Science

2024 SEMESTER ONE CURRICULUM

Foundation

Foundation students learned about day and night, and the seasons and how these change. They discussed how seasonal changes affect their daily lives, including behaviour such as dressing for different weather conditions. Students explored the way objects move and the factors that affect movement, such as size, shape, push and pull.

YEAR 1

Year 1 students were immersed in a range of topics to introduce them to different areas of science, including dinosaurs, the water cycle, the solar system, colour and light and rocks and minerals. They took part in a range of hands-on activities and experiments. Students were encouraged to use scientific thinking and critical thinking skills to answer questions and develop their knowledge.

YEAR 2

Year 2 students identified mixtures in their everyday lives and investigated how people from different professions might use these. They examined similarities and differences between mixtures, and explained their ideas about how materials can be mixed together for different purposes. They learned about materials that do not mix well and others that are difficult to separate. Students explored how changing the quantities of materials in a mixture can alter their property and use. They measured ingredients accurately, followed procedures and made observational notes, including labelled diagrams.

YEAR 3

Year 3 students explored their understanding of sizes, shapes and positions of the Sun, Earth and Moon. They investigated the movement of the Earth in relation to the Sun and the Moon in relation to the Earth. Students explained night and day in terms of the Earth spinning on its axis. They discussed the effect the rotation and revolution of these celestial bodies have on us, such as day and night, seasons, tides, eclipses and time. They role-played and designed and constructed models to display their understanding of concepts.

YEAR 4
Year 4 students gained an understanding about the features of living things, and investigated the growth and change of reproduction within three different life cycles of animals. They examined the basic needs and specific roles of animals in a habitat. Students explored the interdependence of living things through their understanding of food chains and food webs. They considered that different species often inhabit the same spaces and share or compete for the same resources. Students looked at how animals interact in a variety of ways that can be mutually beneficial or detrimental to several species.
 
YEAR 5
Year 5 students gained an understanding about the states of matter, including solids, liquids and gases, through hands-on experiments, and investigated their different properties. They examined some non-Newtonian fluids and observed their unique properties. Students learned that the change of state or form is brought about with a change in temperature and/or pressure. They investigated melting, freezing, evaporating, condensing and dissolving, and identified these as a physical change. Students explored burning and chemical reactions in everyday materials and identified these as a chemical change.
 
YEAR 6

Year 6 students gained an understanding of energy, its' forms and how it is never lost, but  transferred and transformed. Through hands-on activities they examined how energy can be transferred from a battery to light bulbs, motors and buzzers and then transformed into light, movement or sound. Students gained an understanding about how to construct different types of circuits and switches. They explored the features of batteries, lights (such as incandescent and LED) and a solar cell. Students designed and constructed their own working model using electrical energy. Through independent research, they understood that scientific explanations develop historically through the contribution of ideas from many scientists.

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

Glendal Primary School