What’s new in the Framework for Science?
- Provides progress in ‘How Science Works’ which is an amalgam of the key concepts and processes
- Progression in the four range and content areas integrated with ‘How Science Works’
- Promotes scientific thinking through developing explanations, argumentation and decision making
- Will link to the forthcoming guidance on ‘Assessing Pupils’ Progress in science
What are the aims of new science curriculum?
The new curriculum aims to enable all young people to become …
- Successful learners, who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve
- Confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives
- Responsible citizen who make a positive contribution to society
What is good behaviour for learning in science?
- Safe activity
- Structure
- Mutual respect
- Independent
- Enthusiastic
- Ability to listen and be heard
- Involvement
- Interested
- Self control
- Student communication (direct)
- Inquisitiveness
- Thinking
- Taking responsibility for learning
- Respect for teacher
- Active participation by all in scientific enquiry
- Opportunity for discussion in lesson
We in the science department create an environment where students are able to learn, feel safe, have mutual respect and can therefore reach their potential.
Year 7 - Topics covered:
- Cells
- Reproduction
- Differences
- Classification
- Acid reactions
- Particles
- More about elements
- Chemical reactions
- Using electricity
- Energy
- Forces
- space
Science - Topics covered:
- Life support
- Keeping healthy
- People and environment
- Shaping life
- The periodic table
- Using elements
- Metals
- What’s in rocks
- Heating and cooling
- Light
- Sound
- Moving around
Year 9 - Topics covered:
- Inheritance and selection
- Fit and healthy
- Plants and photosynthesis
- Plants for food
- Reaction of metals and metal compound
- Patterns of reactivity
- Environmental chemistry
- Using Chemistry
- Energy and electricity
- Gravity and space
- Speeding up
- Pressure and moments
Assessment in Science
What is APP?
APP is a structured approach to student assessment in Key Stage 3 to support teachers with:
- making judgements about their students attainment, (keyed into) against national standards
- developing and refining their understanding of progression in science, especially in the 'how science works' skills
- gathering diagnostic information about the strengths and areas of development of individual pupils and groups of student
- tracking students’ progress over time to inform the planning of teaching
- planning teaching that is matched to pupils’ needs
- supporting the transfer of meaningful information at key transitional points, e.g. from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3
- Facilitating the setting of meaningful curricular targets that can be shared with pupils and parents.
Based on the assessment focuses (AFs) that underpin National Curriculum assessment, APP improves the validity and reliability of teachers' assessment and provides a more holistic view of student progress than other summative assessments. In pilot studies it has proved to be robust, manageable and effective in improving current practice.
Further information and the APP materials for Science can be found here:
http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/157236
GCSE Science – Year 10
GCSE 21st science is a course designed to develop scientific literacy. Central to the course is an understanding of the major Science Explanations and Ideas about Science. These two ensure that students experience the ‘Breadth of Study’ and ‘How Science Works’. These are the things that students should take away with them from the course, and draw on throughout their lives.
The course has two main aims:
- To give young people a broad understanding of the science explanations that give us a framework for making sense of the world around us, without getting lost in detail or unnecessary complexity for this level of study.
- To encourage students to reflect on scientific knowledge itself, the practices that have produced it, the kinds of reasoning that are used in developing a scientific argument, how they can assess the confidence that should be placed in a scientific claim, and the issues that arise when scientific knowledge is put to practical use. The Ideas about Science that can help students to understand and think critically about the scientific claims they meet are an integral components if this GCSE Science course.
The Modules:
B1 – You and your genes
C1 – Air quality
P1 – The Earth in the Universe
B2 – Keeping healthy
C2 – Material choices
P2 – Radiation and life
B3 – Life on Earth
C3 – Food matters
P3 – Radioactive materials
GCSE ‘Additional Science’ – Year 11
GCSE Additional Science is a course which emphasises theories that have been found important by scientists for explaining the natural world. The course has three main aims:
- To introduce students to science explanations that underpin modern science and have high cultural significance
- To offer insight into how scientists reason and how scientific explanations are constructed
- To provide a stimulating foundation for further study of more advanced science
Students who study the GCSE Science and GCSE Additional Science courses are well prepared for post 16 courses in all sciences.
The Additional Science modules are concepts led while offering different approach to teaching and learning – some explore the interplay of experiment and theory; some are contextualised; others emphasise applications.
The teaching of some topics has been rethought in the light of research and experience. In P4 module, for example, understanding of motion is developed through the idea of momentum. In P5, the study of electric currents illustrates how scientists use models in their thinking.
While much of the course is similar to the traditional treatment of science at this level, there are innovative features, notably module B6 Brain and mind, which allows students to explore an area of science of great interest where ideas are not firmly established and there is still openness.
The Modules:
B4 – Homeostasis
C4 – Chemical patterns
P4 – Explaining motion
B5 – Growth and development
C5 – Chemicals of the natural environment
P5 – Electric circuits
B6 – Brain and mind
C6 – Chemical synthesis
P6 – The wave model of radiation
GCSE ‘Additional Applied Science’ – Year 11
What do we mean by ‘applied science’?
All three modules, taught at the Bushey Academy explore science in real workplaces, from the viewpoint of practitioners.
The Modules:
A1 – Life care
A2 – Agriculture and food
A3 – Scientific detection
A – Level Biology (OCR)
Aims:
The aims of A – Level Biology (AS and A2) are to encourage students to
- Develop their interest in, and enthusiasm for Biology, including developing an interest in further study and career in Biology;
- Appreciate how society makes decision about scientific issues and how the sciences contribute to the success of the economy and society;
- Develop and demonstrate a deeper appreciation of the skills, knowledge and understanding of ‘How Science Works’;
- Develop essential knowledge and understanding of different areas of Biology and how they relate to each other.
Qualification Titles and Levels
These qualifications are shown on a certificate as …
- OCR Advanced Subsidiary GCE in Biology
- OCR Advanced GCE in Biology
Both qualifications are Level 3 in the National Qualification Framework (NQF)
Prior learning/attainment
The AS course has been written to provide progression from GCSE Science and GCSE Additional Science, or from GCSE Biology; achievement at a minimum of grade C in these qualifications should be seen as the normal requite for entry to AS Biology.
However, students who have successfully taken other level two qualifications in Science or Applied Science with appropriate Biology content may also acquired sufficient knowledge and understanding to begin the AS Biology course. Other students without formal qualifications may have acquired sufficient knowledge of Biology to enable progression onto the course. Students at the Bushey Academy will have a background of GCSE Additional Science with minimum grade for entry that is determined by the Academy’s 6th Form.
The specification is divided into biological topics, each containing different key concepts of biology. Once the key features of biological topics have been developed, applications are considered. For assessment purposes, knowledge and understanding of key concepts are treated separately at AS; important links between different areas of biology are largely assessed synoptically at A2. While the teaching of practical skills may be integrated with the theoretical topics, they are assessed separately. This specification incorporates the QCA Subject Criteria for Biology.
AS Units
Unit F 211 – Cells, Exchange and Transport
Unit F 212 – Molecules, Biodiversity, Food and Health
Unit F 213 – Practical tasks
A2 Units
Unit F 214 – Communication, Homeostasis and Energy
Unit F 215 – Control, Genomes and Environment
Unit F 216 – Practical Tasks
A – Level Chemistry (OCR)
Aims:
The aims of A – Level chemistry (AS and A2) are to encourage students to …
- Develop their interest in, and enthusiasm for chemistry, including developing an interest in further study and career in chemistry;
- Appreciate how society makes decision about scientific issues and how the sciences contribute to the success of the economy and society;
- Develop and demonstrate a deeper appreciation of the skills, knowledge and understanding of ‘How Science Works’;
- Develop essential knowledge and understanding of different areas of chemistry and how they relate to each other.
Qualification Titles and Levels
These qualifications are shown on a certificate as …
- OCR Advanced Subsidiary GCE in Chemistry
- OCR Advanced GCE in Chemistry
Both qualifications are Level 3 in the National Qualification Framework (NQF)
Prior learning/attainment
The AS course has been written to provide progression from GCSE Science and GCSE Additional Science, or from GCSE Chemistry; achievement at a minimum of grade C in these qualifications should be seen as the normal requite for entry to AS Chemistry.
However, students who have successfully taken other level 2 qualifications in Science or Applied Science with appropriate chemistry content may also acquired sufficient knowledge and understanding to begin the AS Chemistry course. Other students without formal qualifications may have acquired sufficient knowledge of Chemistry to enable progression onto the course. Students at the Bushey Academy will have a background of GCSE Additional Science with minimum grade for entry that is determined by the Academy’s 6th Form.
The specification is divided into chemical topics, each containing different key concepts of chemistry. Once the key features of a chemical topic have been developed, applications are considered. For assessment purposes, knowledge and understanding of key concepts are treated separately at AS; important links between different areas of chemistry are largely assessed synoptically at A2. While the teaching of practical skills may be integrated with the theoretical topics, they are assessed separately. This specification incorporates the QCA Subject Criteria for Chemistry.
AS Units
Unit F 321 – Atoms, Bonds and Groups
Unit F 322 – Chains, Energy and Resources
Unit F 321 – Practical Skills in Chemistry 1 (Internally assessed and externally moderated by OCT. students are assessed on one task from each of the following categories: qualitative, quantitative and evaluative tasks.
A2 Units
Unit F 324 – Rings, acids and amines
Unit F 325 – Equilibrium, Energetics and Elements
Unit F 326 – Practical Skills in Chemistry 2 (Internally assessed and externally moderated by OCT. students are assessed on one task from each of the following categories: qualitative, quantitative and evaluative tasks.
A Level Physics (OCR)
Aims:
- Provide, through well designed studies of theoretical and practical physics, a worthwhile educational experience for all students, whether or not they go on to study physics at a higher level and, in particular, to enable them to acquire sufficient understanding and knowledge to:
- Become confident citizens in a technological world, able to take or develop an informed interest in matters of scientific import;
- Recognise the usefulness, and limitation, of scientific method and to appreciate its applicability in other disciplines and in everyday life;
- be suitably prepared for employment and/or further studies beyond AS GCE or Advanced GCE.
Qualification Titles and Levels
These qualifications are shown on a certificate as …
- OCR Advanced Subsidiary GCE in Physics
- OCR Advanced GCE in Physics
Both qualifications are Level 3 in the National Qualification Framework (NQF)
Prior learning/Attainment:
The AS course has been written to provide progression from GCSE Science and GCSE Additional Science, or from GCSE Physics; achievement at a minimum of grade C in these qualifications should be seen as the normal requite for entry to AS Physics.
However, students who have successfully taken other level 2 qualifications in Science or Applied Science with appropriate Physics content may also acquired sufficient knowledge and understanding to begin the AS Physics course. Other students without formal qualifications may have acquired sufficient knowledge of Physics to enable progression onto the course. Students at the Bushey Academy will have a background of GCSE Additional Science with minimum grade for entry that is determined by the Academy’s 6th Form.
The specification is divided into physical topics, each containing different key concepts of physics. Once the key features of a physical topic have been developed, applications are considered. For assessment purposes, knowledge and understanding of key concepts are treated separately at AS; important links between different areas of physical are largely assessed synoptically at A2. While the teaching of practical skills may be integrated with the theoretical topics, they are assessed separately. This specification incorporates the QCA Subject Criteria for Physics.
AS Units:
Unit G481: Mechanics
- Motion
- Forces in action
- Work and energy
Unit G482: Electrons, Waves and Photons
- Electric current
- Resistance & DC circuits
- Waves
- Quantum physics
Unit G483: Practical Skills in Physics 1
- This AS (practical skills) unit is teacher assessed and externally moderated by OCR.
- Candidates are assessed on one task from each of the following categories: qualitative,Quantitative and evaluative tasks
A2 Units:
Unit G484: The Newtonian World
- Newton’s laws and momentum
- Circular motion and oscillations
- Thermal physics
Unit G485: Fields, Particles and Frontiers of Physics
- Electric and magnetic fields
- Capacitors and exponential decay
- Nuclear physics
- Medical imaging
- Modelling the universe
Unit G486 Practical Skills in Physics 2
- This A2 (practical skills) unit is teacher assessed and externally moderated by OCR.
- Candidates are assessed on one task from each of the following categories: qualitative,Quantitative and evaluative tasks