Science

Science, Term 2: April Newsletter - 2025

Welcome back, Gilgai students and parents/caregivers! We are delighted to start our new unit in Chemical Science. See below for what each cohort is learning this term.

Foundation 

Observations of objects: The Foundation students will use their senses of sight and touch to make observations, conclusions, comparisons and contrasts between different objects, such as sizes. Students will focus on verbalising their scientific learning using relevant language used throughout the unit.

Year 1

Materials and its uses: The Year 1 students will explore materials and their properties to explore the range of objects made from one or more materials. They will explain why certain objects are made from key materials, including the process of how objects are made.

Year 2

Recycling: The Year 2 students will explore the different coloured bins at home and at school to ensure their rubbish is going into the correct bins. They will learn about the process of recycling different materials. Students will also explore what happens to non-recyclable items and its impacts on the people, animals and environment.

Year 3

States of matter: The Year 3 students will explore the states of matter and its properties. Through experiments students will learn to identify the properties distinct to each state of matter and learn new words like viscosity and density of a substance. Students will also learn how heat influences the change in state of matter.

Year 4

Materials and their physical properties: The Year 4 students will explore why certain materials are used for particular purposes. They will identify the physical properties of various materials like hardness, permeability, durability etc. so that they can be used for specific purposes. Example: glass is used for windows as it is transparent, durable and hard but fragile. 

Year 5

Properties of states of matter: The Year 5 students will learn about the properties of states of matter. In addition to this, they will also learn about mixtures and solutions. Through experiments students will learn to identify the properties distinct to each state of matter and how this influences their behaviour in mixtures and solutions.

Year 6

Reversible and irreversible changes: The Year 6 students will learn about reversible and irreversible changes this term in Chemistry. Some everyday processes like melting, freezing of water is categorised as a reversible process and cooking, burning etc are irreversible processes. Through experiments and investigations, students will be identifying the changes in state, the reversibility of a change and irreversibility of changes.