KS3 Science
The KS3 Science curriculum is structured into biology, chemistry, and physics units, with working scientifically skills taught in context throughout. Units within a given year can be sequenced flexibly, but there is an assumption in the creation of the units that knowledge in any given year is building on units from previous years (i.e., that units in year 8 are planned with the assumption that units in year 7 have been taught).
Pupils acquire speaking, listening, literacy and numeracy skills in Science in the following ways:
Speaking: Students are encouraged in all topics to express themselves and their opinions about the wider impact of science. Opportunities will be provided to develop debating and discussion skills about the moral and ethical issues raised in certain scientific practices. Instructional language will be practiced, ensuring students can explain a clear methodology and good questioning skills will be obtained through generating hypotheses to be investigated.
Listening: Students will listen to instructions given in different ways (directly from the teacher, via a video, with and without visual cues) and will be required to put the instructions in action by following the correct sequence. The task could be to sequence a set of images, write a list for a method or carry out an experiment following the instructions given. The importance of safety in science will be highlighted and linked to the importance of listening. There will be a requirement for students to repeat back certain instructions before embarking on investigations. Teacher/student conversations will be an essential part of all lessons with the student demonstrating listening skills in order to respond. Questioning will be part of all lessons; the teacher asking the student questions throughout and providing time for the student to process what has been asked and formulating a response. The student should also be encouraged to ask questions and focus on the answers given to further their learning.
Literacy: Reading scientific texts is a specific skill that will be taught throughout the science units. A variety of texts will be selected that can be explored and accessed through the teacher modelling the reading and through shared reading taking place in sessions. Active reading skills such as continuous reading, close reading, skimming and scanning will be developed and practised and the texts selected will be challenging and purposeful. There will be a focus on the use and understanding of scientific vocabulary to aid comprehension of these texts and to use it during lesson dialogue and discussion as well as written tasks. When writing in science, how to structure and organise texts will be modelled by the teacher and key vocabulary will have been discussed so that the student can use it confidently.
Numeracy: Numeracy skills will be acquired in all three areas of science, mainly through scientific experiments which will involve data collection and analysis in order to draw conclusions and answer a hypothesis. Accurate measurements will also be a key skill to be developed in science so that data collected and experiments conducted are as precise as possible. Reading a range of scales will be necessary and interpreting graphs and other data collection formats will be done on a regular basis. Using microscopes requires knowledge of scale conversions and calculations to work out magnification and work involving chemical equations also require a solid algebraic understanding.
Year 7
Term 1 (Autumn)
Particles: Solids, liquids and gases, diffusion, changes of State, investigating changes of state.
Cells, tissues and organs: Microscopes, unicellular organisms, diffusion, plant cells, plants as organisms, animal cells, specialised cells, animals as organisms, digestive system, respiratory system, inhaled and exhaled air.
Energy: Energy stores and transfers, efficiency, conduction, convection, radiation, insulation, power and energy, energy in the home, energy in food, renewable and non-renewable energy resources.
Term 2 (Spring)
Reproduction: Human reproductive system, fertilisation, gestation, birth, puberty and the menstrual cycle, plant reproduction, seed formation and dispersal.
The Solar System and beyond: Gravity, weight and mass, luminous and non-luminous objects, components, Universe, day month and year, seasons, beyond the Solar System.
Solutions and separating techniques: Gas pressure, solutions, pure and impure substances, separating mixtures, rock salt, distillation, chromatography, solubility.
Term 3 (Summer)
Acids, Alkalis and chemical reactions: Indicators, oxidation, acids and alkalis, pH scale, metals and acids, neutralisation, simple titrations, antacid investigation.
Variation and classification: Variation, human variation, why variation is important, reproduction, classifying living organisms, adaptation, natural selection.
Electricity and magnetism: Circuits, potential difference, current, resistance, static electricity, magnetic fields and force, electromagnets, electric motors.
Year 8
Term 1 (Autumn)
Atoms and the periodic table: Elements, atoms, The Periodic Table, metals and non-metals, compounds, chemical formulae, conservation of mass, Group 1, 7 and 0.
Digestion and nutrition: Healthy and unhealthy diet, energy release, carbohydrates, protein and fats, the digestive system, the small intestine, enzymes.
Skeletal system: Structure and function of skeletal system, structure and function of muscular system, biomechanics, damage and repair.
Forces and motion: Representing and resultant forces, gravity, weight, Avicenna and the story of inertia, pressure, calculating speed using an equation, distance: time graphs, calculating speed.
Term 2 (Spring)
Respiration: The respiratory system, aerobic respiration, breathing, effects of exercise on respiration, smoking, anaerobic respiration, intensity of exercise on breathing rate.
Plants and photosynthesis: Plant roots, photosynthesis, uses of glucose, the leaf, transport in plants, plants & the atmosphere, plants as food.
Waves – light: Light waves, electrical and chemical effects of light, reflection, reflected images, refraction, vision, colour, filters.
Term 3 (Summer)
Rocks: The Earth, rocks, fossils, crude oil, the atmosphere, carbon cycle, the greenhouse effect, climate change, material, recycling, mining and quarrying.
Ecological, environmental and feeding relationships: Environmental influences on the animals and plants found in an area, feeding relationships, adaptations, food chains and webs, decay, random sampling, estimating populations.
Waves – sound: Echoes and superposition, pitch and frequency, amplitude and volume, speed of sound, the ear, hearing ranges and ultrasound, sound devices.
Year 9
Term 1 (Autumn)
Reactivity: Electron configuration, ions, chemical formulae, symbol equations, acids and metal oxides, salt, acids and metal carbonates, neutralisation, method writing, hazard and risk, reactivity series, metal ores, displacement, alloys.
Forces in action: Levers and pivots, moments and balance, work done, simple machines, investigating elastic objects, Hooke’s Law.
Investigation scientific questions: Plan investigations for a variety of hypotheses.
Term 2 (Spring)
Energy: Energy values in food, power ratings, fossil fuels, energy changes and transfers, heating and cooling, changes in energy.
Energetics and rates: What is a rate, reaction rate graphs, secondary data, concentration, surface area, catalysts, exothermic and endothermic reactions, combustion, thermal decomposition.
Term 3 (Summer)
Inheritance and selection: DNA, create a model, case study of an influential scientist (Franklin, Crick, Watson), inherited characteristics, inheritance, new breeds, cloning, ethical considerations.
Health: Fitness, factors affecting health, food groups, digestive system, balanced diet, micro-organisms, alcohol, respiration.
Matter: Particle theory, change of state, density, diffusion, pressure in liquids, hydraulics, floating and sinking, atmospheric pressure.