Science at Cotsford
At Cotsford Primary the children explore and study a range of topics within the National Curriculum using Science Bug and Cornerstones Curriculum. We ensure a hands-on approach, working scientifically, to equip us with scientific knowledge and understanding for our future and beyond.
Please click the link for Science National Curriculum Information
Summer 2
Captain Chemistry made a special visit to EYFS this term. The children explored sea creatures, fossils and even made their own boats. It was amazing! They also visited the Sea Life Centre and saw lots of fish, seals, crabs and other great creatures of the sea. Crissandra from the Centre, talked to the children about rockpool life and the children got to stroke a starfish!
There have also been caterpillars in class; the children enjoyed watching them turn into butterflies. It was a magical experience to see them grow and then to set them free on a bright sunny day on our school field.
Year 1 have been learning about humans, their body parts, the 5 senses and how humans are similar or different to animals. The children labelled pictures of the body for humans and animals, used their senses in different ways guessing an object from its smell and touch, and the animals from the sound it makes. The children also loved taking part in a ‘senses and listening’ walk around the school grounds. They heard different things even though they were all listening in the same place!
The topic in Science in Year 2 has been plants! The children explored what a plant needs to grow and how to plant them successfully. Everyone enjoyed exploring the school grounds looking for seeds. The children collected a range of seeds and planted them alongside peas, lettuce and lobelia. The peas began to grow very quickly whilst the lettuce took a little longer. After 3 weeks the children became doubtful that the seeds they found were going to grow and researched why they may not have grown. Many, concluded that their seeds were either damaged or not even a seed.
They had an amazing morning with Captain Chemistry! The children were in awe at the magnified slides of a bee and parts of a flower. The children enjoyed listening to the importance of bees and how they cleverly scatter seeds and get the nectar as a reward. They used the tweezers and strong magnifying glasses to explore the different parts of a flower. The stem was the stickiest off the sugar and water. The children consolidated their knowledge of seed dispersal by making a paper helicopter and watched them fly across the yard in the wind. The children finished the topic by writing a letter to an alien, exploring how to grow a healthy flower / plant.
Year 3 have also been learning about plants. They have learned the names for the parts of a plant as well as how they help them to reproduce. The children conducted an investigation to find out what plants need to grow. To do this, they planted beans and put them in different places. One had no water, one no light, one no heat and the final one had all three. After a few weeks, they found that the beans with no water or heat didn’t grow, but the one with no light grew white and floppy, unlike the one with everything which grew tall and green! The children were also very lucky to have a visit from Captain Chemistry, who showed them how to delicately dissect a flower, to see all of its features!
Year 4 have been learning about living things in the environment. The children worked collaboratively to investigate vertebrates and invertebrates in the environment and collected evidence in different areas of the school to explore how habitats can change. Some of the children were brave enough to handle different insects; it was great to take a closer look at them and compare their features. The children were able to apply their knowledge of vertebrates and invertebrates to create classification keys, which they used to ask each other questions in a guessing game to identify different animal species. The children were very competitive and learned a lot, whilst having fun together.
Year 4 were interested in how they could help to take care of habitats in the natural environment. They researched the work of the Wildlife Trust and participated in the #30dayswild challenge. It was fantastic to see the children exploring nature outside of school with their family and friends. Well done Year 4!
As part of our living things topic, the children also had the opportunity to visit Tynemouth Aquarium. There they explored the different animals which live in the seas and oceans and even had the opportunity to touch a sea star in the rockpool experience.
It’s been a very busy half term! Year 4 also had a visit from Captain Chemistry. He helped the children to think of different ways to classify living things and then they hunted for living things in the local environment. The children’s favourite find was a gigantic spider! Scroll down to see the picture below if you dare.
Year 5 have loved their science unit this half term. They have looked at a multitude of different life cycles and compared their similarities and differences. They learned about metamorphosis (like when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly) and created some learning posters for other classes to use in the poly tunnel.
The class also had an amazing visit to the Life Centre in Newcastle and took part in a chemistry workshop, solving puzzles using their scientific knowledge. It was great to see everyone drawing on their knowledge from earlier in the year and using the correct vocabulary. The team at the Life Centre even gave them a fantastic prediction activity box to use, which they really enjoyed.
Captain Chemistry worked with Year 5 to create some fantastic activities to help them to understand how electricity flows and even how to create a motion sensor burglar alarm!
Year 6 were experiencing awe and wonder. Captain Chemistry showed them how to make rockets which were launched on the school field. The children also did some chemistry at The Life Centre in which they tested different powders for a chemical reaction. Back in school, the class tried some exciting experiments such as fireworks in a glass and grow a rainbow.
Summer 1
In EYFS the children have looked at lots of different animals. They began to sort them into different groups can can sort them carefully in the Animal Safari area in class. They have found out lots of different facts about camels, geckos and spider crabs in particular. The children have also thought about the different types of food which animals eat.
In Year 1, the children have enjoyed learning about animals including humans. They listed all of the animals they knew as an alphabet; some letters were tricky to find animals for, but they enjoyed researching to find out which animals they could have. They looked at animal groups, where they live and what tracks they might leave. They used a Venn diagram to sort animals into wild and domestic groups and know which animals could be both. They then looked at and grouped animals into carnivores, herbivores and omnivores.
The topic this term in Year 2 has been awe and wonder. This unit, as planned, created lots of curiosity and questions about how things work or don’t! Rain clouds in a jar was mind boggling! The children who liked to squirt lots and lots of shaving foam in their glass unfortunately didn’t create much rain as the shaving foam absorbed the coloured water. Working in groups created many debates when trying to create the tallest paper tower as well as the strongest bridge. The children realised the importance of size and shape, especially the foundations. Investigating charged balloons was hilarious! They rubbed their balloons so quick they nearly put holes in their clothes. They didn’t realise everything they walked past had the potential to attract to the balloon. They were so charged by this experiment that I had to let them take the balloons home to experiment further.
Year 3/4 Science has been all about light and shadows. The children have been able to describe how shadows are formed and have been able to talk about the relationship between light and shadows. The children created dark dens and used torches to explore the idea of light and dark. They also went onto the yard to draw around their own shadows and their shadow puppets. The children also explored light in the way of reflections and completed an investigation to order the most reflective objects around he classroom.
Year 4 have had a wonderful term exploring awe and wonder. The children investigated different questions including ‘Did the Romans use toilet paper?’ and ‘Who can make the tallest tower?’ Their favourite task was fizzy colours where the children discovered what can happen during chemical reactions.
Year 5 have been very busy challenging themselves to draw on all their scientific knowledge from the year to make predictions and solve a variety of challenges – including how they could separate the sand from reception from marbles, paperclips and lots of salt! Finally, they had to work together to escape from a locked room. This tested their ability to think quickly and understand some complex vocabulary. Excellent job Year 5!
Year 6 have been looking at the different parts of the heart and how it works. They have learnt that is has 4 chambers and can name the parts and label diagrams accordingly. They were amazed to dissect a pig’s heart as it is similar to a human’s and could identify the aorta, veins and capillaries. They are beginning to understand the circulatory system and how it functions in the human body.
Spring 2
Wow, what a term its been in EYFS. The children celebrated British Science Week and explored some of the world of science with other teachers in the school. They planted seeds with Mrs Simpson and made Aliens with Mrs Johnson. They drew self portraits with Mrs Laverick using a special kind of drawing material called charcoal. It got a little messy at times!
In Year 1 the children enjoyed learning about plants and trees. They planted beans to see how they will grow, labelled a plant and looked at what they need to grow and survive, and identified and sorted wild and garden plants. They looked at the life cycle of a bean to see how bean seeds will change as they grow and they looked at trees and what makes them different, labelled a tree and looked at deciduous and evergreen trees and what that means.
They also enjoyed the theme of growth in Science week. Children enjoyed planting sunflower seeds to see how they grow, looking at Mars and its lack of growth, creating Martians out of plasticine and drew self-portraits to show how we grow.
Year 2 have been exploring habitats, including microhabitats. The children have used IPad’s to research their favourite animals and to find out where they come from and where they live. Additionally, the children have learnt all about why a habitat is important to animals and minibeasts. This topic created lots of curiosity and questions about specific animals which the children began to research together as a class, using google. Year 2 then went out into the local area on a minibeast hunt to see what they could find and where they could find it. They used a clipboard and pencil to record their data. Following this Year 2 learnt all about ‘worm charming’ and went back out into the local environment to see if it worked. The children successfully charmed the worms out of the ground.
They had a great afternoon during science week visiting other classes. They especially enjoyed planting a sunflower! Fingers crossed they will all grow really tall.
Y3/4 Science this half term has been very exciting! The children have been doing some lovely investigations as part of their Awe and Wonder topic. The children have grown a rainbow, created a lava lamp, made parachutes, all while investigating the science behind the experiments. The children have learned to write predictions, outline the method, list equipment, record results and write conclusions. They really didn’t want the topic to end!
It has been a very noisy half term in Year 4, as they have been exploring sound! As you can see in the pictures below, they loved playing sound bingo and exploring different sounds around the school. The children have discovered how sound travels and they have investigated vibrations by using musical instruments. They linked Science and Music to investigate how they can change the pitch and volume.
Year 5 have been learning about ‘Forces’. The topic was introduced with Isaac Newton and his invention of gravity. The children did experiments with objects around the classroom guessing which objects they believed would hit the ground the fastest. As a class they discussed their results and demonstrated a high level of interest. Following this the children investigated ‘Friction’. They investigated their classmates’ shoes and recorded data to decide whether or not their friends’ shoes were ‘grippy’ or ‘slippy’. After the children had gathered the data they compared their results with one another to make final decisions. Year 5 were very engrossed in this topic and came up with some great answers to support the decisions they made. Air resistance was covered next. This was Year 5’s favourite experiment! They used a range of materials and made a parachute. They then went out onto the field and began to test their parachutes for air resistance. The children were fully engaged, made some fantastic models and had great fun testing them.
The also got to take part in a whole science afternoon, going round to different teachers and learning about slime, optical illusions, the science of origami and about creating our own burgers as part of Science Week.
Year 6 have been learning how to classify living things. They have identified and described observable characteristics of plants and animals and have sorted these accordingly. They can explain differences between groups of animals such as mammals, amphibians and reptiles, and can identify animals that are vertebrates or invertebrates. Year 6 also enjoyed rotating around school and taking part in different Science activities for Science Week.
Spring 1
In EYFS this term we have talked lots about the changing weather and how it is super cold at the moment! Brrrrrrr
We have also had fun exploring different materials and talking about how they feel using lots of words including soft, hard, fluffy and spikey.
In Year 1 the children have enjoyed a range of investigations as part of their awe and wonder topic. The children investigated fruity sweets making predictions about what would happen like; “the colours will go together and then turn brown”, “we’ll see a tie-dye effect in the water” and “we’ll see a beautiful rainbow of colours”. These predictions were right at different times during their investigation. They also made and used cup telephones and completed a dancing raisins investigation where the raisins danced about in the sparkling water. Throughout the children made predications then recorded what happened. They then checked their predictions to see if they were right.
The topic in Year 2 has been all about Animals and Humans. The children have been investigating food chains, creating a variety of food chains using practical resources. Furthermore, they have been sorting foods into groups, identifying which foods belong to which groups and why. Following these sessions, the children began to look at healthy eating and exercise. Understanding the importance of exercise and sharing ideas about the exercise they do on a daily basis. The children also discussed the consequences of what might happen if they did not do any exercise. Year 2 successfully created a planned weekly diet and exercise diary for an unhealthy person. Excellent work Year 2!
In Year 3 the children have been learning about how we move and eat. The children started by identifying balanced diets and discussed why a balanced diet is important. They realised that different food groups provide us with different nutrients, so it is important to eat a range of foods to help us grow. The children have also looked at the skeletal and muscle systems, and created their own moving arm.
Year 4 have loved this half terms topic of electricity. They relished the opportunity to make simple circuits and work scientifically to explore what would happen if they used different components such as; two batteries, a buzzer or different conductors. They can now confidently describe if a circuit will work or not, and they even used their new skills to make torches in Design and Technology.
Our Year 5 pupils have been building on their working scientifically skills and investigating amazing and surprising phenomena. They have looked at making predictions using their science knowledge to back up their ideas, investigated Non-Newtonian fluids and into different changes of states of matter. They have also been lucky enough to use plenty of different foods in their experiments, which have been really hands on!
Year 6 have been working on Evolution and Inheritance. Firstly, they discussed what they knew about evolution and inheritance and how some animals can adapt to their surroundings and others can’t, therefore becoming extinct. They have studied Charles Darwin and how his research brought about the theory of evolution. They have also looked at how animals have specific features to survive in their habitats and can explain some adaptive and inherited traits.
Autumn 2
What a term it’s been in EYFS! The children have had so much fun learning about different materials that would be suitable for a teddy and baking gingerbread men!
They’ve had the best time exploring the snow too and completed snow cooking, numbers and potions. To finish off their time in the snow they had hot chocolate and the gingerbread to warm them up.
In Year 1 the children have enjoyed investigating the seasons looking at the similarities and differences between them. They investigated the weather during these seasons and thoroughly enjoyed making wind toys to measure the wind speed. The children explored the length of the day, dark and light, and recorded how the light changes from a morning, throughout the day and into the night using the words dim, dark and light. They also investigated warm and cold weather, using the snow to help them to do this. They observed changes in the school grounds in the winter and recorded what they found. They also really enjoyed recording the weather each day for a week and being ‘weathermen’, sharing the daily weather with their friends.
What a fab time our Year 2 class has had this half term in Science. They began by exploring and sorting objects which are living, non-living and never lived. This caused a few debates! They discussed what some objects were made of and whether the raw materials had ever been part of a growing object. The children worked in groups to decide what a living thing does, from this they created a class grid to attempt to classify whether something is living. They then began to explore, the different stages in growth in humans. The children worked in groups to classify the different stages and identify what humans can do at each stage. From this, they looked at whether animals’ offspring look the same as their adults. The children then completed the challenge to use Purple Mash to create a lifecycle of a animal.
Year 3/4 have learned about what forces are and what they are measured in. The children have really enjoyed taking part in lots of investigations, demonstrating just how strong magnets and forces can be! The children have used Newton Metres during these investigations and have been able to record their results.
Year 4 has once again been fascinated with their Science topic – digestion. They enjoyed making large-scale models of their digestive system in order to help them understand the function of each part. As you can see in the pictures below, they even made models of their own teeth to see where the digestive system begins. The children investigated tooth decay and discovered how quickly coke can change the colour of your teeth so they are going to try to drink less of it. They finished their topic by researching animal’s food chains. The children choose their own predator and used the iPads to create a food chain with the correct labels.
In Year 5 the children have been looking at all types of materials and their properties. It was great that they could use all of their knowledge from previous years about magnetism and solids, liquids and gasses and extend their knowledge to think about how that understanding can solve problems. They worked hard to design an experiment to show what materials would keep liquid hot for the longest and even predicted what would happen, justifying their answers. These skills will be so useful in their future science units!
Year 6 have studied electricity. They have investigated what makes a simple circuit and can explain how to make a bulb brighter or a buzzer louder. They can draw circuits using symbols and can identify working and non-working circuits explaining and fixing the faults.
Autumn 1
What a term its been in EYFS! The children have had so much fun learning about the season of autumn. They went on a walk and collected lots of autumn treasure including conkers, leaves, berries, pine cones and lots more! They even thought they heard a bear and a Gruffalo while they were walking. Yikes!
What a messy time Year 2’s have had this half term in science. They began by exploring materials in their local environment and sorting them into their own categories. They discussed a variety of materials and investigated their properties. Creating cornflour slime was fun! The children were amazed that it was solid on the tray and tough to pick up then changed to a liquid in their hands. They were challenged to find more magical science moments at home by their teacher. Some did ice cube melting and others explored chocolate melting. The children enjoyed predicting which paper would rip and which wouldn’t. They also like working independently investigating whether solid shapes could be changed by bending, twisting, squashing and squeezing.
Year 3 have been investing and studying rocks. The children started the topic by sorting a range of chocolate ‘rocks’ and discussed why they had chosen the categories. They then compared different types of rock samples and grouped them, depending on their appearance and properties. They have looked at how some fossils are formed and also had a go at creating their own fossils made out of clay. Finally, the children enjoyed digging up soil samples from around school (including worms!) to find out what kind of soil it was and how worms impacted our soil.
The Scientists in Year 4 have been fascinated with the topic, States of Matter. They have worked scientifically to investigate solids, liquids and gases and what happens to them when they are heated or cooled. As you can see in the pictures, they even made chocolate crispy cakes, which were delicious. The children enjoyed measuring the temperature with thermometers. Finally, they used their knowledge of changes of state to identify each in the water cycle.
Year 5 have been busy studying Earth and Space. They have learned about the order of the planets in the solar system, how they orbit the sun and about other celestial bodies, like Pluto. They were fascinated by natural satellites, like the Moon, and how it is seen because it reflects the light from the Sun. The children now understand how the Earth’s tilt is why we have different seasons and all about different models of the Solar System. They loved challenging themselves in the Space Game, using their new knowledge to score as many points as they could!
Light has been the focus in Year 6. The children have experimented with light sources and mirrors and can explain that light travels in straight lines and have begun to understand that reflected surfaces alter the direction in which light travels. They know the difference between transparent, translucent and opaque and can describe how light is blocked by an object. They can explain how we see things and know some parts of the eye and how they work.
