evaporation and condensation in the water cycle and associate the rate of evaporation with temperature
know some simple conductors and insulators
know that a switch opens and closes a circuit
know common electrical appliances
know how sounds are made, associating some of them with something vibrating
know that vibrations from sounds travel through something to the ear
know that sounds get fainter at the distance from the sound source increases
know that animals including humans need the right types and amount of nutrition
know that animals, including humans, cannot make their own food, they get nutrition from what they eat
know that humans and some other animals have skeletons and muscles for support, protection and movement.can compare and group materials together, according to whether they are solids, liquids or gases
can find patterns between the pitch of a sound and features of what produced it
can construct a simple electrical circuit, identifying its parts
can compare the requirements of rocks based on their appearance and physical simple properties
can make systematic and careful observations
can ask relevant questions and use different types of scientific enquiry to answer them
can report on findings from enquiries, including oral and written explanations, displays or presentations of results and conclusions
can take accurate measurements, where appropriate, using standard units.can use results to draw simple conclusion, make predictions for new values, suggest improvements and raise further questions
can gather, record, classify and present data in a variety of ways to help in answering questions
can set up simple practical enquiries, comparative and fair tests
can use a range of equipment, including thermometers and data joggers
can record their findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts and tables
Upon completing Stage Five pupils:
know that unsupported objects fall towards the Earth because of the force of gravity
know that some changes result in the formation one materials, and that this kind of change is not usually reversible
can describe the life process of reproduction in some plants and animals
can describe the differences in life cycles of mammals, amphibians, insects and birds
can identify the effects of air resistance, water resistance and friction
can recognise the effects of air resistance, water resistance and friction
can describe the changes as humans develop to old age
can demonstrate that dissolving, mixing and changes of state are reversible changes
can compare and group together everyday materials on the basis of their properties including hardness solubility, transparency, conductivity and response to magnet
can give reasons, based on evidence from comparative and fair tests, for the particular uses of everyday materials including metals, wood and plastic
can use knowledge of solids, liquids, and gases to decide how mixtures might be separated through filtering, sieving and evaporating
can recognise that some materials will dissolve in liquid to form a solution, and describe how to recover a substance form a solution
can describe the Sun, Earth and Moon as approximately spherical
can talk about Earth’s rotation to explain day and night and the apparent movement of the Sun across the sky
can describe how the moon moves in relation to the earth
can describe the movement of the Earth and other planets in our solar system relative to the Sun
can use straightforward scientific evidence to answer questions or to support my findings
can record data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys,tables and bare and line graphs
can report and present findings, including conclusions, casual relationships and explanations of results
can report and present findings in oral / signed and written forms such as displays and other presentations
can identify scientific evidence that has been used to support of refute ideas or arguments
can use test results to make predictions to set up further comparative and fair tests
can plan different types of scientific enquiry to answer questions including recognising and controlling variable where necessary
can take measurements, using a range of scientific equipment with increasing accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings where appropriate
can identify differences, similarities or changes related to simple scientific ideas and processes
Upon completing Stage Six pupils:
know that we see things because of the way light travels
know that living things have changed over time and that fossils provide information about things that lived on the Earth millions of years ago
know that living things produce offspring of the same kind, but normally offspring vary and are not identical to their parents
know the ways in which nutrients and water are transported within animals, including humans
know the main parts of the human circulatory system and describe their functions
know differences, similarities or changes related to simple scientific ideas and processes
know scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or arguments
can give reasons for classifying plants and animals based on specific characteristics
can describe how living things are classified into broad groups according to common observable characteristics and based on similarities and differences, including micro-organisms, plants and animals
can use symbols when drawing a simple circuit in a diagram
can associate the outcome of a circuit with a number and voltage of the cells used
can compare and give reasons for variations in how components function, including the brightness of bulbs, loudness of buzzers and the on / off positions of switches
can use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye
can recognise that light appears to travel in straight lines
can use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain why shadows have the same shape as the objects that cast them
