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Key Stage 3 Science

As learning becomes more in-depth all manner of complicated vocabulary will be introduced, such as ‘ciliated epithelial cells'. Your child will be thinking about the positive and negative effects of scientific and technological developments on the environment, taking into account others' views and opinions. Your child will learn about how scientists work together in real settings and about the importance of experimental evidence in supporting scientific ideas

Life and living processes

Cells and cell functions - to relate cells and cell functions to life processes in a variety of organisms.

Humans as organisms - looking at digestion, the role of enzymes and how products are absorbed into the bloodstream.

The human body - the skeleton, joints and antagonistic muscle pairs (for example, biceps and triceps); reproduction and adolescence; the respiratory system, and the effect of alcohol, solvents, and other drug abuse on health.

Green plants and their environment - relate plants to photosynthesis, biomass and oxygen; classification and breeding; and ways to protect living things and the environment.

Materials

Materials - how solids, gases and liquids can be characterised by melting and boiling point and density; how chemical reactions form compounds and how solubility changes with temperature. Children are taught to recognise chemical changes in everyday situations (ripening fruit, cooking food).

Metals - how they react with oxygen, water, acids and oxides of other metals, and what the products of these reactions are.

Physical processes

Electricity and magnetism - series and parallel circuits; how to measure current and voltage; magnetic fields, and that ‘like' magnetic poles repel and ‘unlike' poles attract.

Forces and motion - how to determine speed and that the weight of an object on Earth is the result of the gravitational attraction between its mass and that of the Earth.

Light and sound - how light and sound travels; that white light can be dispersed to give a range of colours; that sound causes the eardrum to vibrate and that people have different audible ranges.

The Earth and beyond - positions of Earth, Sun and Moon and about the use of artificial satellites and probes to observe space.

Energy resources and conservation - the distinction between renewable and nonrenewable resources; between temperature and heat, and how temperature can lead to transfer of energy.

Related articles

Children Learning | Foundation Stage

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Children Learning | Key Stage 2

 

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Get ahead at home

  • Test your child on the labels of their diagrams of plant and animal cells. Ask them what the functions are
  • Talk about the need for a balanced diet. Can they identify any changes that need to be made in their own diet? Obviously, that doesn't mean they'll follow them!
  • Are you a gardener? Do you know anyone who is? They have a wealth of information about the minerals needed for healthy plant growth and are usually very enthusiastic about the subject, too
  • Discuss the selective breeding of fruit and vegetables to suit the consumer market (specific size of carrot, seedless grapes)
  • Note when environmental issues are featured in the news. Use this as an opportunity to consider some of the issues in the light of what your child is learning at school
  • Get cooking! Use any opportunity to point out the chemical reactions that might be occurring, such as cooking eggs, using lemon juice to prevent avocado turning brown, using baking powder to make cake. There's plenty of information on these processes in the Planet Science Diner (at planet-science.com)
  • Check out the website sciencebob.com to learn how to build an electromagnet
  • Discuss with your child examples of where forces are at work. For instance the shape of racing cars, the width of their types and the reasons for it. Can your child explain these in light of what they have learned at school?
  • Introduce your child to the website solarsystem.org.uk/planet10/. First explore the Solar System, and then challenge your child to try their hand at the ‘World Builder' in which they have to design a new planet - launch it, and see whether it can support life, or whether it crashes and burns...
 

Resource tip

Encyclopedia of Science

Dorling Kindersley, £14.99

With this fully updated edition, explore and explain the world around you with the ultimate guide to science and technology. This is the perfect companion for homework or projects, with fully cross-referenced topics in an easy-to-follow layout including cross-sections, charts and maps that bring science to life and help children learn.