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Welcome to the Science department
“Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science.”
– Edwin Powell Hubble, The Nature of Science, 1954
Aim:
The science department aims to deliver an interesting and stimulating curriculum that allows all students to achieve and enjoy. The curriculum enables students to develop secure knowledge and understanding of basic scientific principles and core investigative skills.
Overview:
Through their scientific study students should understand and appreciate the importance and limitations of science, as well as gaining an awareness of the wider social, cultural, moral and economic factors that arise from scientific research.
Science should teach students skills that equip them for the wider world and the Thamesmead science department encourages a problem solving approach to scientific enquiry, including the ability to apply scientific knowledge to unfamiliar situations. Our schemes of work are designed to provide a range of learning experiences that match with student needs and capabilities across the whole ability range.
What topics will I study in KS3? (Year 7, 8, 9)
Year 7
• Life Processes and Living Things: Cells, Reproduction, Environment and feeding relationships, Variation and classification.
• Materials and their Properties: Acids and alkalis, Simple chemical reactions, The particle model, Solutions.
• Physical Processes: Light and sound, Heating and cooling Electrical circuits, The solar system.
• Experimental and Investigative Science: Planning experimental procedures, Obtaining evidence, Analyzing evidence and drawing conclusions, Considering the strength of the evidence.
Year 8
• Life Processes & Living Things: Food & Digestion, Fit and Healthy, Respiration, Microbes and ecology.
• Materials and their Properties: Elements & Atoms, Compounds & Mixtures, Rocks & Weathering, The Rock Cycle, Reactivity series.
• Physical Processes: Magnets & Electromagnets, Energy and Electricity.
• Experimental & Investigative Science: Planning experimental procedures, obtaining evidence, analyzing evidence and drawing conclusions, considering the strength of the evidence.
Year 9
• Life Processes & Living Things: Inheritance and selection, Plants and Photosynthesis, Plants for food.
• Materials & Their Properties: Reactions of metals and their compounds, Patterns of reactivity, Environmental chemistry, Using chemistry.
• Physical Processes: Gravity and space, Forces, Speed, Pressure and movement, Light and sound.
• Experimental & Investigative Science: Planning experimental procedures, Obtaining evidence, Analyzing evidence and drawing conclusions, Considering the strength of evidence.
Can I study this subject at KS4? (Year 10 & 11 – GCSE)
All students will study Core Science and Additional Science in KS4. Those wishing to extend their knowledge can choose to take the Triple Science option which leads to GCSEs in the three separate Sciences of Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
Are there any enrichment opportunities?
The Thamesmead Plus programme offers the KS3 STEM club to further develop students’ interest in Science.
What careers might this lead to?
Science supports entry in to a huge range of careers including: medicine, veterinary, dentistry, pharmacy, research, laboratory work, engineering, architecture, environmental science, utilities, conservation and animal care.