Intent
At Orion we believe that students should develop their core scientific knowledge through the use of practical tasks and scientific investigations to allow students to develop their understanding through discovery.
Our key drivers within our school curriculum are through the lens of our 6 characteristics that we aim to build in our students so they can leave with the skills needed to be successful citizens of the future.
Below is a table of where these drivers appear in our science delivery:
| Key driver | Outcome |
| Team Work | In Science, students will be required to show teamwork in a variety of different situations. Students will need to work as a team when completing a range of different scientific investigations and experiments. Students will need to support each other when recording results such as times, distances or pH and accurately measure these at the desired timed intervals. Students will then need to work together to draw conclusions from their results and then evaluate their investigation by suggesting how they could improve their method. |
| Showing Empathy | In Science, students will need to show empathy on many different occasions and in many different situations. Students will be required to listen to other students’ points of view when discussing different Science topics and will need to consider their own opinion. Students will take part in a range of different debates and will look at the ethics of some scientific procedures so will need to be able to listen to others and enable students time to talk and appreciate their opinion. Students will also need to praise other students when they have completed a task well. |
| Showing Commitment | In Science, students will need to have and offer an opinion on a range of different topics. Students will need to assess the benefits and risks of many scientific procedures such as genetic modification and selective breeding and offer an opinion. Students will need to develop their curiosity about new things that they will learn and will want to ask questions to help them find out more information about the different topics. Students will need to show their determination when completing practical investigations to ensure that they have a full range of results which they will then be able to evaluate even if it proves more difficult than anticipated. |
| Self Awareness | In Science, students will be encouraged to try new things and experiment with different solutions or chemicals to help them reach their conclusions. Students will need to organise themselves and how they use the specialised scientific equipment and demonstrate that they are able to use the equipment safely and assess the risks of using it. Students will be required to make sensible decisions when it comes to using potentially hazardous chemicals such as hydrochloric acid and be able to use it safely and effectively. |
| Problem Solving | Science lessons will generate numerous opportunities for students to demonstrate and work on their problem solving abilities. Students will be constantly asking themselves questions such as ‘how’ and ‘why’ when they are completing investigations and experiments to help them reach their answers. Students will be given many opportunities to generate conclusions based upon the evidence and knowledge that they have gathered through their enquiry based learning. |
| Showing resilience | Students will need to demonstrate their resilience in a variety of different situations in their Science lessons. Students will need to consistently show positive attitudes and behaviours when working with different chemicals and creating different chemical reactions. Students will need to be determined to keep going and not give up too easily when their experiment may not go as planned or expected. Students will need to learn to accept advice about how to improve their procedures to enable them to collect more accurate results and then learn from the advice given to them. |
The programme of study (see below) further allows students to gain the basic understanding of some of the important technological and environmental applications of Science along with the economic, ethical and social implications of Science in the real world. As students progress in to Key Stage 4, this allows the opportunity for students to work towards recognised qualifications such as the ASDAN short course and Btec Science will be introduced in 2024.
Implementation
Throughout the school students have 2 hours of science a week.
Science topic areas from Key stage 3 (2 year cycle) (these topics are supported through the cornerstones curriculum programme)
| Circulatory System | Plan different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables where necessary.Take measurements, using a range of scientific equipment, with increasing accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings when appropriate.Record data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs.Use test results to make predictions to set up further comparative and fair tests.Report and present findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal relationships and explanations of and degree of trust in results, in oral and written forms such as displays and other presentations.Identify scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or arguments.Identify and name the main parts of the human circulatory system, and describe the functions of the heart, blood vessels and blood.Recognise the impact of diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle on the way their bodies function.Describe the ways in which nutrients and water are transported within animals, including humans. |
| Frozen Kingdoms | Plan different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables where necessary.Describe how living things are classified into broad groups according to common observable characteristics and based on similarities and differences, including micro-organisms, plants and animals.Give reasons for classifying plants and animals based on specific characteristics.Identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution. |
| Electrical Circuits and Systems | Plan different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables where necessary.Take measurements, using a range of scientific equipment, with increasing accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings when appropriate.Record data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs.Use test results to make predictions to set up further comparative and fair tests.Report and present findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal relationships and explanations of and degree of trust in results, in oral and written forms such as displays and other presentations.Identify scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or arguments.Associate the brightness of a lamp or the volume of a buzzer with the number and voltage of cells used in the circuit.Compare and give reasons for variations in how components function, including the brightness of bulbs, the loudness of buzzers and the on/off position of switches.Use recognised symbols when representing a simple circuit in a diagram. |
| Light Theory | 6 Plan different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables where necessary. Take measurements, using a range of scientific equipment, with increasing accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings when appropriate. Record data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs.Use test results to make predictions to set up further comparative and fair tests.Report and present findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal relationships and explanations of and degree of trust in results, in oral and written forms such as displays and other presentations. Identify scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or arguments.Recognise that light appears to travel in straight lines.Use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye.Explain that we see things because light travels from light sources to our eyes or from light sources to objects and then to our eyes.Use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain why shadows have the same shape as the objects that cast them.Develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. |
| Evolution and Inheritance | Plan different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables where necessary.Take measurements, using a range of scientific equipment, with increasing accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings when appropriate.Record data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs.Use test results to make predictions to set up further comparative and fair tests.Report and present findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal relationships and explanations of and degree of trust in results, in oral and written forms such as displays and other presentations.Identify scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or arguments.Describe how living things are classified into broad groups according to common observable characteristics and based on similarities and differences, including micro-organisms, plants and animals. |
At Key Stage 4 we are looking to accredit our students with the ASDAN Short Course:
| The Short Course is split into six modules: Human machine Forces and motion Chemical change Biological challenges Space physics Performance in sport |
From September 2024 Students will study the BTEC Science course.
Impact
We monitor the impact of our teaching of science through in-class assessments at Key Stage 3 and through exam board led assessments at Key Stage 4 as well as via our monitoring of the Quality of Education throughout the school.