Biology
Breathing and digestion
Gas exchange and the human breathing system, effects of drugs, nutrition & digestion, food tests.
- Year 8 Science : Breathing, respiration and gas exchange
- Year 8 Science : The human gas exchange system and breathing
- Year 8 Science : Estimating lung volume
- Year 8 Science : Adaptations of the human lungs for gas exchange
- Year 8 Science : Recovery time after exercise
- Year 8 Science : The effects of exercise on breathing and heart rate
- Year 8 Science : The effects of exercise on the human body
- Year 8 Science : Balanced diet
- Year 8 Science : Imbalanced diet: obesity
- Year 8 Science : Imbalanced diet: starvation and deficiency diseases
- Year 8 Science : Energy provided by food: practical
- Year 8 Science : Food is a source of building materials and energy
- Year 8 Science : Good and ill health
Respiration and photosynthesis
How plants make food to support other organisms in an ecosystem (photosynthesis), relating plant structures to functions, how organisms release energy from their food (aerobic and anaerobic respiration).
Evolution and Inheritance
Natural selection, evolution, extinction, inheritance, DNA, genetics & genetic modification
- Year 8 Science : Life cycles and reproduction
- Year 8 Science : Reproduction and inheritance
- Year 8 Science : Discontinuous variation: data handling and analysis
- Year 8 Science : Continuous and discontinuous variation: practical
- Year 8 Science : Healthy pregnancy
- Year 8 Science : Gestation and birth in humans
- Year 8 Science : The human menstrual cycle
- Year 8 Science : Human reproductive organs
- Year 8 Science : Gametes and fertilisation in sexual reproduction
- Year 8 Science : Puberty in humans and sexual maturity
- Year 8 Science : Variation within species
- Year 8 Science : Reproduction and variation
- Year 8 Science : Classification at the cellular level
- Year 8 Science : Identification and classification in the field
- Year 8 Science : Classifying organisms using a classification key
- Year 8 Science : Classification and species
- Year 8 Science: Conserving biodiversity
- Year 8 Science: Ecological sampling of living organisms
- Year 8 Science: Animals are adapted for their environment
- Year 8 Science: Plants are adapted for their environment
- Year 8 Science: Pyramids of biomass
- Year 8 Science: Pyramids of number
Physics
Forces
Levers as simple machines, moments of forces, the principle of moments, pressure in gases and liquids, friction.
- Year 8 Science : Newton’s first law
- Year 8 Science : Changing the speed of a parachute
- Year 8 Science : Comparing the speeds of different parachutes
- Year 8 Science : Streamlining
- Year 8 Science : Changing speed
- Year 8 Science : Interpreting distance-time graphs
- Year 8 Science : Reading distance-time graphs
- Year 8 Science : Measuring speed accurately
- Year 8 Science : Measuring speed: practical
- Year 8 Science : Calculating speed
Current and Electricity
resistance (Ω) = potential difference (V) ÷ current (A),Current, circuit, electromagnet, Magnetic materials, electromagnets and the Earth create
magnetic fields
Light and Sound
Wave properties, ultrasound, electromagnetic spectrum, modelling waves, types of wave.
Work and Energy
work, energy & machines, thermal energy transfer, insulation.
Chemistry
Periodic table and Elements
Elements, atoms, compounds, formulae, polymers, the periodic table with a focus on alkali metals, halogens and noble gases.
Chemical Reactions and Chemical energy
Mass conservation in chemical reactions, combustion, thermal decomposition, energy changes in chemical reactions.
Climate and Resources
Global warming, the carbon cycle, long-term climate change, extracting materials from the Earth, recycling.
Living things and their habitats
- describe how living things are classified into groups including micro-organisms, plants and animals
- give reasons for classifying plants and animals
Animals, including humans
- identify and name parts and functions of the human circulatory system
- recognise the impact of diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle on the way the body functions
- describe how nutrients and water are transported within animals
Evolution and inheritance
- learn how fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the Earth in the past
- recognise that living things produce offspring that are not identical to their parents
- identify how plants and animals are adapted to suit their environment and that adaptation may lead to evolution
Light
- understand that light appears to travel in straight lines and is necessary for us to see objects
- understand how shadows are formed
Electricity
- investigate how the brightness of a lamp and the volume of a buzzer changes with the number and voltage of cells used in a circuit
- give reasons for variations in how components function, including the brightness of bulbs, the loudness of buzzers and the on / off positions of switches
- use recognised symbols when representing a circuit in a diagram
This is the final year of the Key Stage 2 science curriculum and the main areas are still:
- Life processes and living things
- Materials and their properties
- Physical processes