Scientists of Sea View

The purpose of studying science.

A high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all pupils should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, pupils should be encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. They should be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.

Aims

The national curriculum for science aims to ensure that all pupils:

• develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics
• develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them
• are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future

Meet Sarah Science.

Sarah is part of our Curriculum Crew who is introduced at the start of each topic and lesson, providing a visual link to lessons and allows our children to focus on the skills needed in the upcoming tasks.

Sarah is featured as part of our Science Pathway Journey - allowing the children to revisit and consolidate prior learning .

NUSTEM 

At Sea View we are lucky enough to be partnered with NUSTEM (Northumbria University Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). Based at Northumbria University, they come into school deliver workshops, provide opportunities for us to speak to real life Scientists and support our delivery of an exciting STEM curriculum.

Click on the link below to see how NUSTEM have supported our learning this year, both in and out of school! 

We use the 5 enquiry types to show our children how science knowledge can be explored. These are: 

Pattern seeking

Researching using secondary resources

Comparative and fair testing

Observation over time 

Identifying and Classifying 

2023-2024

Nursery

NUSTEM family workshop.

We had great fun exploring different materials to find which materials would float or sink. We had to predict if they would float or sink before we put them in the water.

Our parents and grandparents came to listen to the story Who Sank the Boat? By Pamela Allen and help us make a boat to keep the animals dry. 

Reception 

We enjoyed a NUSTEM workshop where we read the story The Not-So-perfect-Penguin and learnt about freezing and melting. We explored cubes of ice and used a pipette with  coloured warm water to try and melt the ice to rescue the penguin. 

Then our grown ups came into school for story time and we had another task of discovering how to rescue snowflakes trapped in ice. It was great fun!

We are learning about the changes in seasons and signs of Autumn. We went on an Autumn walk around the school grounds. We are learning about how the weather changes all the time in Autumn. It is often wet and windy but some days can still be sunny and golden. We enjoyed looking for leaves turning from green to orange, yellow, brown and even red. We learnt that seeds on trees ripen to make a new plant so they fall to the ground. 

Will it sink or float?

In Science, we carried out an investigation to find out whether objects around our classroom would sink or float. We made predictions on whether they would float in the water bowl or sink to the bottom. We then used our observational skills to see what had happened and then discussed our results for each of the objects. 

Year 1

NUSTEM Naval Architect Parent Workshop

Year 1 worked with Mel from NUSTEM and became naval architects. They designed, built and tested their own boats. We then invited parents into school and the children worked with them to experiment how much weight their boats could hold before sinking. 

Seasons - Winter!

We recorded the weather over a 2 week period during winter and presented our results in a weather chart.

Which weather did we see the most? Which weather did we see the least? Why?

Wild in Winter!

As part of our story Wild this term, we discussed the weather in winter and what types of clothes Wild would need to keep her warm in the forest. We chose items for her and explained why these would be the better choices for this season.

Materials and their Properties

We have been sorting objects into their materials and finding out the properties of each material.

We went on a materials hunt around school and recorded how many times we saw different materials. We used our tables to make conclusions.

We concluded that there is more brick, metal and wood outside of school and more paper, plastic and fabric inside of school. We realised that materials for outside need to be strong, often waterproof, and able to stand the weather, whereas inside this is not the case.

Year 2

Animals including Humans

In Science we have been exploring animals and their offspring.  We sorted and catergorised animals by their features and matched them with their offspring.  We looked for patterns between animals that look like their young and those that do not and found most animals that do not look like their offspring give birth to eggs. 

We have also explored what animals and humans need to survive and looked at healthy lifestyles including food groups, hygiene and exercise needs. 

Materials and their Properties

We have been exploring the properties of everyday materials and how these can help us make choices about their uses.   We sorted materials first using our own ideas and sharing them with the class.  We then sorted materials by given properties and found not all materials could be sorted by only 2 given properties.  

Year 3

Year 4

Digestion

We explored the different organs which make up our digestive system and the rules they play in our bodies. We looked at our teeth and discussed the functions of each type of tooth.

This term we are exploring electricity. We sorted and compared a range of different electrical appliances.

We explored making our own electrical circuits by assembling the different components. We made the lightbulb glow! We then looked at ways that we can break the circuit, such as, adding a switch.

Year 5

Balloon Rocket Science.

Whilst studying the effects of air resistance ,we designed our own investigation to identify how we could increase the speed and distance of our balloon rockets. Like true scientists, we had a few failed attempts and needed to refine our designs to be successful in our mission.

Earth and Space.

In Year 5 we have been travelling through our solar system, blasting off into Space.

So far we have designed amazing posters based on scientific research to prove the the earth sun and moon are spherical bodies. Using the theories of ancient and modern scientist have we managed to convince you that the earth, sun and moon are spherical bodies?

We also took a tour and explored the different planets in our solar system.

Year 6

Classifying Organisms 

This term we are exploring ways in which we can classify and group organisms. We have looked at the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates and then looked at the different groups we can use to group animals that have similar characteristics. Take a look at our amazing posters that identifies the key groups we use as well as examples of each... 

Battle of the Beaks

As part of our Evolution and Inheritance topic, we looked at how adaptation may lead to inheritance in our 'Battle of the Beaks' investigation. We identified that certain types of food are suited to different beak shapes, depending on the environment in which the birds live. We now know that if birds are struggling to find a source of food, this can put them at risk of extinction.

2022-2023

Nursery

We have been exploring the changing season and looking for signs of Autumn, closely observing what we have found.

We listened to the story Penguin by Polly Dunbar.

We then looked at where penguins live in the Antarctic.  

We used this stimulus and the really cold weather to explore the properties of ice.

Some of the key questions used were :-

What does the ice feel like (prompts: smooth or rough; soft or hard; wet or dry; heavier or lighter than you thought)?

What does ice turn into when it melts?

Why have we found icy puddles this morning?

Where can you go in the world to find ice and snow all year round?

Reception

Planting a bean

In Science, we have planted our own broad bean in a plant pot. We spoke about the key things that a bean would need to grow and learned that they would need nutrient-rich soil, sunlight and water. Whilst we waited for the beans to start to grow, we looked at the life cycle of the bean and what we will expect to happen. We identified key words such as roots, stem and leaves. We made sure that we placed the plant pots on the window sill so they could get plenty of sunlight and watered them everyday. Soon enough, our beans were starting to grow! We are having a competition to see which one can grow the tallest. We wonder which one it will be...

In Science, we have been learning about the life cycle of a ladybird, linked to our story 'What the Ladybird Heard'. We learnt that a life cycle is different stages of life for living things. We looked at the ladybird life cycle and discovered there are four stages before the life cycle begins again. We cut out the four parts and used our knowledge and understanding to order them starting with the cluster of eggs on a leaf all the way to the pupae becoming fully grown ladybirds. 

We enjoyed carrying out an investigation with the Gingerbread Man by placing him in different puddles. We had to put a Gingerbread Biscuit in different liquids to see how liquid can affect a Gingerbread Man. We used oil, milk, vinegar and juice. We made predictions and then watched the changes.

We have been enjoying using magnets and exploring which objects are magnetic in our classroom. We discovered that if an object has some metal on then it is magnetic. We recognised wood and plastic objects are not magnetic.

Year 1

NUSTEM

We had a visit from NUSTEM. The children took on the role of naval architects and used different materials to create boats that would float in the water. They needed to think about the shape and weight of their creations. The children used weights to see how well their object could float. We loved being naval architects for the morning!

We learned about our 5 senses and used these in an investigation to find the missing Rainbow Fish! We knew the Rainbow Fish had scales that were 10 cubes long, he smelled minty, he felt slimy, he sounded bubbly and he loved the taste of apple so we tested our senses to find the correct clues to lead us to the Rainbow Fish!

We have been learning about the human body. We drew around one of our class members and labelled the parts we could see. We then labelled our own body parts!

Year 2

Waterproof Investigation

We have tested a number of materials to help investigate the most suitable for a roof for the 3 Little Pigs' house.  We built houses using lego and made a roof using a range of materials.  We then poured the same amount of water on each roof to ensure it was fair.  We found that lots of materials were waterproof but not all materials were strong and rigid enough to be a roof.

Materials 

We have been exploring the properties and uses of everyday materials.  We sorted given materials in a range of ways and described how we sorted them.  We looked at outliers and discussed their properties outsides of the classifications we had chosen. 

NUSTEM

As part of our link with Northumbria university we  welcomed Mel into our class to look at carnivorous plants.  We explored the shaped and features of the plants and looked at how they use hair like sensors to trap their prey.  

We used magnifying glasses to make close up observational drawings and even made our own 3D pop up Venus fly trap.

Animals Including Humans

We have enjoyed exploring our scientific topic this half term and began by developing our categorising and sorting skills.  We were given lots of familiar animals and were given time to sort these into groups of our choice.  We explored the ways in which different groups had sorted their animals (such as animals with fur or scales, animals with stripes etc).  Soon we realised each animal had an offspring and matched them into pairs before sorting them into those that looked like their adults and those that did not.

What we found was most animals that do not look like their parents are often born from eggs, such as caterpillars and tadpoles. 

Year 3

Health and nutrition

This week we conducted an experiment to see if there was a link between fat and nutritional values. We tested a variety of foods by crushing them up, adding water and smearing the solution onto tracing paper.  Once the water dried we could see the fats that were left behind from the different foods.

Rocks and fossils

This term we have begun to study rocks and fossils.  The children have been classifying rocks, learning about the characteristics of rocks and their purposes and have been on a hunt to discover rocks in our school environment.

Year 4

This term we are exploring electricity. We have discussed what we already know about electricity, including the different uses of electricity.

We explored making our own electrical circuits by assembling the different components. We made the lightbulb glow! We then looked at ways that we can break the circuit, such as, adding a switch.

Year 5

Forces.

As part of our topic on Forces, James Bond set us a secret mission to explore the effects of friction on different surfaces. As part of our mission we designed our own investigation exploring friction. We then presented our research to Mr Bond to help him be successful in his next mission.

Earth and Space.

In Year 5 this term we are travelling through our solar system, blasting off into Space.

So far we have designed amazing posters based on scientific research to prove the the earth sun and moon are spherical bodies. Using the theories of ancient and modern scientist have we managed to convince you that the earth, sun and moon are spherical bodies?

We have also explored our galaxy and identified all the planets in our solar system. We created diagrams and researched each planet to help us remember the order in which they appear.

We have also designed and created large posters to help us explain Day and Night , using our scientific knowledge.

Year 6

Sugar Investigation 

As part of our Science topic we have been investigating the sugar content in different drinks. We made our predictions before weighing the sugar content in our chosen drinks. It goes without saying that we were rather shocked by some of the results!

The Battle of the Beaks!

As part of our Evolution and Inheritance topic, we looked at how adaptation may lead to inheritance in our 'Battle of the Beaks' investigation. We identified that certain types of food are suited to different beak shapes, depending on the environment in which the birds live. We now know that if birds are struggling to find a source of food, this can put them at risk of extinction.

Nursery

NUSTEM : Mel came to visit us from Northumbria University to talk to us about what scientific jobs we could do in the future. She told us about what a 'glaciologist' does. She read us a story and did some experiments with ice and melting using food colouring and pipettes, so that we could see the effects.

We also made pictures using coloured ice cubes instead of paint.

Reception

We have enjoyed exploring minibeasts this term. We looked at different types of minibeasts and talked about the similarities and differences. We also sorted the minibeasts, such as those with wings and those without, and we sorted them according to how many legs they have. We went outdoors to go on a minibeast hunt! 

We went on an Autumn walk to look at the wonders of nature. The crisp Autumn air, colourful crunchy leaves observing rich reds, warm oranges and bright yellow of the trees around us.

We made Autumn patterns ...

As part of our topic Amazing animals we have been learning to classify animals into groups - those which live on a farm and those that live in the jungle. 

We are looking for signs of Spring.....

We can begin to see a splash of colour after a grey Winter. The weather was milder today and we spotted daffodils, bluebells and catkins on our walk.

Year One

Year Two

Materials and their Properties

We have been exploring everyday materials and their properties in Science.  We used a range of scientific vocabulary to sort materials by properties such as smooth, rough, soft, hard, rigid, flexible, transparent and opaque.  We tried to sort a range of materials as many different ways as we could and explained how we did it to peers each time.

Animals including humans

We categorised animals using properties we could describe; such as fluffy or young.  We then matched animals to their young and did some pattern to seeking to recognise which animals look like their young and which do not.  We discovered that lots of animals that come from eggs do not look like their parents at first and change lots before they are mature.

Year Three

Forces and magnets

This term we are exploring forces and magnets in our Science topic.  The children enjoyed experimenting with different surfaces on the effects of friction.

Year Five

Forces.

We have conducted various investigations exploring the impact of Forces on our everyday lives.MI5 set us a challenge of exploring friction and we used our knowledge levers, cogs and gears to design and make slingshot cars.

Year Six

Animals including Humans

During our topic ‘Animals including Humans’ we looked closely at the functions of the heart and blood, describing the way nutrients and water are transported. We then recognised the impact of diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle on the way our bodies function.

Nutrients and Water in our Blood…

Blood Vessels…

The Heart…