Students complete a classroom audit and explain how appliances are used in their homes and classroom each day. They will represent data with objects and drawings where one object or drawing represents one data value. Students will understand how people use science in their daily lives, including when caring for their environment and living things. Students wil be able to classify a range of everyday appliances in terms of their energy usage and record and tally items around the classroom and at home.

In this lesson, students will locate, observe and record their observations of insects or minibeasts in a school ground or garden environment. They will represent and communicate observations and ideas in a variety of ways such as oral and written language, drawing and role play. Students will observe how living things have a variety of external features. They'll be able to hypothesise on the types of minibeasts in their local area, identify the features of minibeasts in their local area and be able to draw a diagram to document the features of the minibeasts in their local area.

In this activity, students work in pairs to research the important issue of sustainable use of water resources. Students will discover the most appropriate way to find credible information about this issue on the internet. Students are given time to find internet material that they evaluate according to a set of criteria. Students identify websites that are credible, useful, and informative.

In this lesson, students redesign an area of their school to make it as energy efficient as possible. They will identify energy users in the classroom then brainstorming design solutions to remove or reduce reliance on these items. The class then selects and area of the school to assess and redesign for improved energy efficiency. The lesson concludes with students presenting their plan as a model or chart. By completing the activities in this lesson, students will understand how science and technology contribute to finding solutions to a range of contemporary issues; these solutions may impact on other areas of society and involve ethical considerations. They will use comprehension strategies to interpret, analyse and synthesise ideas and information, critiquing ideas and issues from a variety of textual sources. Students will be able to identify energy users in and around their school, justify design features choices to increase energy efficiency and redesign an area of the school to be more energy efficient. Students will present their designs using a map, model, blue-print, drawing or digital representation/model.

This is a lesson plan with an associated Student Worksheet. In this lesson, students use their observation skills to explore our environment. They will explore some of the amazing colours, shapes, patterns and textures that can be found in nature. The class will walk around the school or a nearby park, spot as many colours as they can, observe the different shapes and patterns found along the walk and feel the different textures of a variety of objects. Students will build on their skills to recognise and classify familiar two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional objects using obvious features. They will use a range of methods to sort information, including drawings, and learn about how to behave in a safe manner while outdoors.

In this lesson, students design a bedroom that has a range of creative energy saving features. Students will imagine what their ultimate bedroom of the future might look like then work on a design for this bedroom with modifications that make it as low energy as possible. Your class will explore needs or opportunities for designing, and the technologies needed to realise designed solutions. Students will generate, develop and record design ideas through describing, drawing and modelling. They will be able to identify energy inefficiencies in an everyday setting, then design options for reduction of energy use at home. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to communicate their design ideas with their peers and give constructive feedback.

The ‘Stand on the Line’ activity can be used as a barometer to test students’ prior knowledge - the focus of this lesson is the the human impact on ecosystems. Read a set of statements to students then use the additional notes provided to engage students in further conversation around each point.

Students use their observation skills and directed questioning to answer questions about birds and their location and motion. Students will develop the scientific skill of comparing observations with those of others and will be able to make observations about birds in their natural environment.

This tool will help you to structure student research. It will assist them to organise ideas and help them to form opinions about new topics.