Grade 03: Science

In this unit, 'Plant life', you learn to name parts of a plant and their jobs, and describe how seeds spread. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Observe: see, touch, measure or watch a safe demonstration linked to 'Plant life' and write what you notice.
• Explain: use the key words of the unit to say what is happening and why, in a few lines.
• Use it: name parts of a plant and their jobs, and describe how seeds spread. Use a diagram, table or short calculation where it fits.
• Test and conclude: say what evidence supports your answer and what you would change.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Name the parts and their jobs. Roots hold the plant in the soil and take in water. The stem holds the plant up and carries water to the leaves. Leaves use sunlight to make food. The flower makes seeds, and the fruit protects them. Draw a bean plant and label these five parts.
2. Step 2, Watch a seed start growing. Put a bean seed on damp cotton wool in a clear cup near a window. After about 3 to 5 days the root comes out first, then the shoot. Safety: wash your hands afterwards and never eat seeds that have been in soil or cotton.
3. Step 3, Test what a root does. Stand a white flower or a celery stick in water with a little red food dye. After a day the colour climbs the stem, which shows that stems carry water up. Write: 'Water goes from the roots, up the stem, to the leaves.'
4. Step 4, Learn how seeds spread, because a seed that falls under its parent has little room, light or water. Wind carries light seeds such as dandelion. Water carries a coconut across the sea. Animals carry sticky burrs on fur, or eat berries and drop the seeds far away.
5. Step 5, Match plants to ways of spreading. Dandelion has fluffy parachutes, so wind. Coconut floats, so water. Burdock has hooks, so animals' fur. Pea pods dry and pop open, so the seeds are thrown out. Draw one arrow from each seed to its way of travelling.
6. Step 6, Your turn: a plant has small, light seeds with thin wings. How are they spread, and which part takes in water? Answer: the wings let the wind carry them away; the roots take in water.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Name parts of a plant and their jobs, and describe how seeds spread: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Animal life and adaptation', you learn to link body features to habitats including desert and sea. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Observe: see, touch, measure or watch a safe demonstration linked to 'Animal life and adaptation' and write what you notice.
• Explain: use the key words of the unit to say what is happening and why, in a few lines.
• Use it: link body features to habitats including desert and sea. Use a diagram, table or short calculation where it fits.
• Test and conclude: say what evidence supports your answer and what you would change.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Learn the idea of adaptation. An adaptation is a body feature that helps an animal live well in its habitat. A habitat is the place where an animal lives. Link each feature to a need such as finding food, getting water, staying cool or escaping enemies.
2. Step 2, Study a desert animal. A camel has wide, flat feet that do not sink in sand, long eyelashes and closable nostrils to keep sand out, and a hump that stores fat as food for long journeys. A fennec fox has huge ears that lose heat and keep it cool.
3. Step 3, Study more desert features. Many lizards are sand-coloured, so they are hard to see. Desert rodents sleep in cool burrows by day and come out at night. These features help the animals find food and water, and stay safe from the hot sun.
4. Step 4, Study sea animals. A fish has a smooth, streamlined body, fins to steer and a tail to push, and gills to take oxygen from water. A dolphin is a mammal, so it breathes air through a blowhole on top of its head and comes up to breathe.
5. Step 5, Make a table with three columns: Animal, Feature, Why it helps. Row 1: camel, wide feet, walks on sand without sinking. Row 2: fish, gills, breathes underwater. Row 3: fennec fox, big ears, loses body heat. Add a fourth row of your own.
6. Step 6, Your turn: a shark has a streamlined body and fins, and a lizard has sandy skin. Link each to a habitat. Answer: the shark's smooth body and fins help it swim fast in the sea; the lizard's sandy colour hides it in the desert.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Link body features to habitats including desert and sea: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Food and digestion', you learn to group nutrients and describe the journey of food. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Observe: see, touch, measure or watch a safe demonstration linked to 'Food and digestion' and write what you notice.
• Explain: use the key words of the unit to say what is happening and why, in a few lines.
• Use it: group nutrients and describe the journey of food. Use a diagram, table or short calculation where it fits.
• Test and conclude: say what evidence supports your answer and what you would change.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Group food into nutrients. Carbohydrates, such as rice and bread, give energy. Proteins, such as egg, fish and beans, help the body grow and repair. Fats, such as butter and nuts, store energy. Vitamins and minerals, found in fruit and vegetables, keep us healthy. Water is needed too.
2. Step 2, Sort a real lunch: rice (carbohydrate), grilled fish (protein), salad (vitamins and minerals), olive oil (fat) and a glass of water. Draw a plate and write the nutrient beside each food. A balanced meal has some of each group, not only one.
3. Step 3, Follow the first part of the journey. Food enters the mouth, where teeth cut and grind it and saliva makes it soft and wet. Then you swallow, and the food slides down the food pipe, called the oesophagus, which squeezes it along.
4. Step 4, Follow the middle of the journey. In the stomach the food is churned with juices for a few hours until it is a thick liquid. Then it moves to the small intestine, a long coiled tube, where the useful nutrients pass into the blood.
5. Step 5, Finish the journey. What cannot be used, such as fibre, goes to the large intestine, where water is taken back into the body. The rest leaves the body as waste. Draw the path as arrows: mouth, food pipe, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, out.
6. Step 6, Your turn: name the nutrient group of egg, bread and orange, and say where nutrients enter the blood. Answer: egg is protein, bread is carbohydrate, orange gives vitamins; nutrients enter the blood in the small intestine.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Group nutrients and describe the journey of food: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Rocks, soil and water', you learn to compare soils and describe how water is used and saved. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Observe: see, touch, measure or watch a safe demonstration linked to 'Rocks, soil and water' and write what you notice.
• Explain: use the key words of the unit to say what is happening and why, in a few lines.
• Use it: compare soils and describe how water is used and saved. Use a diagram, table or short calculation where it fits.
• Test and conclude: say what evidence supports your answer and what you would change.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Compare three soils: sandy, clay and loam. Put 100 mL of water on 100 g of each in a funnel with filter paper over a measuring cup. Time 2 minutes and measure the water collected.
2. Step 2, Suppose you record: sandy soil 80 mL, loam 50 mL, clay 20 mL. Sandy soil lets water pass fastest because its grains are big with large gaps. Clay holds water because its grains are tiny and packed tight.
3. Step 3, Work out how much water each soil kept: sandy 100 - 80 = 20 mL, loam 100 - 50 = 50 mL, clay 100 - 20 = 80 mL. Loam is best for most crops because it drains and holds a good amount.
4. Step 4, List ways water is used at home: drinking, cooking, washing, toilet, gardening. Tally a family day: bath bucket 20 L, cooking 10 L, drinking 5 L, washing clothes 40 L, total 75 L.
5. Step 5, Plan saving. Close the tap while brushing, which saves several litres. Collect rinse water for plants. If a leaking tap drips 1 L per hour, it wastes 24 L a day. Fix leaks to save water.
6. Step 6, Your turn: which soil is best for a pond lining and why, and how much is wasted in a week by the 1 L per hour leak? Answer: clay, since it holds water; 24 x 7 = 168 L.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Compare soils and describe how water is used and saved: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Light and shadows', you learn to explain how shadows form and how they change in length. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Observe: see, touch, measure or watch a safe demonstration linked to 'Light and shadows' and write what you notice.
• Explain: use the key words of the unit to say what is happening and why, in a few lines.
• Use it: explain how shadows form and how they change in length. Use a diagram, table or short calculation where it fits.
• Test and conclude: say what evidence supports your answer and what you would change.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Explain how a shadow forms. Light from a source, such as the sun, travels in straight lines. When an opaque object blocks the rays, no light reaches the space behind it, and that dark space is the shadow. The shadow is always on the side opposite the light.
2. Step 2, Measure a real shadow. Stand a 1 metre stick upright in sunlight. Measure the shadow at 9:00, 12:00 and 3:00 with a ruler. Safety: never look at the sun, and wear a hat. A typical result is long in the morning, shortest at noon and long again in the afternoon.
3. Step 3, Explain the change. In the morning and evening the sun is low in the sky, so the shadow is long. At noon the sun is highest, so the shadow is shortest. For a 1 m stick, a sun 30 degrees high gives a shadow of about 1.7 m, and 60 degrees gives about 0.6 m.
4. Step 4, Explain the direction. The sun is in the east in the morning, so shadows point west. In the afternoon the sun is in the west, so shadows point east. The shadow always points away from the sun and swings round as the sun moves across the sky.
5. Step 5, Test it indoors with a torch and a pencil. Hold the torch low and close to the table and the pencil's shadow is long. Raise the torch high above the pencil and the shadow becomes short. Measure both shadows and record them in a table.
6. Step 6, Your turn: at 8:00 a tree's shadow is 6 m long, and at 12:00 it is 1 m. Which time has the higher sun and which way does the 8:00 shadow point? Answer: noon has the higher sun; the morning shadow points west.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Explain how shadows form and how they change in length: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Forces and motion', you learn to describe pushes and pulls and the effect of friction. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Observe: see, touch, measure or watch a safe demonstration linked to 'Forces and motion' and write what you notice.
• Explain: use the key words of the unit to say what is happening and why, in a few lines.
• Use it: describe pushes and pulls and the effect of friction. Use a diagram, table or short calculation where it fits.
• Test and conclude: say what evidence supports your answer and what you would change.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Describe pushes and pulls. A force is a push or a pull. Opening a door by its handle is a pull, and pressing a doorbell is a push. A force can start something moving, stop it, speed it up, slow it down, change its direction or change its shape.
2. Step 2, Measure a pull. Use a spring balance to pull a toy box across the floor. Force is measured in newtons (N). Say the balance reads 4 N: that is the pull needed to keep it moving. Safety: keep fingers away from the spring and the box.
3. Step 3, Meet friction. Friction is a force that acts when two surfaces rub, and it tries to stop movement. Pull the same box across tiles and then a carpet. Suppose the readings are 3 N on tiles and 8 N on carpet, because rougher surfaces have more friction.
4. Step 4, Feel friction at work. Rub your hands together quickly: they get warm because friction changes movement into heat. Friction is useful in shoe soles and brakes, which grip, but not in machine parts, so we use oil to reduce it.
5. Step 5, Test a ramp. Let a toy car roll down a ramp onto a smooth board, then onto a towel. On the board it travels, for example, 120 cm, and on the towel only 40 cm, because the towel has more friction. Write which surface slows the car most.
6. Step 6, Your turn: a box needs 3 N on tiles and 8 N on carpet. Which surface has more friction, and how many more newtons? Answer: carpet has more friction, by 8 - 3 = 5 N.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Describe pushes and pulls and the effect of friction: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Weather and the sky', you learn to link the sun, moon and weather to daily and seasonal change. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Observe: see, touch, measure or watch a safe demonstration linked to 'Weather and the sky' and write what you notice.
• Explain: use the key words of the unit to say what is happening and why, in a few lines.
• Use it: link the sun, moon and weather to daily and seasonal change. Use a diagram, table or short calculation where it fits.
• Test and conclude: say what evidence supports your answer and what you would change.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Link the sun to day and night. The sun seems to rise in the east in the morning and set in the west in the evening. This is because the Earth spins once every 24 hours. The side facing the sun has day, and the side facing away has night.
2. Step 2, Link the sun to weather. The sun warms the land and sea. Warm water rises as vapour, cools into clouds, and may fall as rain. Record the weather for five days with symbols for sunny, cloudy and rainy, and a thermometer reading each noon.
3. Step 3, Observe the moon. The moon does not make its own light; it reflects light from the sun. It seems to change shape in a cycle of about 29 days: new moon, crescent, half, full, and back again. Draw the moon each night for a week. Safety: do this with an adult.
4. Step 4, Explain the seasons. The Earth goes round the sun once a year, and it is tilted. So for part of the year each place has longer days and more direct sunlight, which brings summer. In the UAE summer afternoons can be above 40 degrees Celsius, and winter days are about 25 degrees Celsius.
5. Step 5, Show a pattern chart with columns for Month, Daylight, Weather and What people wear. In summer: long days, hot and dry, light clothes. In winter: shorter days, cooler, a jumper in the evening. Fill in four rows and link each row to the sun's position.
6. Step 6, Your turn: why is the night sky different on a new moon and a full moon? Answer: on a full moon we see the whole sunlit face of the moon, on a new moon we see almost none of it, because of where the moon is in its journey round the Earth.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Link the sun, moon and weather to daily and seasonal change: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

On the slide: L1 Basic · Using my five senses

Notes: Name the five senses and use them to describe a safe object. Notes: place a leaf, a smooth stone and a soft cloth in a bag; learners touch and describe each. Never taste or smell unknown things; teach children to ask first. Grades 1 and 2.

On the slide: L2 Awareness · Fair tests

Notes: Describe a fair test by naming what is changed, what is measured and what stays the same. Notes: plant two seed pots, one in light and one in the dark, with equal water and soil. Learners say the one changed factor, and draw both pots after a week. Grades 3 and 4.

This course: Grade 03 Science is at this level. Its units include Plant life; Animal life and adaptation; Food and digestion; Rocks, soil and water and more.

On the slide: L3 Foundation · Measuring and recording

Notes: Measure length, mass, time and temperature and record them in a table. Notes: a plant grows 2 cm in 4 days, which is 0.5 cm a day. Learners take three readings of 12, 14 and 13 mm, find the mean of 13, and say why repeats help. Grades 5 and 6.

On the slide: L4 Practitioner · Variables, graphs and density

Notes: Apply a formula and draw a graph from a fair test. Notes: density equals mass over volume; a metal block of 54 g and 20 cm3 has density 2.7 g/cm3. Learners plot mass against volume for three blocks and read the gradient. Dry the benchtop before using water. Grades 7 and 8.

On the slide: L5 Specialist · Evidence, anomalies and models

Notes: Analyse data, spot an anomaly and judge how well a model fits the evidence. Notes: readings of 5.1, 5.3, 5.2 and 7.9 hold one anomaly at 7.9, so the mean of the rest is 5.2. Learners suggest a cause, repeat the trial and write a conclusion that cites the numbers. Grades 9 and 10.

On the slide: L6 Advanced · Modelling and curve fitting

Notes: Apply least-squares fitting and error reasoning to link data to a model. Notes: the points (1,2.1), (2,3.9), (3,6.2), (4,7.8), (5,10.1) give slope 1.99 and intercept 0.05, with R squared 0.997. Learners explain what the intercept means and whether a straight line is right.

On the slide: L7 Super expert · Study design and sample size

Notes: Evaluate and create a study with a clear hypothesis, controls, sample size and ethics approval. Notes: to detect a 5-unit difference with spread 10 at 5 per cent significance and 80 per cent power needs about 63 per group. Learners write a pre-registered plan and list the risks and consent steps.