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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
.
​
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FISH DISSECTION 2018
Year 6 students had the opportunity to examine herring during their Biological studies. They looked at the external anatomy and even the internal anatomy by dissecting their individual fish. Lots of discussion amongst peers could be heard, as they cut open their fish to examine certain internal parts, like the swim bladder, heart, eye and brain. Apart from the fishy smell, students enjoyed the hands on experience of being able to use a dissecting kit and actually being able to dissect.

SCHOOL GARDEN
​
Students across the school have been busy helping in the construction of the school garden.  Students helped in demolishing the old garden beds with hammers, shovels, sledge hammers and loved getting their hands dirty in the process.  Some students visited the Community Garden to get an idea of how to design the school garden.  These students built the garden beds with a design they came up with and put their mathematical minds to work with working out which was the best place for these beds.  Students helped with filling these beds up with soil and worked out the best place in the garden area to place stepping stones.  Winning garden designs were placed on the fence to allow sense of student ownership of the garden. At the moment students are busy in the process of putting in reticulation and mulching the area.  Students are looking forward to planting seeds and seedlings. When grown students will utilise the vegetables and fruits to make delicious products to consume and sell.




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Science Aims
Science Rationale
Guided Tour -Video
Science Content Structure


Primary Science Curriculum
Science Foundation to Yr 12
Science Scope and Sequence