YEAR: 3/4 Spring 1
On The Move
SUBJECT: Science
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
 Key Questions
To understand that humans
.
and other animals have
skeletons which have many
functions.
Understand that humans and
some other animals have
skeletons and muscles to
support and protect their
bodies and to help them
move.
Understand that life
processes common to humans
and other animals include
nutrition, movement, growth
and reproduction.
Use appropriate scientific
language and terms to
communicate ideas and
explain the behaviour of
living things.
Understand that science is
about thinking creatively to
try to explain how living
things and non living things
work, and to establish links
between causes and effects.
ACTIVITIES
Week 1
Whole class teaching:
Show the class a life-sized outline drawing of a Year 4 child. If they were going to create a new class
member what body parts would the new child need? Start adding the suggested body parts to the
outline, attempting to place each in the correct position. Continue until the children mention bones or
the need for a skeleton. Why do we need a skeleton? – Hold the paper pupil and allow him/her to fall to
the ground. What do the class know about their skeletons? Tell them that we would be floppy too like
this without our skeleton. Ask them to think about the framework of a Tudor house or buildings that
they have seen being built covered in scaffold, or building frames they have seen erected.
But what else does our skeleton allow us to do? Tell the class that not only does our skeleton give us a
shape it also allows us to move. Point out that our skeleton is made up of many separate bones so that
we can bend, imagine life with a back bone which was rigid rather than our backbone which is made up
of many smaller joints which are held together but allow us to touch our toes! (Week 4 looks at joints
in more detail). Interestingly children are born with more individual bones than an adult! – Babies need
to be more flexible to help them through their mothers pelvis when they are born. Separate bones
grow in the baby’s skull before fusing later (after birth).
Discuss how muscles attached to these bones and joints enable us to move. Without muscles to help us
move and hold up our skeleton, we would have little more shape than the paper pupil.
Finally tell the children skeletons protect their bodies. Look back at the paper pupil – look at any of
the soft organs the children suggested. Tell the class that these vital organs need to be protected.
Look at a child’s cycle helmet. Point out that the skull protects the brain with a covering of hard bone
(cycle helmets provide additional protection and still need to be worn!!). Discuss the rib cage and how
this protects the lungs and heart but has enough flexibility to rise and fall as we breathe.
Independent activity:
Provide class with an outline of a human body (session resource). Which bones can they feel on their
own bodies? - How many ribs can they feel? How many bones make up the hands and feet? Ask them
to draw bones on the outline as they explore their own bodies. Allow children access to suggested
websites (session resource) to support them in this activity and reinforce the three key functions of
the skeleton – support, protection, movement. Look at the children’s drawn skeletons. Tell them that in
the next week they will look in more detail at skeletons.
Plenary:
Tell the children that not all animals have their skeletons inside their bodies (internal skeletons) vertebrates & invertebrates, insects, crabs, have exoskeletons. What functions do these external
skeletons have? – Protect the softer insides. Discuss how animals with exoskeletons need to “grow”
their exoskeleton so that they may grow. Tell the class that some creatures shed their skeletons
briefly before finding another! (Hermit crab) Other creatures grow their shell as they grow (snails,
crabs). Show some examples of exoskeletons if available.
Differentiation
Assessment/Outcomes
I can statements
I can:
1. Describe the main
function of the human
skeleton.
2. Understand that
some animals have
skeletons on the
inside like humans, and
others have skeletons
on the outside of
their bodies.
RESOURCES
Including other
adults
Life size paper
cut out of a
child, cycle
helmet,
exoskeleton
examples – snail,
crab shell,
access to the
internet.
Evaluation
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
 Key Questions
To indentify bones in.the
human skeleton using
Scientific names and observe
them closely.
Understand that life
processes common to humans
& other animals include
nutrition, movement and
growth.
Understand that humans and
other animals have skeletons
and muscles to support and
protect their bodies and to
help them move.
Use first hand data to carry
out a range of scientific
investigations.
Make systematic
observations and
measurements.
Use a range of methods
including drawings to
communicate data in a
systematic manner.
Understand that it is
important to test ideas using
evidence from observation
and measurement.
ACTIVITIES
Week 2
Whole class teaching:
Briefly revise the basic functions of the human skeleton – protection, support and movement –
highlighting how each function is vital before looking again at the body outlines created in the previous
session. Compare these drawings to a life sized skeleton model (a local secondary school or Doctors’
surgery might be able to help out here!) or enlarged skeleton drawing (session resource). What are the
main differences between their drawings and the model? Did children realise that there are pairs of
bones in the lower arms and legs? Point out how the rib cage provides protection for the vital organs in
the chest.
Ask the children how many of the 206 bones that make up the human body they can name? Take
suggestions from the class and write them on Post it notes sticking them to the bones. At this stage
take all contributions even if they are not the scientific name. Discuss the differences between the
‘common’ names – backbone, knee cap, funny bone and their ‘scientific’ names – spine, patella, humerus.
Using the labelled skeleton (session resource) add the scientific names to the skeleton.
Tell the children that they may have sung the ‘Dem Bones’ song before but now that they are in KS2 it
would be a good idea to start learning some of the scientific names! Take a look at
http://www.songsforteaching.com/intellitunes/bones.htm and learn the song. Listen to the tune and
start to sing along…
Group activities:
Children should experience both activities either in rotation or one after the other…
Adult-led activity:
Activity 1:
Take a close look at some real bones (Safety: these will need to have been sterilised and should be
handled with gloves). Encourage children to describe the bones – hard, strong, light, smooth, rigid –
why is each of these characteristics important? They should use hand lenses to look closer – can
children see where muscles are attached? What do they notice about the shape of them? – They tend
to be larger at the joints. Look at joints – how bones slide/move over/against each other (more later –
Week 4). Children should make detailed observational drawings of the bones – which can then be
annotated.
Activity 2:
Visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/podsmission/ and help Pod put the body back together. This
interactive activity reinforces the scientific names for the major bones that make up the skeleton.
Children should pay particular attention to each bone, how it connects to other bones, its function or
what it allows us to do.
Plenary:
Take a look at some X-rays of bones (or use suggested websites). Tell the children that X-rays are
used to check on the condition of bones and can identify breaks. Can any of the class remember having
an X-ray or breaking a bone themselves? How are broken bones immobilised? Why must they be
immobilised? How are they treated? (Plaster cast which holds the bone in place as it grows and repairs
itself.)
Differentiation
Assessment/Outcomes
I can statements
I can:
1. Create careful
annotated drawings
from close
observation.
2. Use scientific
names to indentify
bones in my skeleton.
RESOURCES
Including other
adults
Human skeleton,
access to the
internet, Post it
notes, bones
(sterilised),
disposable
gloves, hand
lenses.
Evaluation
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
 Key Questions
To understand that there
.
are similarities and
differences between the
skeletons of humans and
other creatures.
Understand that life process
common to humans and other
animals include nutrition,
movement, growth and
reproduction.
Understand that humans and
some other animals have
skeletons and muscles to
support and protect their
bodies and to help them
move.
Use a range of sources of
information and data
including ICT sources.
Make comparisons and
identify simple patterns or
associations in their own
observations.
Use scientific knowledge and
understanding to explain
observations or conclusions.
ACTIVITIES
Week 3
Whole class teaching:
Remind class of the functions of the skeleton – protection, support, movement and revise the
scientific names learnt in the previous session. Tell the class that humans share many common
characteristics with other animals including skeletons. While some creatures have no skeletons –
jellyfish, others have exoskeletons - crab, but most have a skeleton just like ours – dog.
Touch on how archaeologists are often uncovering skeletons in the earth which tell us a lot about
creatures that lived thousands of years ago. The bones which make up skeletons are the last remaining
evidence of animals that once roamed the earth! Relate the properties of bone identified in the
previous session to why they have survived until today. The skeletons of creatures give us important
clues about the way they lived, their diets and habitats.
Group activities:
You may want to make a collection of bones which have been sterilised – chicken, fish, lamb, rabbit,
etc. Bury the bones in trays filled with sand and allow the children to slowly uncover the bones. Can
they identify from the size or shape of the bones what they are uncovering? Do the bones belong to a
four-legged creature or a winged animal for instance?
Place images of other skeletons and bones in the trays for the children to uncover (session resource).
Can they identify the animal that it belongs to? Ask the children to stick the picture of the skeleton
in their books and to annotate it with the name of the creature they think that it belonged to, they
should also describe the clues that lead them to that conclusion – body shape, teeth in the skull,
number and length of limbs, etc.
To conclude this part of the session allow the children to play the Mammal Maker game at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/mammals/shape.shtml - there they find out that mammals have
very different bodies and that their skeletons are adapted to suit their lives. Explain that animals
adapt over time to become better suited to their environment, e.g. legs have become flippers for sea
living mammals, giraffes have adapted to have long legs and necks to reach the leaves on the tallest
trees.
Use the software Funny Bones2 available for download free from
http://littlebitsmultimedia.com/littlebits/html/FunnyBones2.htm to draw out the similarities in human
and animal skeletons. Do they all have spines, skulls and legs? Add the scientific name labels to each of
the seven skeletons.
Plenary
Summarise what the children have discovered? Which creatures have skeletons most like ours? How
are the skeletons of animals well suited to their habitat, etc? Ask general questions - Do fish have
ribs? Have horses got finger bones? Etc.
Differentiation
Assessment/Outcomes
I can statements
I can:
1. Use first hand
observation and
secondary sources to
find out more about
skeletons.
2. Identify similarities
to and differences
from the skeletons of
humans and a variety
of animals.
RESOURCES
Including other
adults
collection of
sterilised bones
(chicken, fish,
lamb, rabbit),
trays of sand,
access to the
internet.
Evaluation
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
 Key Questions
To understand that the
.
human skeleton is jointed to
allow muscles to create
movement.
Understand that the life
processes common to humans
and other animals include
nutrition, movement, growth
and reproduction.
Understand that humans and
some animals have skeletons
and muscles to support and
protect their bodies and to
help them move.
Understand the importance
of exercise for good health.
Use scientific language and
terms to communicate ideas.
Understand that science is
about thinking creatively to
try to explain how living
things and non-living things
work and to establish links
between causes and effects.
ACTIVITIES
Week 4
Whole class teaching:
In the second week the class discovered that the skeleton has three main functions – support,
protection and movement. The human skeleton with its 206 bones is jointed so that we can move one
part against another. Muscles enable us to move our bones, because they are attached to the ends of
the bones and can shorten or lengthen. When muscles contract (shorten) they allow us to move, tell
the class that when any part of our body moves, muscles are in action! Muscles act in antagonistic pairs
and can only pull; they cannot push. Often many muscles work together to have a single effect, e.g. it
takes 17 muscles to smile (with 17 antagonist muscles relaxing) & 43 to frown – so smile, it’s easier!!
Make various faces – anger, surprise, happiness – feel your face – which muscles are hard (contracted)
and which are soft (relaxed)?
Your body has over 650 muscles and many different types of joints to allow our bodies to move in
different ways. Take a look at
http://insideout.rigb.org/insideout/anatomy/casing_the_joint/index.html to find out more about the
hip, shoulder and knee joints. Tell the chn that ligaments and tendons at the ends of the muscles hold
the bones together at the joints, while cartilage between the bones stops them from rubbing against
each other. Discuss the different kinds of joints, pausing to allow children to investigate the range of
movement they have at each. Hinge (elbow, knee, fingers, etc) – like a door hinge; Saddle joints – base
of thumb; Ball and Socket - hip, shoulder; Gliding joint – wrist.
Group activities:
Ask the class to investigate the range of movements at different points around their bodies and turn
their attention to the muscles surrounding them. Ask them to look closely at their upper arm as they
curl their arm towards their chest from their side – the muscle bulges! As the arm is raised the biceps
(on the front of the arm) contracts, at the same time a muscle on the back of the arm, the triceps,
relaxes! They work together to control the lifting arm. As the arm is lowered the opposite happens,
the biceps relax and the triceps contract. Tell the children that they are going to make a model of
their arm to show clearly what is happening to the two muscles of the upper arm when the arm moves
at the elbow. Show children animation of elbow joint (see website list). Using (session resource)
support them as they construct their working models using elastic bands. When complete children
should be encouraged to use the model to aid their description of what is happening as we move. Tell
the children that if a movement is repeated over an over again the body creates more muscle to help
make things easier, in this way keep fit activities help build muscles and make joints stronger.
Extension: Are children aware that the meat they eat is the muscle of animals? Fibres can be seen in
the meat (it is called striped muscle) – these slide across each to contract the muscle.
Plenary:
Tell the children that joints can easily be damaged or diseased which can then make movement
difficult & painful, e.g. rheumatism, arthritis, etc. Stress the importance of exercise in keeping joints
and muscles supple; warming up is also very important so that the amount of pressure we put on our
joints and muscles increases slowly. Science now allows artificial joints to be fitted to people whose
joints have been damaged or diseased. Take a look at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/body/factfiles/joints/gliding_joint.shtml to see and move
some examples.
Differentiation
Assessment/Outcomes
I can statements
I can:
1. Describe how joints
in my skeleton enable
movements.
2. Understand that
muscles work in
antagonistic pairs.
3. Understand that
muscles attached to
my bones contract
(pull) to create
movement.
RESOURCES
Including other
adults
Thick card,
paper
fasteners/split
pins, rubber
bands, stapler,
scissors.
Evaluation
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
 Key Questions
To study the effects.of
muscle use through exercise
on the body.
Understand the need for
food for activity and growth.
Know that the heart acts as
a pump to circulate blood
through the blood vessels
including the lungs.
Understand the effect of
exercise and rest on pulse
rate.
Understand the importance
of exercise for good health.
Use first hand data to carry
out a range of scientific
investigations including
complete investigations.
Consider what sources of
information including first
hand experience they will
use to answer questions.
Make systematic
observations and
measurements.
Check observations and
measurements by repeating
them where appropriate.
ACTIVITIES
Week 5
Whole class teaching:
In the previous session children discovered that muscles are essential for movement in every day life.
Explain that the heart is a muscle and that blood is pumped around the body by the heart muscles
contracting and relaxing. The rise and fall of our chests when we are breathing is also muscle
controlled. Behind every movement we make is a muscle (two as a pair) working.
When we are at our most active muscles really come into their own, this is also when they have to work
the hardest.
Whole class activity:
Take the class for a PE lesson with a very scientific twist. Before starting ask the children how they
feel and ask them to record their thoughts on the recording sheet (session resource). How many
breaths are they taking in a minute? Demonstrate how to measure pulse rates using two fingers at the
wrist. How many beats in 15 seconds? Multiply this figure by 4 to calculate beats per minute. Record
this figure on the sheet.
Tell the class that before they get active they need to prepare their muscles and get them ready to
work through a warm up. Muscles are like rubber bands and need to be slowly stretched. Demonstrate
with a balloon, sometimes they are hard to inflate – attempt to inflate the balloon – but with some
stretching in preparation they become much easier to blow up – stretch the balloon to make it more
supple and inflate. Take the children through a warm up routine gradually lengthening muscles and
warming the body ready for exercise. After the warm up quickly complete the feelings, breaths and
pulse rate boxes on the sheet (it is important here that you move quickly into the most active part of
the session while the children are still warm).
In the main part of the session you can include any physical activity that may be your current focus in
PE or why not try a circuit of high intensity activities, get some music blasting out and get moving! See
session resource for suggested ideas. When the children are really working hard, pause and ask them
to return to their recording sheets. How do they feel now? How has their body changed? Has their
breathing rate increased or decreased? What about their heart rates? Finally begin a cool down which
is as important as the warm up. It allows the body to slowly recover and gives those muscles a gentle
stretch as they recover. Back in the classroom discuss the effects of the different levels of activity
on the body - the breathing rate increasing as the muscles require more oxygen, the heart rate
increases to speed up the delivery of oxygen to the muscles, the heat generated as muscles burn the
energy stored in our bodies from the food we eat, sweating which aims to cool us down.
Discuss with the children how muscles can be toned and built through regular exercise, so the heart
also becomes stronger. Discuss the benefits of exercise for everyone and professional athletes
Plenary:
Discuss the effects of over exercise. Have the children experienced cramp or a stitch during
exercise? Explain that cramp occurs when waste products from the working muscles cannot be
transported away quickly enough which leaves the muscle contracted (which is very painful). A stitch
occurs when oxygen needed by the muscles doesn’t get there fast enough
Differentiation
Assessment/Outcomes
I can statements
I can:
1. Understand that
exercise is an
essential part of a
healthy lifestyle.
2. Describe the
immediate and longterm effects of
exercise on the body.
RESOURCES
Including other
adults
Large space and
a timetabled PE
lesson, balloon,
equipment for
physical activity,
timer stopwatch, clip
boards and
pencils.
Evaluation
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
 Key Questions
To measure accurately
. and
record data before drawing
conclusions.
Understand the main stages
of the human life cycle.
Understand that life
processes common to humans
and other animals include
nutrition, movement and
growth.
Use a range of sources of
information and data
including ICT based sources.
Understand that it is
important to test ideas using
evidence from observation &
measurement.
Use ICT to communicate
data in an appropriate and
systematic manner.
Make systematic
observation and
measurements including the
use of ICT.
ACTIVITIES
Week 6
Whole class teaching:
This session will require an additional or extended session where children can have access to
computers and spreadsheet software.
Remind class the functions of the skeleton studied in earlier sessions. For the skeleton to keep doing
its job it needs to grow with the person as they grow. Ask the children to think about the size of a
baby brother or sister compared to them, what about school ‘generally’? Children in the earlier years
are smaller than those in Year 6. However it isn’t simply a case of your body growing in proportion, for
example a baby’s head is much bigger compared to the overall length of its body, than an adult’s. Use
the session resource to illustrate the point. Why do children think that is? Share a graph showing
heights (session resource). Highlight that there is a wide range of ‘normal’ sizes at each age. Where on
the graphs do children tend to grow the fastest or the slowest? Can they think about a time in their
own lives where they were quickly growing out of their clothes? Children don’t grow at a steady rate the tallest childred in the class in Year1 may not be the tallest in Year 3 or Year 6, and so on.
Whole class activity:
Tell the children that different parts of our bodies grow at different rates through our lives. The
lengths depend on the bones inside that grow. Using measuring tapes ask the children to measure their
head circumference, how do these measurements compare with the measurements of adults in the
room? Tell the children that they are going to take measurements of various parts of each other’s
bodies and that we are going to use this info to answer some questions such as: Who has the longest
arms – children, adults, boys or girls? Do taller children have longer legs? Do taller children weigh
more? Do children with long legs have long arms? Etc. Allow children to raise their own questions and
list these on a f/c. The data they collect may well give answers to these questions. Provide each child
with a chart to fill in (session resource) reminding them that ‘normal’ has a big range so we don’t want
individuals to be upset about being biggest or smallest in some way. Discuss which units of measure will
be used and demonstrate the measuring of each of the following so that the test is fair. Height,
weight, length of arm/leg (decide on inside or outside measurement), shoe size, circumference of
head, waist, chest, wrist, hand span. (Adapt the number of measurements in relation to the class you
are teaching).
When the measurements have been taken feed the data into a spreadsheet, use session resource if
using Microsoft Excel®. Link the activity to work in ICT, telling children that the data that is created
is only as good as the data fed in (GIGO – garbage in, garbage out) – strange graphs could indicate a
mistake in entering data, so it needs checking and accurate data entry! In groups ask class to create
graphs to answer a specific question. Bar charts or pictograms can be used to compare heights or
circumference of heads.
Extension: More able could create comparison charts called scattergrams – to answer the questions
like, do children with long legs have long arms? Straight line will show a direct comparison, e.g. children
with longer legs DO have proportionally longer arms.
Plenary:
Discuss the differences in measurements recorded by the class. Are there patterns in the data? Allow
groups of children to share their findings. Point out that parts of people’s bodies are usually within a
normal range and in proportion to each other. Leonardo da Vinci as a scientist and an artist was very
interested in this, as drawing bodies in proportion is very important for artists. Show the children an
image of Vitruvius (session resource) - discuss.
Differentiation
Assessment/Outcomes
I can statements
I can:
1, Measure with
accuracy and record
my results.
2. Create graphs and
charts to help draw
conclusions from my
data.
RESOURCES
Including other
adults
Access to
computers and
spreadsheet
software,
measuring tapes,
rulers, bathroom
scales.
Evaluation