Year 4

Moving and Growing

Through this unit children learn about how the skeleton is related to movement and support in humans and what happens to the skeleton and muscles as they move. They also compare human bones and skeletons with those of other animals.

Experimental and investigative work focuses on:

• Turning questions into a form that can be investigated and collecting sufficient evidence;
• Making observations, measurements and comparisons; and
• Interpreting evidence.

Work in this unit also offers opportunities for children to relate understanding of science to personal health.

Habitats

Through this unit children will begin to understand the concept of a habitat, how it provides organisms found there with conditions for life and how animals depend on plants or other animals which eat plants for food. Throughout the unit ways in which organisms are suited to the habitat should be emphasised.

Experimental and investigative work focuses on:

• Turning ideas into a form that can be tested and making a prediction;
• Making observations; and
• Deciding whether the evidence supports the prediction and suggesting explanations in terms of their knowledge of science.

Work in this unit also provides opportunities for children to learn about the interdependence of living things and how the environment and living things need to be protected.

Keeping Warm

Through this unit children build on their ideas about temperature as a measure of how hot or cold objects are and learn about thermal insulators as materials which can help to keep things warm or cool.

Experimental and investigative work focuses on:

• Turning ideas into a form that can be investigated;
• Using thermometers to make careful measurements of temperature; and
• Identifying and suggesting explanations for patterns and trends in results and using results to draw conclusions.

Solids, Liquids and how they can be separated

In this unit children learn about the differences between solids and liquids and recognise that the same material can exist as both solid and liquid. They identify changes that occur when solids and liquids are mixed and how to separate undissolved solids from a liquid. They learn that melting and dissolving are different and recognise that when a solid dissolves it is still there.

Experimental and investigative work focuses on:

• Deciding what apparatus to use;
• Making and recording observations and measurements; and
• Drawing conclusions.

Work in this unit also offers opportunities for children to explain everyday observations about processes such as dissolving and filtering using scientific ideas.

Friction

In this unit children build on their existing knowledge of forces and learn that forces can be measured and compared. The unit focuses on friction as a force which exists between objects moving across solid surfaces and opposes motion, and the forces of air resistance and water resistance which oppose the motion of objects moving through air and water.

Experimental and investigative work focuses on:

• Deciding what evidence should be collected when planning and carrying out a fair test;
• Making measurements using a forcemeter;
• Looking for patterns in results, interpreting and suggesting explanations for these.

Work in this unit also offers opportunities to relate knowledge and understanding of frictional forces to everyday contexts and to recognise that science provides explanations for familiar phenomena related to friction.

Circuits and Conductors

This unit builds on children's previous practical experience of making circuits and extends their understanding of circuits, conductors and insulators and the need for a complete circuit in order for a device to work. Children are introduced to ways in which they can vary the current in a circuit.

Experimental and investigative work focuses on:

• Using ideas about circuits to construct circuits and investigate how they work;
• Using results to draw conclusions.

Work in this unit also offers opportunities for children to relate their knowledge about electricity to everyday contexts and to recognise and take action to avoid hazards and risks to themselves.