Science at key stages 1 and 2

• whether opportunities offered by the circumstances of the school suggest that particular units or aspects should be emphasised or expanded;
• whether the material should be adapted to meet the needs of the children in their school, particularly if the children are not attaining at levels broadly appropriate for their age;
• whether the material should be adapted to meet the needs of any gifted and talented children in the school;
• whether the attainments of the children in their school are such that adaptation alone will not provide a relevant structure for teaching science. This may be the case for some children with significant learning difficulties. In this case, schools may wish to use the exemplar scheme as a resource for developing a scheme that offers children opportunities to experience a range of work across the programme of study. This should be within a structure that identifies timescales and learning outcomes that are appropriately rigorous and challenging.

In all schools, teachers are best placed to judge whether the learning objectives meet the learning needs of individual children, and whether they need to adapt these to provide appropriate opportunities for all children to succeed. Some of the teaching activities will need to be adapted to ensure that children with special educational needs of all kinds may participate fully and demonstrate their achievements.

Assessing progress

Learning outcomes in each unit show how children might demonstrate what they have learnt. The learning outcomes themselves will serve as a record for classes working on each unit. It is not necessary to make detailed records for each child in relation to these outcomes.

The end of unit expectations provide broad descriptions of achievement within each unit and should help teachers decide where a child's progress differs markedly from that of the rest of the class. Teachers may wish to make a note of this, and of the reasons for the difference, to pass on to the next teacher.

The end of unit expectations are closely related to the level descriptions. When teachers come to end-of-key-stage judgements, they should continue to refer to the level descriptions. Records of where a child's progress differs from the expectations for most children should assist this process.

Links with other areas of the curriculum

Each unit within the exemplar scheme offers children opportunities to develop their use of language. Both language development and children's understanding of scientific ideas are reinforced and clarified by:

• speculating, discussing, explaining and comparing;
• listening and reading;
• predicting, sequencing ideas and suggesting alternatives.

• finding out more about the topics in the units;
• identifying where ideas they encounter are relevant to everyday life;
• collecting data and information.

	Year 1 Children have opportunities:
1. Ideas and evidence in science	to collect evidence to try to answer a question
2. Investigative skills
	Planning	to test ideas suggested to them and say what they think will happen
Obtaining and presenting evidence	to make observations using appropriate senses; to make some measurements of length using standard and non-standard measures; and to present some findings in simple tables and block graphs
Considering evidence and evaluating	to communicate observations orally, in drawing, by labelling and in simple writing; to make simple comparisons and groupings that relate to differences and similarities between living things and objects; in some cases to say what their observations show, and whether it was what they expected; and to draw simple conclusions and explain what they did

	Year 2 Children have opportunities:
1. Ideas and evidence in science	to collect evidence to try to answer a question
2. Investigative skills
	Planning	to suggest some ideas and questions based on simple knowledge and say how they might find out about them; to say what they think might happen; and to think about and discuss whether comparisons and tests are fair or unfair
Obtaining and presenting evidence	to make observations; to make measurements of length in standard and non-standard measures; to make records of observations; and to present results in tables, drawings and block graphs
Considering evidence and evaluating	to make simple comparisons, identifying similarities and differences between living things, objects and events; to say what results show; to say whether their predictions were supported; in some cases to use knowledge to explain what was found out and to draw conclusions; and to explain what they did

	Year 3 Children have opportunities:
1. Ideas and evidence in science	to collect evidence in a variety of contexts to answer a question or test an idea
2. Investigative skills
	Planning	in a variety of contexts, to suggest questions and ideas and how to test them; to make predictions about what will happen; to think about how to collect sufficient evidence in some contexts; and to consider what makes a test unfair or evidence sufficient and, with help, plan fair tests
Obtaining and presenting evidence	to make observations and comparisons; to measure length, volume of liquid and time in standard measures using simple measuring equipment effectively; and to present results in drawings, bar charts and tables
Considering evidence and evaluating	to draw conclusions from results and begin to use scientific knowledge to suggest explanations for them; and to make generalisations and begin to identify simple patterns in results presented in tables

	Year 4 Children have opportunities:
1. Ideas and evidence in science	to collect evidence in a variety of contexts to test an idea or prediction based on their scientific knowledge and understanding
2. Investigative skills
	Planning	to suggest questions that can be tested and make predictions about what will happen, some of which are based on scientific knowledge; to design a fair test or plan how to collect sufficient evidence; and, in some contexts, to choose what apparatus to use and what to measure
Obtaining and presenting evidence	to make observations and comparisons of relevant features in a variety of contexts; to make measurements of temperature, time and force as well as measurements of length; to begin to think about why measurements of length should be repeated; and to present results in bar charts and tables
Considering evidence and evaluating	to identify simple trends and patterns in results presented in tables, charts and graphs and to suggest explanations for some of these; to explain what the evidence shows and whether it supports any prediction made; and to link the evidence to scientific knowledge and understanding in some contexts

	Year 5 Children have opportunities:
1. Ideas and evidence in science	to consider how scientists have combined evidence from observation and measurement with creative thinking to suggest new ideas and explanations for phenomena
2. Investigative skills
	Planning	to make predictions of what will happen based on scientific knowledge and understanding, and suggest how to test these; to use knowledge and understanding to plan how to carry out a fair test or how to collect sufficient evidence to test an idea; and to identify factors that need to be taken into consideration in different contexts
Obtaining and presenting evidence	to make relevant observations; to consolidate measurement of volume, temperature, time and length; to measure pulse rate; to think about why observations and measurements should be repeated; and to present results in bar charts and line graphs
Considering evidence and evaluating	to decide whether results support any prediction; to begin to evaluate repeated results; to recognise and make predictions from patterns in data and suggest explanations for these using scientific knowledge and understanding; to interpret data and think about whether it is sufficient to draw conclusions; and to draw conclusions indicating whether these match any prediction made

	Year 6 Children have opportunities:
1. Ideas and evidence in science	to consider how scientists have combined evidence from observation and measurement with creative thinking to suggest new ideas and explanations for phenomena
2. Investigative skills
	Planning	to decide how to turn ideas into a form that can be tested and, where appropriate, to make predictions using scientific knowledge and understanding; to identify factors that are relevant to a particular situation; to choose what evidence to collect to investigate a question, ensuring the evidence is sufficient; and to choose what equipment to use
Obtaining and presenting evidence	to make a variety of relevant observations and measurements using simple apparatus correctly; to decide when observations and measurements need to be checked, by repeating, to give more reliable data; and to use tables, bar charts and line graphs to present results
Considering evidence and evaluating	to make comparisons; to evaluate repeated results; to identify patterns in results and results that do not appear to fit the pattern; to use results to draw conclusions and to make further predictions; to suggest and evaluate explanations for these predictions using scientific knowledge and understanding; and to say whether the evidence supports any prediction made

Modifying existing plans

Many schools have their own scheme of work for science. They may, however, wish to review and develop it in the light of this scheme. In reviewing their own scheme of work, which is suited to the children and circumstances in their school, teachers may find it helpful to consider the following set of questions.

How far does their existing scheme:

• provide a long- and medium-term plan that is clearly linked to the National Curriculum programme of study and level descriptions?
• provide a basis from which to plan lessons on a daily or weekly basis to meet the needs of all children in the class?
• show how scientific ideas and skills are built up in an organised, systematic and rigorous way, which is both based on learning that has already taken place and ensures progression?
• link Experimental and Investigative Science and the introduction to the programme of study to the other areas of the programme of study?
• link teaching activities to the learning they are intended to promote?
• identify what children are expected to learn within a unit and indicate how this might be assessed?
• provide opportunities for the development of literacy and numeracy, and link to other subjects?
• give indications of the time needed to teach it?