Year 3 Science Units

Plant Nutrition and Reproduction

In the Plant Nutrition and Reproduction project, your child will learn to link plant structure to function and identify plant parts associated with water transport and reproduction. They will build on prior learning, naming and describing the function of different parts of flowering plants, including the roots, stems, leaves and flowers. Your child will observe fibrous roots and taproots and investigate how water and nutrients are transported in plants. Your child will create the life cycle of a flowering plant and learn the parts and functions of flower parts. They will ask scientific questions about pollination and research to find the answers. They will learn about seed formation and dispersal and identify how the structure of seeds aid dispersal.

Light and Shadow

In the Light and Shadows project, your child will learn that light is a form of energy essential to life on Earth. They will learn that dark is the absence of light and that the Sun is Earth's main source of light and heat. They will identify light sources and reflectors and discuss their differences. They will investigate materials to discover which are reflective and which are non-reflective. They will use their results to identify the qualities of reflective and non-reflective materials and discuss the need for reflective materials in everyday life. They will learn the importance of staying safe in the Sun and investigate sun creams. They will learn about shadows and how they change shape when a light source moves. They will investigate whether transparent, translucent and opaque materials cast shadows and discuss their uses. They will ask scientific questions about light, reflectors and shadows and research to find the answers. They will complete their learning by investigating how shadows change during the day.

Animal Nutrition and the Skeletal System

In the Animal Nutrition and the Skeletal Systems project, your child will revisit prior learning about living things, including how animals can be carnivores, herbivores or omnivores, needing food, water, air, shelter, sleep and space to reproduce and survive. They will use the term 'nutrition', learning that it is a life process by which all living things get or make food. They will learn that humans are omnivores because of their teeth and ask scientific questions about the human diet and research to find the answers. They will learn how humans need a balanced diet containing various foods in the right proportions from the main food groups: fruit and vegetables, carbohydrates, proteins, dairy and alternatives and oils and spreads. They will learn that oils and spreads contain fat which is an essential part of the human diet if consumed in small amounts, before investigating the fattiness of various foods. They will read information to compare the diets of different animals, including carnivores, herbivores and omnivores, revisiting learning about how animals' diets change with the seasons. They will learn the function of the human skeleton, observing and then labelling the location of its major bones. They will learn what joints are and investigate how they allow us to bend and move easily. They will learn the function of muscles and identify how they work in pairs before observing firsthand the movements their muscles bring about. They will carefully examine different skeleton types and use the terms 'vertebrate', 'invertebrate', 'endoskeleton' and 'exoskeleton'. They will complete their learning by generating scientific questions on the theme of nutrition, skeletons and muscles and use observation or research to find the answers.

Forces and Magnets

In the Forces and Magnets project, your child will learn what forces are and what they do. They will learn about pushing and pulling forces and sort different actions into pushes and pulls. They will identify and explain contact forces. They will learn about and investigate frictional forces. They will use force meters to measure the forces needed to carry out everyday tasks and record their measurements. They will learn about magnetism (a non-contact force) and explore bar magnets. They will find out about magnetic attraction, repulsion and magnetic fields. They will test the magnetic properties of different objects. They will learn about the magnetism of the Earth and how this enables compasses to work. They will use this knowledge to make compasses. They will learn about the uses of friction and magnetism and carry out research. They will use different methods to investigate the strength of magnets.

Rocks, Relics and Rumbles

This unit science is taught in conjunction with a geography unit about Volcanoes. In the Rocks, Relics and Rumbles project, your child will learn about the different layers of the Earth, including plate tectonics and their potential effects on the Earth's surface. They will investigate different types of rock to learn about their uses and properties. They will also investigate soil and fossils, including learning about the work of Mary Anning. They will have the opportunity to use maps to learn about the lines of latitude and longitude and a compass to learn about the cardinal and intercardinal points. They will also learn about volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis and the long and short-term consequences that these can have.