Key Stage 1 is a vital part of any child’s education as they begin to move on from learning valuable skills like physical development to a more academic style which clearly focuses on different subject areas.
At this vital time in a child’s development, it’s important that teachers and parents both have the right education supplies at hand to support learning and development. In our latest article, we’ll talk you through what some of those essentials are when it comes to Key Stage 1 science.
KS1 Science Curriculum
The main aim of the science curriculum in Key Stage 1 is to encourage and support students to explore the world around them. Young learners should during this time be at a stage where they not only observe the world around them but also begin asking questions about why things work in the way that they do.
The KS1 science curriculum incorporates a variety of different scientific enquiries which encourages children to seek their own answers and develop a basic understanding of scientific principles. Some of the main scientific principles that children will learn during their Key Stage 1 science lessons are pattern recognition, grouping and classification, observing changes over a set period of time, and carrying out basic comparative tests. During this stage, students should also start to use more scientific language when communicating their ideas and describing what they have found out.
During KS1, scientific learning should be kept as hands-on as possible, as this is the most effective way for students of this age to engage with scientific concepts. While there is plenty of guidance on what pupils should be exploring during year 1 and year 2 science lessons, much of this is separate from the statutory requirements for the curriculum.
The main areas that the KS1 science curriculum must cover are working scientifically; plants; animals (including humans); everyday materials and their uses; seasonal changes; and living things and their habitats.
KS1 Educational Resources
KS1 students are still getting to grips with learning in the organised environment of a classroom, which is why the right educational resources can make such a big difference to your lessons, and how well students learn. With a focus on hands-on learning, here are some of the essential educational resources for KS1 science.
Plant and Bug Hunting Kits
Allowing children to explore and catalogue the natural world around them, plant and bug hunting kits are a fun and engaging way to support activities that tick of multiple statutory requirements of the KS1 science curriculum. Not only can they be used for observatory and catalouging activities but they can also be used to teach children about different living things and their natural habitats.
Weather Science Kits
Weather science kits are a great way to support hands-on science learning and teach familiarise children with an abstract concept which could otherwise prove difficult for them to grasp. These kits are also perfect for teaching children about the changing seasons and the role they play on different weather phenomena – such as it snowing in winter, or being warm and sunny in summer.
Most weather science kits come with the same basic kit and allow you to explore different weather phenomena with experiments on storms, rain, wind, pressure, and evaporation.
Materials Photopacks
The humble photopack is often overlooked as an educational resource but it’s a simple and effective way of introducing children to materials they would not normally, in a visual and engaging way. By using photopacks, you can familiarise your class with a range of materials and their uses, all without having to actually bring those into the classroom.
The common materials you should cover in your KS1 science lessons are metal, plastic, glass, wood, ceramics, and synthetic fibres. Using photopacks will allow you to demonstrate how all of these look and offer supporting activities for each material type.
