Science
Welcome to the science subject page. This page is to help give you an idea of the content your children will learn in science and to also help you support your child when learning from home.
Why is science important?
Children are naturally inquisitive. Here at South Green Junior School, we nurture this curiosity and allow them to ask questions and develop the skills they need to answer those questions. Primary science helps pupils to:
- investigate problems
- learn how science works
- discover why science matters in the world.
How can I support my child in science?
1. Know what your child is learning
Find out their science topics (listed below) and take an interest. There are many relevant books in the library (and e-libraries), bookshops or, during the current climate, articles online. If you need to, do some research and increase your own knowledge about the topic. This will enable you to have some interesting conversations with your child. Below are the units of work that each year group cover. Click on the relevant year group's PDF for more information about what your child will be taught and some key knowledge about these areas.
- Year 3: Plants, Animals including Humans, Rocks, Light, Forces and Magnets.
- Year 4: Living things and their habitats, Animals including humans, States of Matter, Sound, Electricity
- Year 5: Living things and their habitats, Animals including humans, Properties and changes of materials, Earth and Space, Forces
- Year 6: Living things and their habitats, Animals including Humans, Evolution and Inheritance, Light Electricity
Science_Year_3_unit_objectives_and_key_knowledge.pdf
Science_Year_4_unit_objectives_and_key_knowledge_.pdf
Science_Year_5_unit_objectives_and_key_knowledge.pdf
Science_Year_6_unit_objectives_and_key_knowledge.pdf
2. Take a virtual trip
Take a trip to a science museum, a zoo or an aquarium. These don’t necessarily need to be completely related to what your child is learning about at school. Any visit can help their curiosity and engagement with science generally. There are lots of opportunities for virtual experiences online, such as:
The Science Museum virtual tour: https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/virtual-tour-science-museum
Edinburgh and Dublin Zoo with live animal cams: https://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/webcams/panda-cam/#pandacam
https://www.dublinzoo.ie/animals/animal-webcams/
3. Get hands-on
Look online for fun, practical science experiments you can do at home with everyday objects.
For example:
- Ask ‘What happens when you mix food colouring in milk?’ Then add washing up liquid and watch what happens.
- Why not try making your own mini exploding volcano? Just add bicarbonate of soda, food colouring, washing up liquid and vinegar. Then stand back and watch the eruption!
- Cooking is also a great opportunity to mix ingredients, add heat and examine changing states.
- Try exploring changing states with ice and water to begin to see those changes that can be reversed and those that can’t.
- Make ‘gloop’ — use water and cornflour (add food colouring too if needed) to explore solids and liquids. Just a warning, it can get messy!
Anything where your child can be hands-on and see the science happen in front of their eyes is guaranteed to be get them interested.
4. Useful websites to help support your child in science
Click on the useful websites PDF to find a list of websites to help support learning in science. They are split into four categories: Biology, Chemistry, Physics and General Science.
Science Subject Leader: Mrs Fayers