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TEACHING FRAMEWORK Year 3 Series Editor: Jane Turner Series Consultant: Derek Bell Authors: Nicola Beverley, James De Winter, Naomi Hiscock, Liz Lawrence

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Snap Science!

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The best teaching of Primary Science

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The new Programmes of Study for Science

Assessing the new National Curriculum for Primary Science

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Snap Science components

Progressive success criteria for data collection and analysis skills

Success criteria for different approaches to science enquiry

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Progression charts

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Unit overview chart

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Resource matrix

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TEACHING FRAMEWORK

Our changing world

How does your garden grow?

Rock detectives

Can you see me?

The power of forces

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Amazing bodies

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RESOURCE SHEETS

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Our changing world How does your garden grow? Rock detectives Can you see me? The power of forces Amazing bodies

GENERIC ASSETS

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K-L-W grid Table Graph Key Fair test planner

GLOSSARY 315

INTRODUCTION

WELCOME TO SNAP SCIENCE! The publication of the new National Curriculum for Science in Primary Schools in England is a wonderful opportunity for subject leaders and teachers to review all aspects of their science provision, including planning, pedagogy, resourcing and assessment. There are several new topics to get to know, a wider range of science enquiry must be planned for, children will need to spend more time learning science outdoors and assessment will no longer be about ‘levelling’. All these changes are undoubtedly positive, yet they have big implications for busy, dedicated primary teachers. How can you be sure that the transition to the new Programmes of Study for Science for Key Stages One and Two in your school is smooth and stress free and, most importantly, results in enjoyable, challenging and successful science learning for all children? Snap Science has been created by a team of leading experts to give subject leaders and teachers the confidence to develop a new scheme of work for science for their school which clearly meets the aims of the new National Curriculum for Science. It covers all the required knowledge, conceptual understanding and the full range of scientific enquiry types identified in the Programmes of Study. Snap Science is a comprehensive and rich resource that will support best practice in science teaching and teacher assessment, whilst encouraging teacher professionalism and autonomy. It has been written by teachers for teachers with full awareness that every class is different but that teachers share similar concerns: • Am I meeting the requirements of the Programmes of Study? • Is there clear progression in the science learning in my school? • Is the level of challenge right for each child in my science lessons? • Is my subject knowledge secure for all topics? • Is formative assessment built into every lesson? • Am I using the best teaching strategies for this topic? • Are children engaged in productive practical work and meaningful enquiry? • Do children enjoy their science learning? • Are the children in my class making good progress in science? When using Snap Science you can be confident that these concerns are addressed. Snap Science comprises: • An online resource kit with a flexible planning tool, editable lesson plans, integrated assets for every lesson (including videos, animations and slideshows), as well as support for assessing and tracking children’s progress. • A printed Teaching Framework per year group with sequenced lesson plans for each topic in the new Programme of Study. Together these form a tool kit which has been designed to enable and liberate teachers to do what they do best – teach science well! I hope you enjoy using Snap Science. Jane Turner

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THE BEST TEACHING OF PRIMARY SCIENCE Snap Science has been created to reflect current ideas about best practice in primary science teaching and learning. Although a relatively new subject in primary schools in England, becoming statutory only in 1988, science is a well understood area of the Primary Curriculum. There is a wealth of research evidence and good practice data that has informed the design and content of Snap Science. At the heart of the resource are the following principles: 1 A science scheme of work must embody a clear progression. 2 It is through working scientifically that children develop an understanding of the nature and processes of science and the key scientific knowledge and concepts. 3 Children are curious to find answers to questions about the world around them. 4 Children need to be actively involved in their own learning, to be engaged and reflective. 5 Every child should have the opportunity to achieve in every lesson. 6 Assessment is an integral part of teaching that enables children to understand the purpose of their activities and to improve the quality of their work. These principles have shaped the overall design of Snap Science, as well as the content and structure of each lesson. 1 Based on the year by year model of the Programmes of Study, the creators of Snap Science have developed a clear progression framework of the ‘big ideas in science’ which has been used to structure the content both within each topic, from year to year and within each year group and module, and to identify any conceptual gaps. This will ensure that children are continually building on their prior learning as they systematically develop their understanding of key ideas and their scientific skills. 2 The creators of Snap Science recognise that working scientifically, asking questions and testing ideas against evidence, is the most effective way for children to learn about science. Therefore each lesson has a clear science enquiry focus. 3 Every lesson in Snap Science is carefully planned around a question for children to answer, either inside the classroom or outside. By ensuring that these questions spark children’s curiosity and that they want to find out the answer, lessons are purposeful and result in children gaining a new understanding of the world around them. 4 In each lesson in Snap Science the learning intention is designed so that children have a powerful understanding of the skills and understanding they are developing in the lesson. Success criteria define the features of the learning intention in the context of the activity so that children can identify what they are aiming for and how well they are doing. 5 Snap Science has been designed to ensure that all children in a class can access and master the lesson’s learning intention with each lesson offering three levels of differentiated task. These are planned to challenge and extend the learning of all children whilst ensuring that they all achieve the learning intention. 6 Every lesson in Snap Science includes Assessment for Learning strategies which enable teachers to find out what children have learned and to use that information formatively. 7 In response to the wealth of evidence that exists about the benefits of children experiencing the natural world first hand, children learning science outdoors is a key feature of Snap Science. For each year group there is a module called Our Changing World which is designed to be taught in every term, offering children regular opportunities to explore all aspects of their outdoor environment and build up a rich understanding of how it changes over the year.

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The most recent Ofsted report1 into science in primary schools in England outlined three factors which exemplify the best teaching: • It is driven by determined subject leadership that puts scientific enquiry at the heart of science teaching and coupled with substantial expertise in how pupils learn science • It sets out to sustain pupils’ natural curiosity, so that they are eager to learn the subject content as well as develop the necessary investigative skills • It is informed by accurate and timely assessment of how well pupils are developing their understanding of science concepts and their skills in analysis and interpretation so that teaching can respond to and extend pupils’ learning. The creators of Snap Science have considerable and acknowledged expertise in how children in primary schools learn science well. This experience and knowledge has enabled them to design a resource which embodies the best of current pedagogy and practice, and meets Ofsted’s definition of ‘the best teaching’.

SCIENCE ENQUIRY A scheme of work that has science enquiry at its heart requires children to learn to use a variety of approaches to answer relevant scientific questions2. Each module in Snap Science is made up of a carefully planned series of lessons which will engage children in the different types of science enquiry identified in the National Curriculum, where they will use and develop the necessary investigative skills and attributes identified for each Key Stage phase. All lessons are stimulated by a question for children to answer, a scientific phenomenon to investigate or a problem to solve. Science Enquiry is the methodology children will use to develop their conceptual knowledge, working in an authentically scientific and purposeful way to collect evidence to find answers to their questions.

SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE CONFIDENCE Snap Science has been carefully planned to ensure that children use their developing science enquiry skills to build their knowledge of the scientific ideas in a systematic and conceptually appropriate way. Each lesson is designed to explore, value and build on children’s prior knowledge so that misconceptions can be addressed and secure understanding developed. The creators of Snap Science are aware that every primary teacher cannot be an expert in all subjects, and have designed the resource to give teachers subject knowledge confidence. The sequence of science ideas throughout the resource as a whole, and in each module and lesson, is clear and accurate. The introduction to each module provides teachers with a clear explanation of the science they need to understand and in each lesson key information is highlighted at relevant points.

EXPLORE ACTIVITIES Stimulating and maintaining children’s natural curiosity is fundamental to good science teaching and learning. Every lesson in Snap Science starts with an Explore activity to excite children’s curiosity about a scientific phenomenon and provide a focus for their questions and investigations. The Explore activity is also designed as a rich formative assessment opportunity for children to reflect on what they already know, and identify what they need to learn next.

Ofsted 2013 Maintaining Curiosity Goldsworthy, A., Watson, R., Wood-Robinson,V. (2000) Investigations: Developing Understanding Hatfield: Association for Science Education Turner, J., Keogh, B., Naylor, S., Lawrence, L., (2011) It’s Not Fair - Or Is It? Sandbach: Millgate House Publishers and Association for Science Education

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ENQUIRE CHALLENGES Genuine curiosity leads to authentic, purposeful science investigation so each Explore activity is followed by a differentiated Enquire challenge where children will collect and analyse data to answer their questions and so develop their scientific understanding and knowledge. Mostly children’s science investigations will involve them in first hand collection, recording and analysis of data, although sometimes they will use secondary sources of evidence or information to answer questions. In the Enquire challenges children will engage in a wide range of practical activity both indoors and outside, using a variety of observation and measuring equipment including data loggers and digital microscopes, everyday items and materials, natural and living things and electrical components. Comprehensive equipment lists are supplied for every module and lesson to help teachers with planning and ensure that children have as much independence as possible to decide what data to collect to answer their question and how. Snap Science supports children to work both in groups and alone as appropriate.

SUMMARISE, SHARE, REFLECT Good science teaching recognises that children need opportunities to summarise what they have found out, share their findings and reflect on what they have learned. Each Snap Science lesson has a final Reflect and Review activity when children will communicate what they have learned in an appropriate and meaningful way. Being able to summarise understanding is key to developing conceptual knowledge as well as being the vital, final satisfying step in the science enquiry process. Writing, drawing, speaking, using ICT and mathematical formats are all important skills in communicating and presenting science and are all developed in Snap Science. The Reflect and Review part of each lesson also provides an excellent opportunity for children to self and peer assess their achievements in the lesson or module, using the success criteria to guide them. How well have I completed the challenge? What do I know now that I didn’t know at the beginning of the lesson? What have I learnt to do? What can I do better now than I could at the beginning of the lesson? What do I want to find out next? What do I need to do next to improve the skills I used today? As children reflect on their own learning, teachers can also assess the progress that they are making. Each lesson in Snap Science includes guidance for teacher assessment, indicating where teachers will find evidence of achievement of the learning intention and what that achievement may look like, in the things that children say, do, write or draw. Assessment will therefore be on-going and accurate – focusing firmly on progress in conceptual knowledge plus data collection and analysis skills. Assessment will also be formative, supporting teachers and children to identify the next steps in learning, and to keep moving forward.

INTRODUCTION

THE NEW PROGRAMMES OF STUDY FOR SCIENCE In September 2013 the Department for Education published a new Primary National Curriculum including a new Programme of Study for Science. Implementation begins September 2014 with the first sample tests reporting on national standards against the new POS in 2016. What is different about the new National Curriculum for Science? What challenges and opportunities do these changes present to primary teachers? How will Snap Science help teachers to meet them? As with any curriculum it is important to know and understand its aims. It is the aims that explain what the education described should do. In the case of the new National Curriculum for Science the aims are reflective of widely and long held views about the values and purposes of primary science education. The National Curriculum for Science aims to ensure that all children: 1 Develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding – through the specific disciplines of biology, physics and chemistry, 2D evelop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiry that help children to answer scientific questions about the world around them, and 3A re equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future. 1T he Programmes of Study contain a sequence of knowledge and concepts on a year by year basis. Although it is not compulsory for schools to follow this sequence, the blocks of knowledge and concepts have been arranged to ensure progress in the big ideas of science to ensure that children develop secure understanding. Most of the content will be familiar to teachers, but some topics have been broadened and extended, and some are introduced at different times. • The plant and animal biology content is significantly increased for every year group, with much more focus on children getting to know and to classify living things in their local and wider outdoor environment. • A wider range of plant and animal life cycles is included. • Evolution and inheritance is now included at Y6. • Simple digestion in humans is included at Y3. • Seasonal changes is now included at Y1 including day length. .

• Chemistry at Y3 now includes fossils. • States of matter is now in Y4, mixing and changing materials is all in Y5. • There is no chemistry content specified for Y6. • These is no requirement to cover electricity, light and sound, and forces and movement in KS1. • Mechanisms are included at Y6. To enable teachers to confidently plan to teach the new National Curriculum, Snap Science is organised into a series of modules per year group, based on the topics in the new Programmes of Study, and the year groups in which they occur. All the required science content is fully covered to make sure that learning is deep. Each module is made up of a sequence of lessons which has been carefully planned by subject experts to ensure that new ideas are only introduced once

INTRODUCTION

understanding of lower-order content is secure. Although in most lessons children will engage in first hand practical activity, each lesson is also richly supported by additional assets including film clips, images and interactive resources to exemplify and illustrate concepts and ideas. Because the creators of Snap Science know that primary schools are organised in many different ways the interactive planning tool will facilitate flexible whole school planning, whilst still ensuring coherent progression of knowledge and understanding. 2 I n the new National Curriculum the nature, processes and methods of science are organised into three sections for KS1, lower and upper KS2 under the title working scientifically. These sections of the Programmes of Study identify the progress children should make in all areas of science enquiry from asking questions, planning and carrying out investigations, presenting data, making and communicating conclusions and evaluating results.

WORKING SCIENTIFICALLY However a difference in the new Programmes of Study is that working scientifically, although described separately, is not to be taught as a separate strand. The creators of Snap Science fully support this embedded approach as it reflects accurately the scientific approach and ensures that science lessons are purposeful and lead to the learning of science concepts. Each lesson in Snap Science is planned to meet a biology, chemistry or physics learning intention by Working Scientifically. Teachers will therefore be able to track progression in all aspects of the Programmes of Study. The new Programmes of Study require that children should learn to use a variety of approaches to answer scientific questions, as well as fair testing which has become an over and often incorrectly used method in primary classrooms3. The creators of Snap Science know that different questions lead to different types of enquiry. Teachers can be confident that the starting points in Snap Science will require children to use the recommended different types of science enquiry to answer questions and so develop their understanding about which is the best method to use to answer a question. In each lesson in Snap Science the enquiry strategy that children will use is clearly identified. Enquiry strategies include those recommended in the new National Curriculum: • Observing over time – when children observe or measure how one variable changes over time • I dentifying and classifying – when children identify and name materials and living things and make observations or carry out tests to organise them into groups • L ooking for patterns – when children make observations or carry out surveys of variables that cannot be easily controlled and look for relationships between two sets of data •C omparative and fair testing – when children observe or measure the effect of changing one variable when controlling others as far as possible •A nswering questions using secondary sources of evidence – when children answer questions using data or information that they have not collected first hand As well children will: •U se models – to develop or evaluate a model or analogy that represents a scientific idea, phenomenon or process

Turner, J., Keogh, B., Naylor, S., Lawrence, L., (2011) It’s Not Fair – Or Is It? Sandbach: Millgate House Publishers and Association for Science Education

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3 Teachers sometimes find daunting the idea of helping children to understand the uses and implications of science, citing their own lack of confidence about complex scientific developments and issues. The creators of Snap Science recognise that this aim is challenging and have developed a straightforward two-fold strategy to support teachers to develop children’s scientific literacy. • Firstly the context of the lesson must make sense and matter to children. They need to see the relevance of a scientific question or concept to their own lives. In every lesson children should be able to explain the importance of the question they are answering, and how the science connects to their own lives. In Snap Science the approach to this is pragmatic and manageable, using question and stimulus Explore activities to focus children’s powerful curiosity about the world around them. At the end of every lesson in Snap Science children should be able to explain or demonstrate how they have answered the question and what they have learnt. Sometime children will do this via a technology activity – applying their scientific knowledge and understanding to make an artefact or system that solves a problem. Sometimes they will use argument, debate or persuasive writing to show how a science explanation has helped them to understand or make informed personal decisions about something that involves science, such as health, diet, use of energy resources, or human impact on the natural environment. • Secondly children must learn that all understanding in science depends on the evidence that has been used to answer a question and that working scientifically involves evaluating the quality of that evidence and the conclusions that have been drawn from it. In every lesson children should be able to explain what evidence they have used to answer a question and to evaluate honestly the reliability and validity of that evidence. In Snap Science children are supported to use discussion and argument to evaluate their own data, methods and conclusions, as well as those of others, in the classroom and beyond. They will also be helped to recognise how improvements in evidence collection and analysis techniques have led to ideas about science changing over time.

ASSESSING THE NEW NATIONAL CURRICULUM FOR PRIMARY SCIENCE Alongside new Programmes of Study for primary science, a new assessment model will be introduced, where attainment will no longer be tracked and reported against level descriptors, but instead children’s ‘mastery’ of the matter, skills and processes of the Programme of Study will be assessed. The expectation is that most children will achieve ‘mastery’ of the full programme of study. Sample tests in Science to provide national monitoring of standards will take place every two years, but involving a small number of pupils, with no individual pupil or school Science attainment data being reported. Schools are now free to decide how to track the progress that children make through KS1 and 2 against the Programmes of Study. What are the implications of removing levels in primary science? What challenges and opportunities does this change present to primary teachers? How will Snap Science help teachers to meet them? Levels, particularly when used to design SAT questions, had the effect of constraining science learning in two ways: firstly the curriculum became narrowed to what could be tested in a replicable, pen and paper method and therefore understanding of what achievement looked like came to be understood in terms of these narrow tasks; and secondly they became organising models for planning, with teachers differentiating lessons according to artificial notions of children ‘levelness’. 4

Harlen (2012), Developing Policy, Principles and Practice in Primary Science Assessment: Report from a Working Group; London: Nuffield Foundation

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The removal of level descriptors means that the relationship between the science that children are taught and the science that is assessed will be much stronger. Confident teacher assessment is vital and the creators of Snap Science have ensured that effective formative assessment strategies are used in every lesson. • Each lesson has a clear science Learning Intention which all children are expected to achieve or exceed, with Success Criteria to exemplify what success will look. • Differentiation is by access, with each lesson beginning with an Explore activity to enable children and their teacher to assess prior understanding and identify which level of challenge to take. Teachers can annotate planning to reflect this. • The Enquire part of the lesson includes a choice of three challenges which will ensure that all children can work appropriately towards achieving the learning intention. Differentiation in the challenges is based on a model of progression in science learning which supports children to become more independent and autonomous, systematic, precise and evaluative, and to increasingly use their scientific knowledge in their explanations. This means that grouping in Snap Science lessons is flexible, dependent on the level of skill, knowledge and understanding that each child demonstrates in the Explore activity, and the level of support and challenge that is appropriate for them in each lesson. Children should be encouraged, with teacher support, to choose for themselves the right challenge to complete to achieve the learning intention. • The final stage of each lesson is a Reflect and Review activity where children summarise what they have learnt and use the success criteria to assess their success and identify next steps. Assessment evidence from each lesson should be used formatively to determine appropriate next steps for individuals and groups of children. Without levels to track progress against teachers will need to find other ways of monitoring children’s progress and reporting this to parents, secondary schools and external bodies such as Ofsted. The creators of Snap Science recognise that this represents a challenge to schools and have referred to recognised sources of good practice5 to design a manageable process for tracking progress in science. • Formative assessment evidence from each lesson, including children’s work, the feedback that is given and responded to and any additional observation notes that the teacher makes, is used to track progression and to enable teachers to make confident summative judgments of attainment when required. Comparison of evidence outcomes from different children and between classes and school is used to moderate teacher assessment judgements. • Supporting digital assessment tasks on Collins Connect such as quizzes or short activities can be used to check children’s understanding of specific concepts or facility with particular working scientifically skills. • Either at an identified point during a module or at the end of a module a teacher reviews any observation notes on a child, their written work, their self-assessment judgements, and their answers to any additional activities they have completed to ascertain if they have not yet achieved, have achieved, or have achieved and exceeded the expected outcomes for that part of the Programme of Study. Teachers record the judgements in an on-going digital progress tracker on Collins Connect which contains a summary of the knowledge outcomes for that module including an on-going Working Scientifically tracker. • There are no ‘end of module tests’ nor artificial interim (sub) levels of achievement. It is assumed that high quality formative assessment which influences planning for individual children will lead

Harlen (2012), Developing Policy, Principles and Practice in Primary Science Assessment: Report from a Working Group; London: Nuffield Foundation

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to an excellent match of task and challenge and that teachers and children will recognise when the lesson intention has been achieved. • At the end of each Key Stage teachers use the digital progress trackers on Collins Connect to judge whether or not each child has achieved the designated learning outcomes for the Key Stage in the main components of the National Curriculum. • At the end of the Key Stage individual pupil records are aggregated from each class, for the school as a whole and for particular groups.

SNAP SCIENCE COMPONENTS THE TEACHING FRAMEWORK • The printed Teaching Framework is organised into a series of modules, based on the topics in the new Programmes of Study. The new Programme of Study for Science is divided into 4 topics per year in KS1 and 5 per year in KS2. Some topics have considerably more content than others. Traditional half termly topic planning for science will clearly no longer be appropriate. The modules in Snap Science have been organised to reflect the content of the POS for that year and are not all of identical length. Teachers should plan to teach all the complete modules over a year, regularly fitting in lessons from the Our Changing World module. • Each module begins with an introduction that provides background information on the topic at an appropriate level for non-specialist teachers as well as advice on the misconceptions or alternative conceptions that research indicates that children frequently develop as they make sense of the world around them. • Each module then contains a sequence of lesson plans. Snap Science is designed around the principle that science should be taught at least once a week throughout the year, as Ofsted recommends. • The modules are divided into ‘core’ and ‘enrichment’ lessons. The ‘core’ lessons cover all the objectives from the Programme of Study. The ‘enrichment’ lessons provide extra breadth and depth for the topic.

teaching framework

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our changing world introduction In this module children will build on work in the Year 3 Plants module (How does your garden grow?) by going outside and observing plants in the local area at different times of the year. They will observe how the leaves on deciduous trees change greatly through the year whereas those on evergreen plants change less dramatically. They will observe that seeds, berries and flowers are visible on different plants throughout the year according to their different life cycles. As they learn about and explore their local environment, they will survey the variety of plant life found around the school and its locality and observe how this changes across the school year and with the seasons. They will observe the variety of flying insects that visit these plants, noticing how the quantity and variety of insect life varies at different times of the year and in different weather conditions. They will plant and grow sunflower seeds themselves, growing plants to produce flowers and seed heads in order to experience a complete growth cycle. When working scientifically children will make careful observations of plants, leaves, seeds, fruits, berries and flowers. They will use these observations to identify how plants change throughout the year. They will observe changes that take place over time, noticing patterns in the measurements and observations they make, as they grow sunflower seeds and plants through a complete growth cycle.

Key vocabulary: leaf, deciduous, evergreen, seed, berry, fruit, flower, seedling, seed head, grow, growth, habitat, soil type, variation, season, seasonal change, pollen, pollinate, nectar, honey bee, bumblebee, butterfly – Large White, Tortoiseshell, Peacock, observe, record, present

fact file: Leaves are important to a plant as it is here that the plant produces the food it requires to grow. In winter it is difficult for deciduous trees to maintain their leaves properly so they therefore become dormant during this period and do not grow. In preparation for this the trees shed their leaves during autumn. The green chlorophyll is no longer produced and the other pigments in the leaves give rise to the reds and yellows, which start to become more visible. The leaves begin to die due to lack of nourishment and fall to the ground where they rot, often leaving leaf skeletons. The leaves of evergreen trees do not change so dramatically through the year. Not all plants have flowers, as they reproduce in different ways. This will be studied further in Year 5. When a flower is fertilised many plants produce seeds in order to reproduce. New plants grow from them. Seeds are different shapes and sizes, which influences their method of dispersal. In many plants fleshy tissue is produced around the seed to protect it: this is the fruit. The size of the fruit and the thickness of its tissue vary from species to species. Brightly coloured, fleshy fruits encourage animals to eat them, which in turn results in the seeds being dispersed. Berries are fruits but they are juicy. Blueberries and blackcurrants are true berries, while blackberries and raspberries are made up of lots of small fruits. In some plants, such as strawberries, the fleshy part of the fruit is at the centre and the seeds are on the outside. These are often referred to as ‘false fruits’. Flowering plants have the same basic parts – petals, sepals, stamen, and ovule – and are often brightly coloured, scented and contain nectar, but there is a vast variety of different shapes and sizes. Insect-friendly planting includes: buddleia and hebe varieties, cherry, horse chestnut and other blossoming trees, cornflower, lavender, a nettle patch, a wild flower meadow, a vegetable patch, annual bedding plants and bulbs. Flying insects are much more likely to be seen during sunny, calm periods of weather. If conditions are dull or, more significantly, cold and wet, very few will be seen regardless of the time of year. It is not necessary at this stage for children to identify a wide variety of flying insects precisely. They should be given guidance about what to look for in broad terms, such as what a bumblebee and a honey bee look like. They do not need to know the names of different types of bumblebee or

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honey bee. There are a number of common species of butterfly that might be seen in gardens or in the school grounds. These are relatively easy to identify – Large White, Tortoiseshell and Peacock.

Common misconceptions: • Deciduous trees die in the winter and then come alive again in the spring. They do not die; they are simply dormant. • In order to reproduce all plants must produce flowers and seeds. (There are vegetative means of reproduction that do not involve flower and/or seed production). • Seeds need light to germinate, because plants need light in order to grow well. In most cases, seeds do not require light in order to germinate: they do need water, the right temperature conditions and oxygen. Exceptions to this would be plants in forests or woods. Seeds there are stimulated to grow when the right amount of light comes through the canopy. Children often do not realise that seeds, berries and fruits can be found on different plants throughout the year as their life cycles are at different stages. For example, blackberries are seen on plants from June to November whereas holly bears its fruit through winter. Conkers, the seeds of chestnut trees, fall in October and November, whereas dandelions disperse their seeds in spring.

Big Cat book links Catching Flies June Crebbin 978-0-00-746181-3 Band 9 Gold

A beautiful poetry book exploring the themes of wildlife, the seasons and life’s simple pleasures.

Star Gazing Celia Warren 978-0-00-746531-6 Band 12 Copper

A beautifully illustrated poetry book focusing on the delights of the natural world.

Jaws and Claws and things with Wings Valerie Bloom 978-0-00-746539-1 Band 14 Ruby

A poetry collection inspired by the strange and wonderful creatures in the natural world

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our changing world LESSON 1: HOW DO LEAVES CHANGE THROUGH THE YEAR? Key vocabulary:

LESSON SUMMARY:

leaf, leaves, leaflets, lobes, serrations, bud, shape, texture, colour

During this series of lessons the children will revisit the same two trees or shrubs to look at how the leaves change through the year. To see the complete cycle, six visits are suggested, at the following points: 1 In September – full green

Resources:

2 As the leaves on deciduous trees begin to change colour

Digital cameras, photograph of a tree, green, red and yellow paint colour charts

3 When the leaves begin to drop 4 When most of the leaves have dropped 5 When the leaves are starting to grow again 6 In July – full green Children will notice that the leaves of deciduous trees change greatly through the year whereas others do not have such dramatic changes.

National curriculum links:

Working scientifically links:

Identify and describe the functions of different parts of flowering plants: roots, stem, leaves and flowers

Recording findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams

Learning intention: To make observations and collect evidence about how trees change as part of a seasonal cycle

Scientific enquiry type:

Success criteria: • I can make observations and identify patterns in how leaves change through the year. • I can record what I have found out in different ways. • I can describe how trees change over time.

Observation over time

EXPLORE: During the first lesson, show children a photograph taken of a tree where you grew up. Explain that you loved this tree as a child as it was always changing. Ask the children to think, pair share ways in which it may change. Explain that this tree was your favourite place to go and that you liked to visit it often to see how it was. You felt it was your special tree.

ENQUIRE:

Key information: The challenges are differentiated by the level of observational detail required. Whichever challenge children take, make sure that each time they visit their tree they are encourage to make more detailed observations of the changes they notice.

Explain to the children that they are going to adopt a tree for the year. They will need to visit it regularly to see how it is changing. It will be important to record their observations so that they can remember what they last saw. They will do this by writing a diary. During subsequent lessons, before going out, ask them to look at their diaries to remind themselves of what their special tree was like last time they visited it. Remind them to also look around them to see how other things are changing.

Challenge 1: Children will locate and map a tree, photograph it and mark its key features Ask children to locate and map a tree, marking key features to help them find it again, and photograph it. During the first lesson help these children to choose a tree. Ask them to draw a simple map and mark on it key features to help them to identify which tree they chose on subsequent visits. During each visit help them to take a photograph of the whole tree or shrub. Ask them to carefully look for and pick the smallest and largest leaves that they can find. Ask them to use the paint colour chart to find the best match for both leaves. Some leaves may not be all one colour. The leaves can be taken back to the classroom, pressed and kept with the matching colour chart. These can be stuck into their diaries.

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lesson 1: HOW DO LEAVES CHANGE THROUGH THE YEAR?

Ask: A re all the leaves the same on the tree? Are they all the same size and colour? Are they the same as last time we looked? How have they changed? Are they bigger or smaller? Are they the same colour?

Challenge 2: Children will choose and map a tree, photograph it and draw its leaves During the first lesson help these children to choose a tree. Ask them to draw a simple map and mark on it key features to help them to identify which tree they chose on subsequent visits. During each visit help them to take a photograph of the whole tree or shrub. Ask them to carefully look for, pick and measure the smallest and largest leaves that they can find. Encourage them to draw the leaves in their diaries, adding the measurements. Back in the classroom allow them to stick the matching colour from the colour chart next to each leaf. Ask: A re all the leaves the same on the tree? Are they the same as last time we looked? How have they changed?

Challenge 3: Children will choose, map and photograph two different trees, drawing and comparing their leaves

During the first lesson help children to choose two trees. Ideally try to direct them towards an evergreen and deciduous plant. Evergreen plants tend to have thicker, shinier leaves. Ask them to draw a simple map and mark on it key features to help them to identify which trees they chose on subsequent visits. During each visit help them to take a photograph of the whole trees or shrubs. Ask them to carefully look for, pick and measure the smallest and largest leaves that they can find. Encourage them to draw the leaves in their diaries, adding the measurements. Ask them to make comparisons between the leaves on the two different plants. Back in the classroom allow them to stick the matching colour next to each leaf. Ask: In what ways are the leaves on the two trees the same and different? Are they the same as last time we looked? Have the leaves on both trees changed in the same way?

REFLECT AND REVIEW: Ask the children to show their tree diary to a partner and talk about how it is the same and how it is different to previous visits. Ask them to think about whether both of their trees (theirs and their partnersâ€™ for those who are doing Challenge 1 or 2) or their own two trees (Challenge 3) have changed in the same way. How do they think the leaves will be next time they visit? Ask them to think about when they would like to visit their tree again. Ask: W hilst we were out today did anyone notice anything that has changed or they havenâ€™t seen before?

EVIDENCE OF LEARNING: Are the children able to use their map to locate their special tree? Are they able to match the leaves to the colour charts? Are the children able to measure the leaves? Which children are able to clearly explain how the trees had changed from previous visits? Which children are able to predict how the leaves may change in the future?

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OCW

our changing world LESSON 2: WHAT SEEDS CAN WE FIND THROUGH THE YEAR? Key vocabulary: seeds, soft, woody, pods, winged, hooked

LESSON SUMMARY: During this series of lessons the children will look for seeds at different times of the year. To see the complete cycle, six visits are suggested. Challenge 1 can be carried out at any time of year. Challenges 2 and 3 will need to be carried out when there are larger seeds on the floor, such as sycamore seeds, conkers and acorns (in the autumn).

Resources: Digital camera, balls of string, lolly sticks, large hoops such as PE hoops

National curriculum links:

Working scientifically links:

Explore the requirements of plants for life and growth (air, light, water, nutrients from soil, and room to grow) and how they vary from plant to plant

Recording findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams

Learning intention: To make observations and collect evidence about our changing world over time

Scientific enquiry type:

Success criteria: • I can find different seeds. • I can describe different seeds. • I can record the seeds I find and know which plant they came from. • I can look for patterns in where the seeds fall.

Observation over time

Explore:

Health and safety: Ensure the children understand that they must not eat any seeds, nuts or berries that they find in the wild, unless told they can do so by the teacher. Some are poisonous..

Use slide 1 from Different seeds (Slideshow 1) to show and discuss the range of seeds. Show the children Seed dispersal (Video 1), from Lesson 10, Module 1 How does your garden grow?, to remind them about the methods of seed dispersal. Ask them to think about how the seeds on slide 1 are dispersed: soft – eaten by animals; woody – carried by animals and buried for later; pods – explosion; winged – carried by the wind.

ENQUIRE: Explain to the children that you are going to go out and look for seeds. In Challenge 1 they look for a range of seeds on different plants. In Challenges 2 and 3 they investigate the position of seeds on the ground. These challenges are differentiated by the method of gathering data. You may wish for all children to complete Challenge 1 initially and then encourage them to move on to Challenge 2 or 3 when an appropriate tree is located.

Challenge 1: Children will collect different types of seeds, and draw and photograph them Ask children to draw seeds and take a photograph of seeds from the ground. Take the children to the same area each time and ask them to draw carefully all the different seeds that they can find in the table on Resource sheet 1. As an additional activity they can use as many seeds as they want from the ground to make a picture and record this by taking a photograph. Ask: W hat types of seeds have you found? Have you found more of one type of seed than others during this visit? Why do you think this type of seed is most common now?

Challenge 2: Children will count the number of seeds in a variously-placed hoop and can present their results in a graph

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LESSON 2: WHAT SEEDS CAN WE FIND THROUGH THE YEAR?

Ask: W here were the seeds closest together? How far did the furthest seed from this tree travel? Which seed is most likely to develop into a tree? Why?

Challenge 3: Children will measure and record the distances between seeds and can present their result graphically

Ask children to find a tree that is solitary (one that is not surrounded by any others of the same variety) and that has seeds on the ground that are large enough to find easily. Provide the children with two lolly sticks and a ball of string. Ask one child to hold one end of the string at the base of the tree trunk. Ask the other child to walk away from the tree unrolling the string in a straight line. Starting at the base of the tree ask the children to look carefully along the string and find the first seed. Mark its position with the lolly stick. Continue along the string until they find the next seed and mark its position. Ask them to measure the distance between the seeds. They record this distance. Remove the first lolly stick and look for the third seed. Put the lolly stick in to mark its position. They measure and record this distance. Children continue in this way until the string runs out or there are no more seeds on the string. You can display Resource sheet 3 to demonstrate the principle. As an additional activity these measurements could be presented graphically. Ask: Where were the seeds closest together? How far did the furthest seed from this tree travel? Which seed is most likely to develop into a tree? Why?

REFLECT AND REVIEW: Display the photos of the seed pictures produced by children carrying out Challenge 1. Compare the pictures produced at different times of the year. Are all the types of seeds found throughout the year? Ask the children to think, pair and share why different types of seeds are found at different times of the year, such as, woody seeds are found during the autumn when animals are preparing for winter. Compare the results from those carrying out Challenges 2 or 3. Look for patterns in the dispersal of seeds. Ask: W hich seeds do you think are most likely to grow well? Those that are further away from the tree so the tree does not block the light. Also those that are not clustered with other seeds will have the space they need in which to grow.

EVIDENCE OF LEARNING: Can the children describe the different seeds they find? Can they suggest reasons why different seeds are found at different times of the year? Can they explain why it is important for seeds to be dispersed away from the tree? Do they suggest that the seeds further away from the tree are more likely to grow well as they will not have their light blocked by the bigger tree? Do they suggest that the seeds that are close to other seeds are less likely to grow well as they will have insufficient space?

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