Trilogy Combined Science Spring Term

Learners will finish off the rota from the previous term of “animal organisation, organic chemistry, waves & magnets”. They will then start a new rota of sessions “diseases, Earth's atmosphere & Using resources and Motion”

Animal organisation; In this unit learners will gain a greater understanding of body systems such the digestive, circulatory, skeletal muscular and nervous system. Using information they have learnt from previous biology units they will find out how cells, tissues and organs work together to carry out particular functions. We will look at specific conditions such as diabetes and how this affects the body systems. They will carry out a debate into organ transplants, looking into the ethics and clinical side to make well thought out decisions. 

Organic chemistry; In this unit learners will build on their knowledge of fossil fuels from KS3 exploring how crude oil is formed, extracted, separated and used as well as considering both economic, political and environmental problems associated with both extraction and use. They will focus on the 2 key processes of fractional distillation and cracking to obtain particular fuels as well as exploring the process of combustion to release the energy stored within these substances. Learners will look at how structure relates to properties of different compounds and how this impacts on use.

Waves; Knowledge of waves is essential for any progress in science as they describe the ways that light and sound are transmitted. Waves convey only energy, not matter and in the case of electromagnetic waves they can travel in a vacuum. Before going on to such advanced concepts, learners must be able to understand what waves are, the differences between transverse and longitudinal waves and the different parts of a wave. This leads to calculations for wave speed using frequency and wavelength which have many important practical uses. The unit concludes with a practical activity in which learners must obtain data from waves and use this to calculate their speed, consolidating all that they have learned in the unit.

Magnets; Learners build upon their knowledge of magnets and electromagnets from KS3. They start the unit recapping what they have previously learned about magnets (magnetic poles, magnetic materials and magnetic fields), before looking at the materials needed to make electromagnets, what factors increase the strength of electromagnets and the everyday uses of electromagnets. There is opportunity here for learners to make their own electromagnets and investigate how they can increase the strength of their electromagnets. Using what they now know about electromagnets, learners start to discover what is meant by the Motor Effect (with calculations), the variables needed for a motor to work and how motors can be reversed or their speed increased.

Diseases; Learners will be exploring diseases within this unit, they will be looking at different types of pathogens and how these pathogens reproduce. They will be looking into how diseases spread and ways that we use to control the spread and also ways that we can treat the spread of diseases. Whilst exploring this we will be looking specifically at Measles, HIV, Salmonella, Gonorrhoea and malaria. Learners will then develop a knowledge or build on previous knowledge on human defences looking at what these are and how our body protects itself for example using white blood cells. Lastly in Trilogy we will be looking into plant diseases specifically at Tobacco Mosaic virus and Rose Black Spots.

Earth's atmosphere; The atmosphere surrounds us and is key to life on earth. It allows the planet to maintain a stable temperature that allows life to survive. Through human intervention the composition of the atmosphere has changed, most noticeably over the past 100 years, but there are still opportunities for this to be reversed and for the atmosphere to be saved.

Using resources; In this unit learners will look at the resources we gather from the Earth. How we get our drinking water and how we treat wastewater. We will also carry out a required practical where we analyse water samples. We will finish by looking at what materials we can recycle and analyse whether we should reuse, recycle or reduce.

Motion; We now know that it is forces that cause objects to move or to stop moving but we now need to understand how and why objects move in the way that they do. From subatomic particles to giant  stars, everything in the universe is in motion, so how do we describe that motion? Newton's three Laws describe the motion of all matter in the universe and we can use them to predict the motion of objects and make them move in the way that they want them to. From cars and planes to hydroelectric dams and wind turbines, by understanding how to describe and control motion we can shape and change the world around us. The unit begins by describing scalars and vectors before going on to distance and velocity time graphs. It then moves on to freefalling objects with links to mass weight and gravity concepts. The SUVAT equations are then introduced which bring difficult but useful calculations. Newton's three laws are then recalled with their applications for motion in the real world. The unit concludes with a practical investigation into acceleration which brings together all of the theory and calculations found in the previous lessons.

Organisation in humans, organic chemistry, waves & magnets, diseases, Earths atmosphere, using resources and motion 

End of unit assessment will consist of a 40 mark test

Midway assessment set by class teacher which could be an exam question

Learners will receive guidance in a variety of ways.  These include marked assessments, reports, feedback in books, 1:1 interaction, Google Classroom.