Years 7 & 8 Curriculum - Science

In years 7 and 8, students develop their understanding of key fundamental ideas in Science through a range of different topics that span the scientific disciplines of Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

The Science department a curriculum for year 7 and 8 students that will provide a platform for GCSE. Students experience each discipline three times throughout the year and enhance their learning at each stage.

With a focus on specific key content that underpins the GCSE course we will also be developing the Scientific skills required to be a successful Scientist. These include;

  • Planning investigations to answer specific questions
  • Identifying and justifying the appropriate equipment to use
  • Collecting and presenting data in tables and graphs
  • Critically consider the reliability of data.
  • Evaluate your method and consider improvements
  • Draw a conclusion and apply scientific understanding.
Year 7 – topics Topic overview
Biology 1 – Cells This unit provides students with a fundamental understanding of the building blocks that make up a living organism and how they work.
Chemistry 1 – Particles This unit provides students with a fundamental understanding of the world around them in terms of substances and particles and how they behave and interact.
Physics 1 - Forces This unit provides students with a fundamental understanding of the world around them and why things move depending of the forces acting on them.
Biology 2 – Organ systems  Students develop their understanding of living organisms by exploring the different organ systems that work together to enable an organism to survive and thrive.
Chemistry 2 – Behaviour of particles Students develop their understanding of particles and explore more Scientific language including Atoms, elements, compounds and mixtures.
Physics 2 - Motion Students develop their understanding of particles and explore more scientific language including atoms, elements, compounds and mixtures.
Biology 3 – Reproduction Students focus on the structure of the reproductive systems and how these systems result in the survival of a species.
Chemistry 3 – Acids and Alkalis Students apply their knowledge and understanding of chemical substances to the differences between acids and alkalis and how these chemicals react together.
Physics 3 - Space Students learn to manipulate large and small numbers in the context of space and this provides a great platform for introducing the idea of scale.

 

Year 8 – topics Topic overview
Biology 1 – Energy and Organisms Students will learn how organisms interact with the world around them to gather a range of substances they need to survive and how chemical processes change these organic substances into something useful.
Chemistry 1 – Atoms To further develop understanding of the structure of an atom and how different atoms bond together to change their properties.
Physics 1 - Energy Students will learn that energy is nether created or destroyed but how it is transferred from one store to another to enable things to work.
Biology 2 – Genetics  Students will apply their learning of reproduction to the survival and evolution of a species overtime.
Chemistry 2 – Earth Students
learn about the structure of the Earth and the finite resources that humans take from the Earth and the impact this is having. We explore the importance of reuse and recycle on the planet.
Physics 2 - Radiation Students develop an in depth understanding of light and sound as energy stores. How light and sound behaves as waves and therefore how we are able to see and hear.
Biology 3 – Interdependence Students have developed an understanding of what an individual organism and/species need to survive. In this unit students learn what happens if this is unsuccessful and explore reasons for extinction.
Chemistry 3 – Metals Students learn in more depth how metals are extracted from the Earth and their uses are dependent upon their individual properties.
Physics 3 - Electricity Students understand that electricity is an energy store and how it provides us with a source of energy that makes a range of different things work as part of a parallel or series circuit.

 

At the end of each unit students have a short assessment and this expands over the year to include learning from the previous related topic.

These assessments inform OTFGs and student progress.

ENQUIRIES TO:

Mrs A Hunter - Learning Leader: Science a.hunter@brookfield.hants.sch.uk