Science at key stage 3 (Year 7)
Unit 7B: Reproduction
Section 12: b. How do humans change as they grow?
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Objectives |
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- that cell division and increased cell size lead to growth of the body
- about the importance of sample size in obtaining reliable evidence
- to decide on an appropriate graph to display data
- to interpret class data and compare with national data
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Activities |
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Outcomes |
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Children: |
- Remind pupils of their work on cell division. Discuss growth and how pupils should measure it,
eg weight gain, height changes, girth. Pupils explore the range of heights in the class and present their data. Help pupils to think about how many individuals are needed for measurement to ensure reliable information, what other factors should be considered,
eg boys/girls, and how they will present their data.
- Discuss with the pupils trends in the data. Show charts and graphs to illustrate the range of expected heights and weights at this age. Help pupils compare the ranges shown by the charts with the data collected by the class and discuss reasons for similarities and differences in terms of sample size.
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- explain that measurable changes in growth result from cell division and increased size
- suggest reasons for differences between class and national data and explain in terms of sample size
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Points to note |
- The focus is on collecting reliable information, but pupils may need support in constructing appropriate graphs and bar charts. The activity offers an opportunity to use ICT.
- Extension: pupils could use secondary data,
eg evidence from great-grandma's height, Tudor beds, historical and literary evidence of people's diet,
Saxon burial sites, to compare growth of young people today with those in historical times when many children were not well nourished. In medieval times shortages in food supply contributed to smaller stature. However, many dark-age burial sites show that men and women had similar stature to people of today.
- Extension: pupils could also explore present-day variations in stature between countries and within the UK.
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This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of
activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by
moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.
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