Science

Grade 1 

This term our unit is called Growing Well. 

Every living thing on Earth has basic needs that must be met in order to survive. Like all animals, we share many needs with plants, such as air, water and appropriate food. However, plants can live without us, but we cannot live without them 

Grade 2 

This term our unit is called Schoolyard Safari. 

The world is teeming with animal life. Even the most unexpected places can host a diverse range of creatures.  

As humans, we share our wonderful planet with many other animals. Taking the time to really look at another species can provide a window into the similarities and differences among living beings and can help us to appreciate how we are all part of a single, gloriously complex ecological system.

Grade 3 

This term our unit is called Living or Non-Living. 

During this unit, students will consider the features that make something living - movement, respiration, sensitivity to stimulus, growth, reproduction, waste production and the need for some form of nutrients. At the start of the unit, they may have some idea of these concepts, but it is likely they haven’t thought in detail about what makes something living or non-living.  

The Unit objectives are to: 

● Identify the features of living and non-living things. 

● Classify a collection of objects as living, once living and non-living 

● Observe and describe living and non-living things in a habitat. 

● Investigate how First Nations Australians understand and utilise the life cycle of certain species.  

● Observe and describe differences between metamorphic (beetles, butterflies and frogs) and non-metamorphic life cycles of animals, including humans.  

● Compare the physical characteristics of an animal such as a frog or moth with its activity at different stages of its life cycle. 

● Represent stages of a plant and animal’s life cycle using drawings, digital photographs, graphic organisers or concrete materials.

Grade 4

This term our unit is called Food Chains. 

In this unit we will look at living things as either consumers (plants who produce their own energy from the sunlight) or producers (gain their energy from consuming other living things) We will use the Australian marsupial, the numbat, as our anchoring idea. Numbats are endangered species. Students will consider what an endangered species is and how we can protect it. The purpose of using this animal as the anchoring idea is to help students understand that we can protect endangered species by understanding where they live, what they eat and who they are eaten by. This will also allow them to see the importance of what they are learning in this unit and how it is applied in real life. Throughout the unit we will consider the numbat in its ecosystem and the other living things that it interacts with in order to survive.  

The unit objectives are to: 

● Describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals. 

● Review the features of producers and consumers and develop an understanding of the features of decomposers and their role in an ecosystem.  

● Investigate and observe living things in a local habitat and categorise them as producers, consumers and decomposers.  

● Research different types of decomposers and their role within a habitat.  

● Research and represent feeding relationships of producers and consumers as a food chain. 

● Compare food chains across different habitats and identify their similarities. 

● Recognise that First Nations peoples have a deep connection to the environment. 

● Predict the impact of removing a food source within a habitat on the other living things in that habitat.  

● Research the impact of removing a food source such as through an insect or rodent infestation.  

● Investigate the impact of introduced predators on small mammal species in Australia.

Grade 5 

This term our unit is called Body Systems. 

The series of lessons of this unit will consider what the human body needs in order to function and use the idea that the brain gets the oxygen and nutrients it needs to function.  

When the respiratory system and digestive system is explored, we can return to the  

anchoring idea that the brain will need the oxygen we breathe using the respiratory system and the nutrients from the food we consume using the digestive system in order to function.   

 The circulatory system will be introduced and we can again return to the  idea explaining that the circulatory system will transport the oxygen and nutrients to the brain as well as transport the carbon dioxide away from the brain.   

 Finally, the brain can be used in the latter lessons to bring all of the systems together to explain how  

they work together to provide the oxygen and nutrients required to sustain life. 

The unit objectives are to: 

● Identify the main organs and their functions in the human digestive, respiratory and  

circulatory systems  

● Recognise that the human digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems work together  

● Identify variables and conduct fair tests to describe the ways that circulatory and  

respiratory systems respond to physical activity. 

Grade 6 

This term our unit is called Habitats. 

In this unit, we will explore Albert Park lake: A habitat for 8000 years. 

Albert Park lake and its surroundings will be familiar to many Victorian students. It has changed a great deal since it was formed at the end of the last ice age around 8000 years ago. The anchoring idea for this unit centres around Albert Park lake as a habitat which has changed due to natural and man-made processes. 

The unit objectives are to: 

● Investigate the physical conditions of a habitat 

● Revise elements of food chains 

● Analyse how the growth and survival of living things is affected by changing physical conditions 

● Examine evidence that environments have changed over time 

● Describe the ways in which humans activities have changed habitats over time