Year 3

Knowledge and Content

Plants

The children will learn the parts of a flowering plant and their functions. They will find out what a plant needs to live and grow and how this varies from plant to plant. They will learn how water is transported in plants. The children will learn about the importance of flowers in the life cycle of plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal.

Animals including humans

They learn that humans and other animals cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from the food they eat. The children will learn the importance of an adequate and varied diet for keeping them healthy. They will learn that some animals, including humans, have skeletons and muscles and that these provide support, protection and movement.

Rocks

They learn to describe and group rocks and soils on the basis of their characteristics including appearance, texture and permeability. They will learn the materials soils are made from. The children will learn, in simple terms, how fossils are formed.

Forces and magnets

The children learn about the forces of attraction and repulsion between magnets and about the forces of attraction between magnets and magnetic materials. They will compare and group materials based on whether they are attracted to a magnet. They will learn that magnets have two poles. The children will make observations into how different objects move on different surfaces.

Light

Children will learn that they need light in order to see things. They find out how light travels from a source, that it cannot travel through some materials, and about the formation of shadows. Children learn that light is reflected from some surfaces. Children will look for patterns in the way shadows change.

Working Scientifically

Through the above content, the children will develop their investigative skills. They will learn that it is important to test ideas using evidence from observations and measurements. They will begin to ask questions which can be answered scientifically. They will think about what might happen in an investigation, and make an investigation a fair test. They will use simple equipment appropriately and safely. They will make careful observations and measurements. They will use a wide variety of methods including diagrams, drawing tables and bar charts to communicate their findings. They will draw conclusions from the information they have collected and use this to make further predictions. They will suggest improvements to their investigations.