Year 5 Science Scheme of Work

Earth and Space

• –Describe the movement of the Earth and other planets relative to the Sun in the solar system.
• –Describe the movement of the Moon relative to the Earth.
• –Describe the Sun, Earth, and Moon as approximately spherical bodies.
• –Use the idea of the Earth's rotation to explain day and night and the apparent movement of the sun across the sky.

• –Create a scale model of the solar system in the school grounds using fruit of varying sizes to represent the planets.
• –Use a torch and globe to model day and night and demonstrate how the Earth's rotation causes the apparent movement of the Sun.
• –Research one planet in the solar system and produce a fact file comparing it with Earth.
• –Model the phases of the Moon using a light source and polystyrene ball in a darkened room.

Forces and Gravity

• –Explain that unsupported objects fall towards the Earth because of the force of gravity acting between the Earth and the falling object.
• –Identify the effects of air resistance, water resistance, and friction that act between moving surfaces.
• –Recognise that some mechanisms, including levers, pulleys, and gears, allow a smaller force to have a greater effect.

• –Investigate parachutes by varying surface area and measuring the time taken to fall, linking to air resistance.
• –Test the effect of streamlining on water resistance by racing differently shaped plasticine boats down a water channel.
• –Set up a lever investigation using a ruler and weights to explore how the position of the fulcrum affects the effort needed.
• –Demonstrate how gears of different sizes change the speed and force of a rotating system using bicycle gears or gear models.

Properties of Materials

• –Compare and group together everyday materials on the basis of their properties, including hardness, solubility, transparency, conductivity, and response to magnets.
• –Know that some materials will dissolve in liquid to form a solution, and describe how to recover a substance from a solution.
• –Use knowledge of solids, liquids, and gases to decide how mixtures might be separated.

• –Test a range of materials for hardness, solubility, conductivity, and magnetism and build a properties database.
• –Dissolve substances in water and investigate how temperature affects the rate of dissolving.
• –Separate mixtures using filtering, sieving, and evaporation, and explain the method chosen.
• –Evaluate the suitability of materials for a specific engineering challenge (e.g. a water-resistant, lightweight container).

Reversible and Irreversible Changes

• –Demonstrate that dissolving, mixing, and changes of state are reversible changes.
• –Explain that some changes result in the formation of new materials, and that this kind of change is not usually reversible, including changes associated with burning and the action of acid on bicarbonate of soda.

• –Compare melting chocolate (reversible) with burning toast (irreversible) and discuss whether the original material could be recovered.
• –Mix vinegar and bicarbonate of soda, observe the gas produced, and classify the change as irreversible.
• –Carry out a rusting investigation by placing iron nails in different conditions and observing over several weeks.
• –Create a sorting activity distinguishing reversible changes (melting, dissolving, freezing) from irreversible changes (burning, cooking, rusting).

Reproduction in Plants and Animals

• –Describe the differences in the life cycles of a mammal, an amphibian, an insect, and a bird.
• –Describe the life process of reproduction in some plants and animals.

• –Compare and contrast the life cycles of a frog, a butterfly, a blue tit, and a dog, identifying key differences.
• –Investigate asexual reproduction in plants by taking cuttings and observing root development over several weeks.
• –Create an annotated diagram of the sexual reproduction process in flowering plants, linking to Year 3 pollination work.
• –Research an animal with an unusual life cycle (e.g. emperor penguin, marsupial) and present findings to the class.