Science

WELCOME BACK
SCIENCE WILL TOTALLY ROCK AT NORTH KALGOORLIE PRIMARY SCHOOL IN 2019

All students from Pre-Primary to Year 6 will be covering Biological Sciences and Chemical Sciences this Semester. Students will carry out experiments and written theory to embrace their learning on a journey from looking at such aspects as: the different states of matter, reversible and irreversible changes, properties of materials, basic needs of living things, animal and plant life cycles, survival of plants and animals in desert environments, features of worms and snails and a variety of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) activities. Students will have the opportunity to expand their knowledge by using technology in their Science lessons by using such apps as IMovie, Table and Graphs and having access to a variety of Science apps. Please feel free to come into the Science room and have a look at all your child/children's wonderful work.

Thank you kindly
Karyn Quinn
(Science Teacher)

OVERVIEW OF SEMESTER 1
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES TERM 1

Pre-Primary
All animals, including humans, use their sensory organs to
gather information about their environment. The sharp eye,
the cocked ear, or the careful sniffing of air can warn animals of dangers that might threaten their survival. Humans use
senses to gather information not only critical for our immediate
safety, but also for planning to meet our basic needs for things
such as food, water and shelter.

Students have the opportunity to investigate the basic
needs for survival of animals, including humans, and how
their senses help them stay alive. Students’ understanding
of basic needs and their importance in our lives will be
developed through hands-on activities. Through investigations, students will explore the needs of a class
pet and compare them to their own needs.

Year 1
The world is teaming with animal life. Even the most
unexpected places can host a diverse range of creatures. As humans, we share our wonderful planet with many
other animals. Taking the time to really look at another
species can provide a window into the similarities and
differences among living beings, and can help us to
appreciate how we are all part of a single, gloriously complex ecological system.

By observing the features and behaviour of small animals,
students glimpse the diversity of animal life. Students
observe the external features of small animals leading to a
better understanding of how their features help them
survive in their habitats. Through investigations, students
learn how animals move, feed and protect themselves.
They explore and compare the habitats of different
animals.

Year 2
All living things have their own life story, but all species
share in the same cycle of growth, change, reproduction
and death. Understanding more about the life cycles of
various species can help us in many ways. It might help us
to protect and preserve endangered species, to manage
and control unwanted species like insect pests, or to
improve animal husbandry.

Students are provided the opportunity to explore the growth
of a range of living things and explore the processes of
growth and change, of reproduction and death that apply to
all animals. Through hands-on activities and investigations,
students compare the growth of living things under different
conditions.

Year 3
What is that? Is it alive? How is it like other things I know?
Humans have always sought to make sense of the world
around them by grouping things they see, for example, as
edible, threatening or useful. Scientists develop
classification systems to try to understand the diversity of
life and how species are related throughout history. As
more and more species disappear from the face of the
Earth, we are caught up in a race to discover what we
never knew we had.

Students are provided the opportunity to explore features
of living things, and ways they can be grouped together.
Through hands on activities, students explore how living
things can be grouped on the basis of observable features
and can be distinguished from non living things. They use
this knowledge to investigate the animal groups in the leaf
litter of their own school grounds.

Year 4
Who would think that insects as small as the bee and ant
would play such a pivotal role in the world’s ecosystems
and the survival of humankind? Bees are the major
pollinators of our food crops. There are more than 1500
plant species in Australia that rely on ants for seed
dispersal to continue their life cycle.

Students are provided the opportunity to explore the
special relationship between plants and animals, such as bees and ants. Through investigations students
investigate about the life cycles of these species as well as
the mutually beneficial relationships these species have
with one another.

Year 5
It can be hard to imagine how any form of life could survive
in the extreme temperatures and dryness of a desert
environment. Yet even in such places an amazing diversity of plants and animals can still be found. Their structural
features and adaptations not only help them to survive,
but thrive under these conditions.

Students are provided the opportunity to explore some of
the structural features and adaptations of desert plants
and animals, and to compare them with plants and animals
that live in other environments. They pose questions and
develop evidence-based claims supported by their
reasoning. Through hands on activities, students
investigate how the structural features of desert plants
and animals help them to survive in their own natural
environment.

Year 6
Micro-organisms affect everyone. Some are helpful, while
others are harmful. Pathogenic micro-organisms can
cause diseases like sore throats, influenza, tuberculosis
and AIDS. Decomposer micro-organisms decay rotting
plant and animal matter, returning important nutrients
back into the soil. Food spoilage micro-organisms like
mould ruin stored food. Other bacteria and yeasts are
vital to the production of food and drinks like yoghurt and
bread, and beer and wine.

Students are provided the opportunity to develop an
understanding of the role of micro-organisms in food and
medicine. Students investigate the conditions micro
organisms need to grow, learn about yeast and the bread making
process, and research the development of penicillin.

CHEMICAL SCIENCES TERM 2

Pre-Primary
All around us are things made from interesting materials
that have observable properties. Who would once have
imagined things like CDs, self adhesive notes or floppy
silicone ovenware? Materials that we now take for granted
are the products of imagination and exploratory science.
What new materials will be part of the world of the future
and how might existing materials be used in new ways?What might materials allow us to make and do? Through investigations, the students develop skills of observing,
describing, comparing and communicating and opportunities to explore, through hands on activities, what
things are made of in the school environment and the
properties of the materials used to make them.

Year 1
Changes are happening all around us. Chocolate melts in
the sun, water evaporates from puddles and cement
hardens in the open air. Predicting the changes that can
happen to everyday materials is important in understanding
the best way to manage things such as, food handling and
cooking, construction and packaging. By observing change,
students glimpse the diversity of materials in their world.
Students explore change through the context of food
including spaghetti, chocolate and popcorn. Students learn
about how heating or cooling a food can change its
properties and whether the change can be reversed or not.
An investigation about which type of chocolate melts the
fastest will help students draw conclusions about how fast
or slow changes can happen and the consequences of
change.

Year 2
We are surrounded by mixtures — the air we breathe,
the food we eat and drink, and our personal grooming
products. Chefs try mixing ingredients in different ways to
make tasty combinations and interesting textures.
Through inquiry, scientists have developed mixtures that
are useful for all kinds of purposes, such as alloys,
amalgams and paints, to name but a few. Indeed, it can be
surprising just how many things that we take for granted
every day are the result of inquiry into mixtures. For
example, how different our lives would be without the
myriad of inks, glues and detergents at our disposal.
Students learn about materials that don’t mix well, and
others that are difficult to separate. Through hands-on
investigations, students explore how changing the
quantities of materials in a mixture can alter its properties
and uses.

Year 3
Every day we see or use things that have been melted or
frozen, heated or cooled. All around us are items that we
find both useful and attractive that have been moulded into
different shapes using heating and cooling. These can
range from cast iron frying pans and plastic rubbish bins
to chocolate bilbies. Understanding the properties of
materials and how they change state under different
conditions can help materials scientists to develop even
more extraordinary products to help improve our quality
of life. While exploring how solids or liquids are influenced
by temperature, students experience the way items from
their everyday lives can change. Through hands-on
investigations, students investigate how the size of the
pieces affects the melting time of chocolate.

Year 4
Packaging has become a huge industry in the modern
world. Everything from food to furniture can come in a
package which might be made from materials such as
metal foil or plastic film—materials that didn’t exist even a
few decades ago. Packages need to protect and preserve
contents while being economical, attractive for marketing
purposes and preferably having minimal environmental
impact. Little wonder that they are often the product of
imaginative design and rigorous testing. Students are provided
with opportunities to develop an understanding
of the design of packages and the choice of appropriate
materials to use. Students design and test a package
that will safely deliver a fragile gift. Through investigations
students observe and gather information about what makes
a successful package.

Year 5
Matter is all around us. It can be as small as the particles
that make up the tiniest cell in our skin or as large as the
whole galaxy. Anything that takes up space and has mass
is called matter. The matter that we experience every day
and the matter that we are made of is only a tiny fraction of
the matter that exists in the universe. By investigating and
understanding matter, scientists are able to find out more
about the universe and its possibilities. Through hands-on investigations, students explore the properties of solids,
liquids and gases, and plan and conduct an investigation
of how the properties of materials change with temperature.

Year 6
What makes things change and what affects how fast they
change? Why do some things burn more fiercely, rust more
quickly or smell more strongly? The whole world is made up
of particles that are constantly moving and reacting with
one another in fascinating ways. Science seeks to
understand why and how substances change, and this has
led to advances in everything from food preservation to fire
control. Students have opportunities to explore melting,
evaporating, dissolving, burning and chemical reactions.
Students’ understanding of the factors that influence the
rate of change will be developed through hands-on
activities and student-planned investigations. Students
become detectives who identify and explain physical and
chemical changes in everyday materials.