Experiments/Activities

National Curriculum

The National Curriculum states that pupils in LKS2 should be able to: 

• identify common appliances that run on electricity; 

• construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts, including cells, wires, lamps, switches and buzzers; 

• identify if a lamp will light up in a simple series circuit, based on if the lamp is part of a complete circuit, including a cell; 

• understand a switch can open or close this circuit; 

• and identify the properties of conductors and insulators, as well as some common materials that act as conductors or insulators. 

In UKS2, children should be taught:

• the brightness of a bulb or the volume of a buzzer depends on the number and voltage of cells used in the circuit; 

• to compare and give reasons for variations in how components function, including the brightness of bulbs, the loudness of buzzers and the on/off position of switches; to use the recognised symbols when representing a simple circuit in a diagram. 

Progression of Skills (Y5)

Planning:

• Defining Variables 

• Designing Questions 

• Making and justifying predictions

• Writing Methods

Presenting and analysing data:

• Selecting the type of data

• Clearly identifying the independent and dependent variables

• Completing results tables or other data capture mechanisms

• Drawing graphs from the data or using other means of presentations

• Spotting trends or patterns in the data

• Writing a conclusion

Evaluating:

• Stating if results matched a prediction

• Commenting on the validity of the data

• Spotting anomalies in the data

• Suggesting explanations for anomalies in the data

• Suggesting alternative expermiments or adjustments to the existing experiment to improve validity. 

National Curriculum - Light

The National Curriculum states that pupils should be able to:

• recognise that they need light in order to see things and that dark is the absence of light;

• notice that light is reflected from surfaces;

• recognise that light from the sun can be dangerous and that there are ways to protect their eyes;

• recognise that shadows are formed when the light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object;

• find patterns in the way that the size of shadows change;

• recognise that light appears to travel in straight lines;

• use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye;

• explain that we see things because light travels from light sources to our eyes or from light sources to objects and then to our eyes;

• use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain why shadows have the same shape as the objects that cast them.

National Curriculum - Earth and Space

Pupils should be taught to:

• describe the movement of the Earth and other planets relative to the sun in the solar system;

• describe the movement of the moon relative to the Earth;

• describe the sun, Earth and moon as approximately spherical bodies;

• use the idea of the Earth’s rotation to explain day and night and the apparent movement of the sun across the sky.

Progression of Skills (Y5)

Planning:

• Defining Variables 

• Designing Questions 

• Making and justifying predictions

• Writing Methods

Presenting and analysing data:

• Selecting the type of data

• Clearly identifying the independent and dependent variables

• Completing results tables or other data capture mechanisms

• Drawing graphs from the data or using other means of presentations

• Spotting trends or patterns in the data

• Writing a conclusion

Evaluating:

• Stating if results matched a prediction

• Commenting on the validity of the data

• Spotting anomalies in the data

• Suggesting explanations for anomalies in the data

• Suggesting alternative expermiments or adjustments to the existing experiment to improve validity.