In line with the British Curriculum, we believe that high-quality science education provides the foundation for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. During our lessons, we teach our pupils essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. We believe that pupils should be encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. We aim to introduce them to the understanding how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.

We lead our pupils to be familiar with, and use, technical terminology accurately and precisely. We support them in developing their extended scientific vocabulary. The quality and variety of language that pupils hear and speak are key factors in developing their scientific vocabulary and articulating scientific concepts clearly and precisely. They must be assisted in making their thinking clear, both to themselves and others. Our teachers ensure that pupils build secure foundations by using discussion to probe and remedy their misconceptions.

We motivate our learners to apply their mathematical knowledge to their understanding of science, including collecting, presenting and analysing data.

“Working scientifically” is taught as a separate stream at AngloZS. Our pupils are taught to use a variety of approaches to answer scientific questions.

Types of scientific enquiry include:

• observing over time
• pattern seeking
• identifying
• classifying and grouping
• comparative and fair testing (controlled investigations), and
• researching using secondary sources.

We teach our pupils to use the following practical scientific methods, processes and skills:

• asking simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways
• observing closely, using simple equipment
• performing simple tests
• identifying and classifying
• using their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions
• gathering and recording data to help in answering questions.

We support our pupils in exploring the world around them and raising their own questions; comparing objects, materials and living things and deciding how to sort and group them; observing changes over time; beginning to notice patterns and relationships. We do not dissuade our pupils from asking people questions and advise them to use simple secondary sources to find answers. Our learners are lead to use simple measurements and equipment to gather data, carry out simple tests, record simple data, and talk about what they have found out and how they found it out. We help them to record and communicate their findings in a range of ways and begin to use simple scientific language.

“Working scientifically” will be developed further at the secondary school of AngloZS.

Science Year 1

At Year 1 in Science, our Pupils are taught to:

• identify and name a variety of common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees
• identify and describe the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees
• identify and name a variety of common animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals
• identify and name a variety of common animals that are carnivores, herbivores and omnivores
• describe and compare the structure of a variety of common animals (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, including pets)
• identify, name, draw and label the basic parts of the human body and say which part of the body is associated with each sense
• distinguish between an object and the material from which it is made
• identify and name a variety of everyday materials, including wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, and rock
• describe the simple physical properties of a variety of everyday materials
• compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of their simple physical properties
• observe changes across the four seasons
• observe and describe weather associated with the seasons and how day length varies.

Our pupils work scientifically by:

• observing closely, using magnifying glasses, and comparing and contrasting familiar plants
• describing how they were able to identify and group them, and drawing diagrams showing the parts of different plants including trees
• keeping records how plants have changed over time (for example the leavers falling off trees and buds opening)
• comparing and contrasting what they have found out about different plants
• using their observations to compare and contrast animals at first hand or through videos and photographs, describing how they identify and group them
• grouping animals according to what they eat
• using their senses to compare different textures, sounds and smells
• performing simple tests to explore questions (for example: “What is the best material for an umbrella? … for lining a dog basket? … for curtains? … for a bookshelf? … for a gymnast's leotard?”)
• making tables and charts about the weather
• making displays of what happens in the world around them, including day lengths, as the seasons change.

Our pupils use the local environment throughout the year to explore and answer questions about plants growing and animals living in their habitat, about everyday materials and about changes in the weather and in the seasons.

They become familiar with:

• common names of flowers, examples of deciduous and evergreen trees, and plant structures (including leaves, flowers (blossom), petals, fruit, roots, bulb, seed, trunk, branches, stem),
• common names of some fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, including those that are kept as pets
• the names of materials and properties such as: hard/soft, stretchy/stiff, shiny/dull, rough/smooth, bendy/not bendy, waterproof/not waterproof, absorbent/not absorbent, opaque/transparent.

Science Year 2

During Science Year 2, our pupils are taught to:

• explore and compare the differences between things that are living, dead, and things that have never been alive
• identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe how different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants, and how they depend on each other
• identify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including micro-habitats
• describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain, and identify and name different sources of food
• observe and describe how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants
• find out and describe how plants need water, light and a suitable temperature to grow and stay healthy
• notice that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults
• find out about and describe the basic needs of animals, including humans, for survival (water, food and air)
• describe the importance for humans of exercise, eating the right amounts of different types of food, and hygiene
• identify and compare the suitability of a variety of everyday materials, including wood, metal, plastic, glass, brick, rock, paper and cardboard for particular uses
• find out how shapes of solid objects made from some materials can be changed by squashing, bending, twisting and stretching.

Our pupils are introduced to the idea that all living things have certain characteristics that are essentials for keeping them alive and healthy. We instruct them to raise and answer questions that help them to become familiar with the life processes that are common to all living things and to observe how living things depend on each other, for example, plants serving as a source of food and shelter for animals. They can construct a simple food chain that includes humans (e.g. grass, cow, human). We introduce them to the terms “habitat” (a natural environment or home of a variety of plants and animals) and “micro-habitat” (a very small habitat, for example for woodlice under stones, logs or leaf litter) and to compare animals in familiar habitats with animals found in less familiar habitats. They can describe the conditions in different habitats and micro-habitats (under log, on stony path, under bushes) and find out how the conditions affect the number and type(s) of plants and animals that live there. They know that seeds and bulbs need water to grow but most do not need light; seeds and bulbs have a store of food inside them. They are introduced to the basic needs of animals for survival, as well as the importance of exercise and nutrition for humans, to the processes of reproduction and growth in animals. The focus is on questions that help pupils to recognise growth (e.g. egg, chick, chicken; egg, caterpillar, pupa, butterfly; spawn, tadpole, frog; lamb, sheep; baby, toddler, child, teenager, adult). We support them to think about the properties of materials that make them suitable or unsuitable for particular purposes and how some materials are used for more than one thing (metal can be used for coins, cans, cars and table legs; wood can be used for matches, floors, and telegraph poles) or different materials are used for the same thing (spoons can be made from plastic, wood, metal, but not normally from glass) and we encourage to think about unusual and creative uses for everyday materials.

Pupils at AngloZS work scientifically by:

• sorting and classifying things according to whether they are living, dead or were never alive, and recording their findings using charts
• observing and recording, with some accuracy, the growth of a variety of plants as they change over time from a seed or bulb, or observing similar plants at different stages of growth
• setting up a comparative test to show that plants need light and water to stay healthy
• comparing the uses of everyday materials in and around the school with materials found in other places (at home, the journey to school, on visits, and in stories, rhymes and songs)
• observing closely, identifying and classifying the uses of different materials, and recording their observations.