Being Scientists at S.M.I.T.H
We have many enthusiastic scientists at St Michaels, and we want to take every opportunity to help our children understand how important science is for everyone and to make links to the science behind everyday objects and activities.
We use the Science Bug scheme of work as the backbone of our science teaching. This enables us to allocate science resources to children’s activelearnprimary accounts. We also add other investigations and experiments so we can suit our teaching to our learners’ needs and next steps. We are very lucky to have ‘Barry’s Back Garden’ our wild garden that enables us to investigate living things and their habitats without leaving the school site. We also take part in British Science Week.
Science policy document can be found on the School Policies page.
Primary_National_Curriculum_-_Science
What is taught when? The St Michael’s 2022 – 2023 science overview
Science Subject Overview 2022 2023
British Science Week is always a highlight for our whole school community. Have a look at some of the things we got up to:
British Science Week 2023 padlet
https://padlet.com/mmclain13/BSW2022
We also had our biggest and best Great Science Share in June. Across the whole school, we focused on flight and made gliders.
The children also had some great questions of their own, and some even researched and answered them at home.
Raising our Science Capital
Another way we raise the profile of STEM subjects is by engaging with STEM Ambassadors. We are especially delighted as two of the visiting ambassadors are our parents. Evidence shows that engaging with STEM Ambassadors can help young people to achieve their full potential in STEM subjects as well as inspiring them to explore STEM careers. It also helps teachers make links between the curriculum and the most up-to-date real world happenings, and means we have access to some wonderful resources. Other parents have made videos showing us what their job entails, to help all our children see that science is relevant to them and their world, and to consider the huge range of STEM careers they might pursue in their futures.
Here are some photos of palaeobiologist Dr Carlo Meloro’s visit. He explained how fossils are formed. He brought fossils and bones for our children to observe and group. He told us what can be learnt about life long ago by studying the fossil structure. Did you know that the shape of a fossil can show how fast it moved, or whether it lived in deep or shallow water, or in a burrow?
We also try to hold family STEM challenges, where different generations can work together to solve a problem by applying science and designing and then testing their solution.
Here are some photos from our latest Family Science event. We were inspired by ‘Saint of the Slums’ Kitty Wilkinson and investigated hand washing. We also found out about different types of investigation and how measuring skills progress, when finding out which biscuits last longest when dunked.
And, as part of our PTFA Easter event, we had an egg flinging competition. All the chocolate eggs survived their journeys unbroken, and made tasty prizes.
We have started out STEM club again, working towards CREST star awards, and helping our Y2 children get to know the junior building.
https://www.allaboutstem.co.uk/stemnet/
This is how we build our procedural knowledge of how we ‘do’ science, our Working Scientifically skills:
PLAN Progression in working scientifically skills FV
This is how we build on our scientific knowledge as we progress from nursery all the way to Year 6:
PLAN Progression in Vocabulary FV (1)
Mapping the EYFS curriculum to KS1 Science
We are delighted that our school has been chosen to be one of the judging panels for the Royal Society’s Young People’s Book Prize 2022. This means that we have received this selection of new books to read, talk about and vote on. Our opinions and votes will be combined with those of other schools and children’s groups to find the overall winner.
We have read, discussed and evaluated the books, and our winner is …
We thought this book has just the right mix of disgusting and interesting. It contains lots of ideas about ways we can help protect and save our planet.
Getting busy…
Summer 2
Year 4 were challenged to light a bulb. This made great links with their D and T project.
Summer 1
Nursery
Reception
Year 1 went on a materials hunt, inside and outside. They are learning the difference between the object and the material it is made from.
Year 2 are learning about plants.
Year 3 are learning about plants. They know that roots absorb water and nutrients from the soil. They were surprised how hard they had to pull to get roots out of the soil. Roots do a really good job of anchoring the plant in the ground.
Year 4 looked at habitats and created food chains.
Year 5 started their topic on Different types of change by making plastic using milk. This is a chemical change, something new is formed and the change cannot be reversed.
Year 6 learnt more about circuits and electricity.
Photos from Spring 2
Nursery made the most of a snow day, exploring outside:
Reception children organised their own egg drop trials, off the climbing frame.
Year 2 children enjoyed investigating the properties of everyday materials, especially the twistiness of latex balloons.
Year 3 children found out what our skeleton does for us, and looked for patterns in body sizes. Can the people with the longest legs jump highest?
Year 5 children investigated dissolving and making solutions, and how to recover the solute from the solvent.
Year 6 children dissected a heart, to see the four chambers, and showed their work to our chair of governors.
Photos from Spring 1
To start their animal topic, Year 1 found out which was their favourite pet, and recorded the results in a block graph.
Year 2 children tested different materials to find out which was the strongest.
Year 3 children investigated the physical properties of rocks. They were amazed to see that pumice floats.
Year 4 children enjoyed their explorations of making and changing sounds.
Year 5 learnt more about the uses of different materials, and how to describe them using the correct scientific terms.
Year 6 learnt about the work of Charles Darwin, when learning about evolution and inheritance.
Photos from Autumn 2
Nursery children explored the building materials used by the three little pigs.
Reception children used the sub-zero temperatures to help them make sun catchers, freezing lots of found objects in the ice.
Year 1 have been monitoring the weather. They will continue to do so throughout the year, to learn about seasonal change.
Year 2 children learn about microhabitats. Then they used ‘Barry’s Back Garden’ our wild garden to investigate what was living in different microhabitats there. We are so lucky to have this resource.
Hive children have been busy learning how to look after their teeth.
Year 3 investigated patterns in shadow formation. How could they change the size of the shadow?
Year 4 used their own bodies to model the arrangement of particles in solids, liquids and gases.
Year 5 had to take air resistance into account when designing and testing parachutes
Year 6 children planned and carried out an investigation to find the best and worst conditions for growing micro-organisms.
Photos from Autumn 1
Nursery have been exploring the Wild Garden.
Reception have been making and testing boats. They loved it when the boats sank, shouting ‘Ship-wreck!’
Year 1 have been busy sorting different objects, thinking about the material each is made from.
Y2 have been sorting models of living and non-living things.
Then they learnt more about the difference between a living baby and a never lived doll, when Mrs O’Neille brought her baby to visit.
Our Hive children loved making and launching rockets.
Year 3 started their forces topic with a Bang, testing Stomp Rockets and drawing diagrams to show how they work.
Then they investigated how far a marble moved on different surfaces.
Year 4 enjoyed modelling what they already know about the digestive system at the start of their new topic. Then they set up their own investigations about teeth!
Year 5 were amazed to see the relative sizes and positions of the planets in our Solar System.
Year 6 have been showing what they already know about light.
Then they investigated shadow formation.
