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Science
Our Curriculum Intents
“We see and question the science behind everything.”
- To foster a love of the subject where students live and breathe science in all that they do, questioning everything that they see around them.
- To equip students with the skills to become scientists that excel in enquiry based learning, developing their confidence and ability to write scientific reports.
- To communicate with increasing complexity with regards to tier 3 vocabulary and scientific ideas e.g. accuracy and precision.
- To explore cultural and historical context and evaluate how scientific ideas have developed through time.
- To equip students with practical skills and confidence in a laboratory so that pupils feel willing to explore STEM as a further education/careers option.
- To ensure annual success at GCSE in Combined Science and Separate Science.
Big ideas
The curriculum is designed around the “Big Ideas” model, which allows to students to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of a range or areas in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Each “Big Idea” is covered at least once per year group, allowing students to make continuous progression through their learning at Mossley Hollins.
| Biology | Chemistry | Physics |
|---|---|---|
| Cells and cellular processes | Materials and their properties | Energy |
| Biological systems for life | Chemical Changes | Forces and fields |
| Organisms and their interactions with the environment | Our earth and its atmosphere | Matter and materials |
Our Science Faculty
Miss Walton – Head of Faculty
Mrs Milburn – Deputy Headteacher and Senior Leader for Science
Mr Dawson – Deputy Head of Faculty
Mr Fenton – Teacher of Science and Middle leader for the able
Miss Tierney – Separate Science Co-ordinator
Mr Patel – Teacher of Science
Mrs Waheed – Teacher of Science
Our Curriculum
Key Stage 3
Key Stage 4
Chemistry Curriculum
Revision
Key Stage 3
Pupils must have their knowledge organisers that contain all of the information for their year. If they cannot find their knowledge organiser, there is a link below.
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Key Stage 3 – Knowledge organisers
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Pupils must then use active revision techniques to memorise and apply the knowledge, skills and understanding for that particular unit.
Active revision strategies include:
- Condensing; rather than copy, condense the information by 50%. Revise it and condense again.
- Transform text to diagrams; Replace text with a simple diagram and link together to make a concept map.
- Flashcards: Design questions on the front and answers on the back. Spend some time memorising these on your own.
- Get quizzing; Get someone to test you on your flashcards! Other sources of quizzes include; BBC Bitesize.
- Create a help sheet or mark scheme; Design a mark scheme for a tricky 6 marker or make a help sheet to show other students how to avoid common mistakes.
- Blitz past papers! See your teacher for these.
Key Stage 4
You must have the following; revision guide(s), knowledge organisers, 6 specifications and past paper booklets with mark schemes.
Set aside some time and use the specification as a list of things you need to know for the exam and tick them off once you have memorised it.
Be organised and make a plan. Which specification points are you going to cover and when? You will have to make a long term plan.
Repetition helps things stick in your memory. Don’t just use your flashcards once or do a past paper question once. Revisit your flashcards lots of times and answer past paper questions in pencil so that you can do them again.
You must use active revision techniques to memorise and apply the knowledge, skills and understanding for the exam
Active revision strategies include:
- Condensing; rather than copy, condense the information by 50%. Revise it and condense again.
- Transform text to diagrams; Replace text with a simple diagram and link together to make a concept map.
- Flashcards: Design questions on the front and answers on the back. Spend some time memorising these on your own.
- Get quizzing; Get someone to test you on your flashcards! Other sources of quizzes include; BBC Bitesize and your revision guide.
- Create a help sheet or mark scheme; Design a mark scheme for a tricky 6 marker or make a help sheet to show other students how to avoid common mistakes.
- Blitz past papers! You can find them all here: Key Stage 4 – Revision
Enrichment
To help bring the Science to life the faculty offer several enrichment activities in various forms. Examples include:
- Year 11 Physics pupils visiting the CERN particle accelerator in Geneva
- Attending lectures at the University of Manchester and the University of Sheffield
- Visiting speakers discussing current scientific research
- Entering teams in the North West Chemistry Quiz, Glider challenge and North West STEM challenge
- Bronze and silver CREST award to develop scientific enquiry
- Big Bang Fair North West
Virtual Science
| Activity | Link |
| London Natural History Museum – Virtual Museum Delve into the Museum from home with a virtual self-guided tour of the galleries, an interactive experience about Hope the blue whale and audio guides narrated by Sir David Attenborough. | https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/virtual-museum.html |
| London Science Museum – Virtual Museum Explore the science museum with a virtual tour on Google Streetview or enjoy a curated tour of the museum. You can also explore their 325,000 object in amazing detail! | https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/virtual-tour-science-museum |
| Washington D.C Natural History Museum – Virtual tours The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum from their desktop or mobile device | https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour |
| Washington D.C Natural History Museum – Summer Explorations Join a free virtual summer program series that allows you to explore the world of natural history science in a fun and interactive way! Each week they will explore a different natural science-based theme and provide a suite of daily live webinars, videos, activities, and projects. | https://naturalhistory.si.edu/education/natural-history-summer-explorations |
| WWF Activities for pupils Take inspiration and ideas from their hub of seasonal and fun creative activities that are designed to encourage pupils to get outside, get creative using recycled materials, and learn about nature and sustainability. | https://www.wwf.org.uk/get-involved/schools/activities |
| CERN – Virtual Visits ‘Visit’ the site of the Large Hadron Collider – the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator. A variety of interactive activities including virtual reality videos and tours of the site. | https://visit.cern/tours/virtual-visits https://visit.cern/discover-cern-online |
| Chester Zoo – Virtual Zoo Take part in one of many virtual tours of Chester Zoo which broadcasted the zoo whilst in lockdown. | https://www.chesterzoo.org/virtual-zoo-2/ |
| Edinburgh Zoo – Animal information and live webcams Find out about all the animals that live in Edinburgh Zoo and there are live webcams of the animals so you can see what they are up to! | https://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/animals-and-attractions/animals/ |
| London Zoo – Virtual Zoo and Live Talks Visit the animals, and their hardworking keepers, in real time. Gain an unedited snapshot of what goes on day to day – the cleaning, the caring, the surprises and the affection. Enjoy the animals in all their unpredictable, quirky ways and check in with the teams still there, on site, looking after their animals. | https://www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo/virtual-london-zoo https://www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo/whats-on/live-from-zsl-london-zoo |
| Kew Gardens – Virtual tour into the glasshouses Travel to the tropics, the desert and the mountains without leaving the house with their seasonal footage and a sneak peek at their glasshouses across Kew and Wakehurst. | https://www.kew.org/about-us/virtual-kew-wakehurst |
| Google Expeditions – Virtual Reality Tours and Augmented Reality Expeditions explore history, science, the arts, and the natural world. Whether you’re roaming with dinosaurs or taking a look at Renaissance sculptures, there’s something amazing to explore for every subject. | https://edu.google.com/products/vr-ar/expeditions/?modal_active=none To experience VR cheaply you can order a product called “google cardboard” which lets you turn your smart phone into a VR headset with some self-assembly. |
| NASA – Citizen Science Projects & Other Activities NASA’s citizen science projects are collaborations between scientists and interested members of the public. Through these collaborations, volunteers (known as citizen scientists) have helped make thousands of important scientific discoveries. | https://science.nasa.gov/citizenscience https://www.nasa.gov/stem/forstudents/5-8/index.html https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/ |
| Dyson Challenge Cards Can you skewer a balloon without popping it? Coat a nail in copper? What happens when you plug a clock into a potato? Dyson engineers have designed these challenges specifically for children. Ideal for home or in the classroom, they encourage inquisitive young minds to get excited about engineering. | https://www.jamesdysonfoundation.co.uk/resources/challenge-cards.html |
| Learn.Genetics – An introduction to genetics and biology Explore a range of resources all aimed at explains the basics of biology and genetics. Activities to complete as well as learning if you want to learn something new. | https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/ |
| Institute of Physics – Moon Adventure What’s it like to be an astronaut? Where did the Moon come from? What’s the future of humans in space? Click to find out more! | https://beta.iop.org/moon?_ga=2.10362485.1926302531.1594071685-507043688.1594071685 |
| Royal Institute – Experiments and Practicals A series of short films making it fun, easy and cheap to do science experiments at home with your family. | https://www.rigb.org/families/experimental |
| STEM – Massive list of activities for all ages A range of fun, hands-on activities for families to use at home, suitable for all ages from 4 to 16. | https://www.stem.org.uk/home-learning/family-activities |
| Discovering Antarctica Take a journey through this site and begin discovering Antarctica for yourself. Each section features activities, images, video clips and fact sheets, to help you learn about this distant, frozen wilderness. | https://discoveringantarctica.org.uk/ |
| Scouts – The Great Indoors While Scouts normally love the great outdoors, they’ve pulled together some inspired indoor activity ideas to keep you entertained while schools are closed due to coronavirus. | https://www.scouts.org.uk/the-great-indoors |
| Tynker – Learn to code Tynker provides everything needed to learn computer programming in a fun way. Tynker offers self-paced online courses for children to learn coding at home. | https://www.tynker.com/dashboard/student/#/dashboard |
| TEDEd – Online learning videos Allows students to search for lectures — recorded or animated — on subjects of interest or sign up for a daily email of lesson plans that span all subjects and age groups. | https://ed.ted.com/lessons?category=science-technology&direction=desc&sort=featured-position |
| WildEarth – Live Safaris WildEarth’s safariLIVE is an award winning, expert hosted LIVE safari, broadcast directly from the African wilderness into your home. | https://wildearth.tv/safarilive/ Sunrise Safari: 5:30am-8:30am Sunset Safari: 2pm-5pm Every day of the week |
| Monterey Bay Aquarium – Live Cams Be delighted by the antics of the sea otters or mellow out to the hypnotic drifting of jellies. With ten live cams to choose from, you can experience the wonder of the ocean no matter where you are. There are live narrated feedings every day. | https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams |
| Create a Rube Goldberg Machine A Rube Goldberg machine is any complex contraption that uses a chain reaction to perform a simple task. Think of it as dominoes with far more steps leading to doing something simple like turning a light on or silence an alarm. They involve a lot of set up but are incredibly satisfying to have work. This site has examples of famous Rube Goldberg videos from YouTube. | https://boyslife.org/hobbies-projects/projects/159359/how-to-make-a-rube-goldberg-machine/ |