Science

Why is the subject important?

The vision at Trinity Academy Grammar is to ensure all students develop the skills to become strong communicators who embody respect, responsibility, empathy and honesty. We want to help people enjoy science and achieve their most ambitious aspirations.

Science is important to this because it sits at the heart of our modern society. Over the past three years more than any we have seen the impact scientific advice can have on our daily lives. Making learners who are scientifically literate ensures that our pupils are equipped for the modern world.

Our curriculum teaches fundamental knowledge and skills so that all students can:

  • Develop an interest in and curiosity for their world, relating learning to real life applications.
  • Have an awareness of the diversity of careers in science and the importance of these in the world today.
  • Develop the ability to use scientific methods including questioning, communicating, justifying and evaluating scientific arguments, while also being able to implement practical science methodology.
  • Consider the moral, ethical and social implications of science.
  • Understand the historical, cultural and contemporary issues linked to science and its development.
Year 7

What will I be studying?

In Year 7 students will study all three sciences: biology, chemistry and physics. They will find out how plants are put together and how they make glucose, the chemical that keeps us alive. Students find out about how animals get energy, and how they use bones to move. Students learn about acids and alkalis, and how to use the periodic table. Pupils build on their knowledge, and start to write chemical equations. Learners are also shown how forces are measured, and what gravity does to weight. Finally, they learn how waves, including sound and light, travel.

Through all this students learn how to use a laboratory, particularly by using and understanding the equipment they contain. They learn to plot bar charts, and make an axis for them. Pupils are also introduced to formulae, and shown how to use their maths skills in their scientific context.

Term by term this will involve:

  • Term 1: living organisms, particles and forces. Organisms and cell hierarchy, states of matter and simple force interactions.
  • Term 2: digestion, the periodic table and the effects of forces. Diet and the digestive system, the periodic table and symbols, acceleration and resultant force.
  • Term 3: gas exchange, chemical reactions and gravity. Diffusion and breathing, chemical reactions and gravity vs weight.
  • Term 4: movement, acids and alkalis and the earth. The skeletal system, the pH scale, the earth and space.
  • Term 5: plants, the rock cycle and waves. Flowers and pollination, the rock cycle, waves and their impacts.
  • Term 6: transport systems, chemical equations and sound. Blood and plant transport, writing equations, sound waves and reflection.

Career Links

Science is essential in the modern economy, so the careers it links to are very diverse. Pathways include medicine, microbiology, engineering, geology, sports science, physiotherapy, and trades.

While science leads to careers, you will also learn life skills, like the benefits of a balanced diet and the financial and medical implications of people with poor lifestyle choices.

How will I be assessed?

We have two exam-style assessments through the year, in Term 3 and Term 6. These will cover all the content from the year up to their respective times, and give opportunities to apply knowledge.

At the end of every term we have shorter multiple-choice tests for the content of that term. These are called ‘Masters of Recall’, and tell us how pupils are getting on with the core knowledge they need to know.

Pupils can prepare for the Masters of Recall test using their knowledge organiser, and through the homework they complete. Both of these are closely linked to the questions on the Masters of Recall test, and are great ways to revise.

Which websites should I use to support my learning?

  • BBC Bitesize – an online learning platform which allows students to review knowledge and skills in line with KS3 science national curriculum. The platform also has a review and test function to allow students to assess their understanding of individual topics. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zng4d2p
  • Free science lessons – a selection of online videos to support students with their understanding of key concepts from both the national curriculum for science and GCSE science specifications.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqbOeHaAUXw9Il7sBVG3_bw

What will I be studying?

By the end of Year 8 students will have revisited each of the biological structures explored in Year 7. They will analyse at the process they support such as photosynthesis, respiration and reproduction. In chemistry, students will continue to explore chemical reactions, including those discussed in biology, and will explore the processes involved in recycling. In physics, students will explore energy sources, electrical circuits and the interaction between light and the eye.

Year 8 students should be able to select appropriate equipment for simple investigations and give an outline of how an experiment could be conducted, remembering potential risks. Mathematically, students should be able to recognise quantities based on their units and be able to convert them into standard units. Students should be able to articulate conclusions to investigations and quote numerical evidence to support their findings.

  • Term 1: reproduction, properties of elements, light. Animal reproduction, trends in the periodic table and reflection.
  • Term 2: respiration, exothermic and endothermic reactions, energy sources. Aerobic and anaerobic respiration, energetics in reactions, ways to transfer energy.
  • Term 3: photosynthesis, separating mixtures, density and state changes. Adaptations of plants, chromatography, mass and volume.
  • Term 4: enzymes, the carbon cycle, energy. Biological reactions, respiration and photosynthesis, sources of energy.
  • Term 5: interdependence, material science, series circuits. Food chains, reactivity, charge and charge flow.
  • Term 6: DNA, diffusion and sensory organs.  DNA and natural selection, transfer of liquids and gasses, eyes and ears.

Career Links

Science is essential in the modern economy, so the careers it links to are very diverse. Career pathways could be in food science and nutrition, forensic science, conservation, zoology, and optometry.

Our Year 8 curriculum also teaches students about the impacts of energy usage on the environment, and the need to preserve raw materials.

How will I be assessed?

Year 8 has two exam-style assessments through the year, in Term 3 and Term 6. These will cover all the content from the pupils’ school career up to their respective times, and give opportunities to apply knowledge.

At the end of every term we have shorter multiple-choice tests for the content of that term. This is called ‘Masters of Recall’, and it tells us about how pupils are getting on with the core knowledge they need to know.

Pupils can prepare for the Masters of Recall test using their knowledge organiser, and through the homework they complete. Both of these are closely linked to the questions on the Masters of Recall test, and are great ways to revise.

Which websites should I use to support my learning?

  • BBC Bitesize – an online learning platform which allows students to review knowledge and skills in line with KS3 science national curriculum. The platform also has a review and test function to allow students to assess their understanding of individual topics. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zng4d2p
  • Free science lessons – a selection of online videos to support students with their understanding of key concepts from both the national curriculum for science and GCSE science specifications. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqbOeHaAUXw9Il7sBVG3_bw

What will I be studying?

In Year 9, students continue to add depth to their breadth of knowledge. Within Year 9, students revisit the fundamental concepts of biology, chemistry and physics to prepare them for their GCSEs. Through doing this, pupils also hone their practical and mathematical skills making them scientifically literate learners.

During Year 9 biology, students revisit and extend their knowledge of the processes that occur inside cells. They learn about the processes happening in living things from organelles to organ systems. In chemistry they explore the structures of atoms, the theories of the atomic model, and how the model was developed. In physics, students will build upon their knowledge of forces and develop their understanding of pressure.

  • Term 1: lenses, neutralisation and evolution. Refraction, production of a salt and natural selection.
  • Term 2: the CNS, equations, circuits. Co-ordinated and reflex responses, writing balanced equations and connecting series and parallel circuits.
  • Term 3: cells, changing state and density. Organelles and their function, the particle model and calculating volumes.
  • Term 4: enzymes, the atomic model and static electricity. Investigating enzyme action, subatomic particles and conduction.
  • Term 5: respiration, physical and chemical changes, pressure. Aerobic and anaerobic, conserving mass, particle motion.
  • Term 6: photosynthesis, heating and cooling, springs. Limiting factors, specific heat capacity and Hooke’s law.

Career Links

Science is essential in the modern economy, so the careers it links to are very diverse. Career pathways could be in nanoscience, food science, botany, drug development, sport pharmacology, genetics, and aeronautics.

Our Year 9 curriculum also provides students with the language needed to express scientific ideas and critically analyse scientific work.

How will I be assessed?

We have two exam-style assessments through the year, in Term 3 and Term 6. These will cover all the content from the pupils’ school career up to their respective times, and give opportunities to apply knowledge. These tests are longer than the ones from earlier years, to give us a good idea of how to help you best during your GCSE years.

At the end of every term we have shorter multiple-choice tests for the content of that term. This is called ‘Masters of Recall’, and it tells us about how pupils are getting on with the core knowledge they need to know.

Pupils can prepare for the Masters of Recall test using their knowledge organiser, and through the homework they complete. Both of these are closely linked to the questions on the Masters of Recall test, and are great ways to revise.

Which websites should I use to support my learning?

  • BBC Bitesize – an online learning platform which allows students to review knowledge and skills in line with KS3 science National Curriculum. The platform also has a review and test function to allow students to assess their understanding of individual topics. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zng4d2p
  • Free science lessons – a selection of online videos to support students with their understanding of key concepts from both the national curriculum for science and GCSE science specifications. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqbOeHaAUXw9Il7sBVG3_bw

What will I be studying?

In Year 10 our students follow the OCR Gateway specification. Students either follow the combined science pathway to achieve two GCSE grades or the separate science pathway to attain GCSEs in biology, chemistry and physics.

By the end of Year 10 students will have revisited, consolidated and deepened many of the golden threads, the fundamentals addressed during their five-year journey. Within biology, students will have moved from cells and organ systems to organisms as a whole, and how organisms interact with one another and the ecosystem. In chemistry, the formulae and equations previously encountered will be used to describe reactions and to predict trends on the periodic table based on experimental observations. In physics, the contact forces explored in Year 9 will now be expanded to look at non-contact force, last addressed in Year 7. Within all topics the mathematical skills of students will continue to develop to enable them to articulate conclusions and support with mathematical evidence. Practical skills will have continued to develop and students should now be able to select appropriate equipment for an experiment and state how to ensure their results are valid.

By the end of Year 11 students will have tied together the learning throughout their five-year learning journey within the final units called ‘Global Challenges’. Within these final units for biology, chemistry and physics, students will learn of the biggest challenges facing the human race: within biology, the spread and treatment of disease and its impact on food security; within chemistry, our use of finite resources, how they can be preserved and how their use damages the environment and, within physics, the energy crisis and how we can reduce our use of fossil fuels while maintaining our current energy dependent lifestyles. Students will now be able to apply their scientific literacy and numeracy skills to select appropriate equipment and plan a method to collect valid data, be able to process, analyse and evaluate complex data.

Throughout Years 10 and 11 students will cover the following content:

  • Chemical reactions: Introducing chemical reactions, energetics, types of chemical reactions and electrolysis
  • Electricity and magnetism: Static and charge, simple   circuits, magnets and magnetic fields
  • Community level systems: Ecosystems
  • Predicting and identifying reactions and products: Chemical reactions. Predicting chemical reactions
  • Waves and radioactivity: Wave behaviour, the electromagnetic spectrum and radioactivity
  • Genes, inheritance and selection: Inheritance, natural selection and evolution
  • Monitoring and Controlling Chemical Reactions: Controlling reactions and equilibria
  • Energy work done, power and efficiency
  • Global Challenges: Monitoring and maintaining the environment, feeding the human race, monitoring and maintaining health
  • Global Challenges: Improving processes and products, interpreting and interacting with earth systems
  • Global challenges: Physics on the move, powering Earth

Career Links

Year 10

Careers – Career pathways in chemical engineering, marine biology, material science, radiography, and midwifery.

Employability skills – Equipping students with the knowledge to critically analyse the risks and benefits of the use of ionising radiation to diagnose and treat diseases.

Year 11

Careers – Career pathways in geology, water hygiene engineering, automotive design, and renewable energy engineering.

Employability skills – Students will be taught how to evaluate and form opinions on advancing medical techniques, e.g. stem cell research and be introduced into the ethics of scientific developments.

How will I be assessed?

At the end of the course students will sit six terminal exams, assessing knowledge and application of skills covered over the five-year learning journey in science.

Throughout Years 10 and 11, students also complete both end of topic summative assessments and synoptic summative assessments, to assess their progress and understanding of knowledge and skills.

Quick 6 quizzes take place each lesson together with weekly recall homework to support and assess knowledge retention over time.

Which websites should I use to support my learning?

  • BBC Bitesize – an online learning platform with which to review all knowledge and skills in line with KS4 national curriculum. The platform also has review and test functions to allow students to assess their understanding of individual topics. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/examspecs/z2dqqhv
  • Free science lessons – a selection of online videos to support students with key concepts from both the national curriculum for science and GCSE science specifications. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqbOeHaAUXw9Il7sBVG3_bw
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