Science - Block 1

Based on Kent Scheme

Topic 1 - Forces and Magnets

Working Scientifically Skills

During year 3 and 4, pupils should be taught to use the following practical scientific methods, processes and skills through the teaching of the programme of study content:

asking relevant questions and using different types of scientific enquiries to answer them,
setting up simple practical enquiries, comparative and fair tests,
making systematic and careful observations and, where appropriate, taking accurate measurements using standard units, using a range of equipment, including thermometers and data loggers,
gathering, recording, classifying and presenting data in a variety of ways to help in answering questions,
recording findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts, and tables,
reporting on findings from enquiries, including oral/written explanations, displays or presentations of results and conclusions,
using results to draw simple conclusions, make predictions for new values, suggest improvements and raise further questions,
identifying differences, similarities or changes related to simple scientific ideas and processes,
using straightforward scientific evidence to answer questions or to support their findings.

Big Ideas & Core Questions

Living and non-living things can be grouped in a variety of ways.
Changing the movement of an object requires a net force (push or pull) to be acting on it.

Examples of Core Component Questions:

What is a contact force?

How do different surfaces affect the movement of objects?

What is a magnet and how do they work?

What materials are attracted to a magnet?

Do all magnets have the same strength?

National Curriculum Objectives

Children should be taught to:

compare how things move on different surfaces,
notice that some forces need contact between two objects, but magnetic forces can act at a distance,
observe how magnets attract or repel each other and attract some materials and not others,
compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of whether they are attracted to a magnet, and identify some magnetic materials,
describe magnets as having two poles,
predict whether two magnets will attract or repel each other, depending on which pole

Key Vocabulary

push

pull,

magnet

attract

repel

north/south pole

metal

iron

friction

resistance

gravity

magnetic field

magnetism

Disciplinary:

analyse

classify

compare

chart

equipment

enquiry

fair test

findings

gather

group

identify

measure

observe

pattern

predict

process

practical activity

question

record

relationship

results

test

data

conclusion

Tier 3 / Disciplinary

Overview of Intended Learning

Enquiry 1: What is a Contact Force?

Pupils to learn that contact forces are pushes and pulls that require contact between two object s by observing how different balls travel when they are thrown. Children then to sort a variety of scenarios (from opening a door to rowing a boat to identify push and pull forces). Children to use observation to identify forces being used and to identify the effect these forces have on objects.

Enquiry 2: How Different Surfaces Affect the Movement of Objects.

Pupils to learn that that friction is a contact force that affects the movement of objects, knowing that friction acts in the direction opposite to that of the object moving on the surface. Children to learn that smoother surfaces produce less friction by testing how a toy car moves down different surfaces.

Children should understand why tests should be fair and control all but one variable (the surface the car travels on). Children to independently set up an investigation that follows an agreed method. Children to measure the distance the cars travel, recording results in a table. They will use this data to draw conclusions about which surface slowed down the moving object the most.

Enquiry 3: How do Magnets Work?

Children to know that:

the force of magnetism can act at a distance,
magnets have a magnetic field within which they attract magnetic objects,
magnets have two poles, which may attract or repel depending on which poles are facing each other.

Children will make systematic observations, testing the strength of magnetism from different distances. They will predict whether two magnets will attract or repel each other, depending on which poles are facing.

Enquiry 4: What Materials are Attracted to Magnets?

Pupils will know that there are a range of different habitats around the world and that different animals and plants are suited to different habitats. They will research a range of different habitats around the world, from deserts, oceans and rainforests.

Children to use books and the internet to learn about different, unfamiliar habitats around the world and the animals that live there. They will gather information from a range of sources and record the most useful and appropriate information for future reference.

Enquiry 5: Do Different Magnets have Different Strengths?

Children to know that magnets come in different forms and that different magnets have different strengths of magnetic field. Pupils to carry out a simple investigation, recording results in a table and use these to present data in a bar chart. Children to measure the strength of a magnet by working out how many sheets of paper need to be in the way before a paperclip is no longer attracted. Children to discuss the factors that might influence magnet strength, such as the size, shape, and material of the magnet.

Enquiry 6: Children to recap their learning by comparing and making predictions about different scenarios involving magnets and friction.

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