ENTRY LEVEL 

Students can follow this course even if they have not completed any other Science course.

Course content

This course is a great introduction to learn how Science is involved in:

• Plants (horticulture) and Living Things (animals)
• Resources, Forces and Energy
• Managing an Environmental Area
• Sustainable Lifestyles

The course is split up into Units of theory to learn, with lots of practical tasks to do as well. There can also be lots of different things to do outside the classroom.

The content of each of the Units is outlined below – there are 4 Units available in the course but you only need to do 3 of them, and you can choose which ones you do…but you can do all 4 if you want. Please see Mrs McSweeney or Mr Reilly if you would like more information about this Course.

 Living Things… you must do this Unit,

In this Unit, the ‘key areas’ covered are :

• Distinguishing between living and non-living things
• Classifying living things according to their characteristics
• Building food chains
• Identifying the function and position of the main parts of the human body
• Finding out about a range of factors that affect health and wellbeing
• Producing a basic lifestyle plan for personal health and wellbeing

 

Resources, Forces and Energy …you must do this Unit,

In this Unit, the ‘key areas’ covered are :

• Observing and recording the properties of resources ( different stuff / things that you use )
• Identifying how resources are used in everyday life
• Observing and recording how forces can affect everyday objects or materials
• Identifying how everyday objects work and the type of energy they use .

Managing an Environmental Area …this is one of the two optional Units you could do,

In this Unit, the ‘key areas’ covered are :

• Describing ways in which a local environmental area could be developed or used for living things (…for example, find a place that could be used to plant things, or keep animals ).
• Identifying ideas to prepare and maintain a local environmental area ( …for example, plan what the layout of a garden could look like).
• Carrying out the ideas ( …for example, dig, plant and look after a small ‘garden’ area ).
• Commenting on the success of the ideas or identifying an idea for further action (…for example, describe how well your garden worked).

Sustainable Lifestyles…this is one of the two optional Units you could choose to do,

In this Unit, the ‘key areas’ covered are :

• Describing why resources need to be used responsibly ( …explain why we need to be careful we don’t waste things / materials we use ).
• Identifying ideas to use the resource responsibly (…describe ways that we could use things / materials better without wasting them – eg. re-cycling ).
• Carrying out the ideas (…try to do some of the things you thought about – eg. re-cycling some things ).
• Commenting on the success of the ideas or identifying an idea for further action (describe how well your ideas worked, and what else you could do that would be even better ).

All students will have the chance to work outside, around the school grounds to try out their ideas, for example by looking after some flower-beds, or allotment plots, garden areas, potted plants, etc. They will also have some opportunities to go on ‘field –trips’ to different places to learn about different things in the environment ( eg. local woodland areas, streams or rivers, farms, zoo, wind-farm, reservoir, etc. )  There will also be the chance to design and make things that could then be ‘sold’ at the ‘enterprise fair’ in school, or at other events out of school.

There will be a lot of activities that can be done out of the classroom to help make the course even more interesting and enjoyable.

Assessment

To gain an overall award for this course, students need to pass the Course Assessment tasks, which could be done by:              

• Answering questions about what they have learned, or…
• Drawing diagrams or posters to show what they have learned, or…
• Making things to show how they have used resources (things) responsibly, or…
• Looking after some plants or animals to show that they understand what living things need to survive
• Make recordings / photo’s / videos of what they have done to show what they have learned, or…
• Explain verbally ie. talk to their teacher to explain what they have learned, or…
• Show what they have learned in any other way they prefer !

The Course Assessment is graded as either a Pass or a Fail, and that is determined by how well you perform in each of the different tasks … but your teacher can help you improve, to be able to Pass if you don’t manage it first time … so, as long as you do your best, you will be successful and Pass !

Homework

Homework is an important part of this course at times, as it is for any other course. You could be given a range of tasks to do that don’t always involve any writing – but instead it might be to make something or to look after a plant or some other ‘living thing’.

You could be asked to keep a ‘log book’, a ‘diary’ of something over a few weeks, to see how something changes.

All the things you are asked to do at home will help you learn and make better progress through the Course.

The Science teachers are usually available at lunchtimes and/or at the end of the day to give you help with your Homework – so it’s easy to get it all done…correctly !

Transferable skills

There are many very useful and valuable transferable skills gained by doing the N2 Science In The Environment course, including: researching, ICT, reporting, numeracy, literacy, graphing, investigating, practical experimental skills, practical gardening skills, presentation, evaluating… to name just a few.

Progression

There can be good progression from this Course on to other N2 Units or Courses and it also leads well into the N3/4 Science Course … which could possibly then lead on to N3 or N4 Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Environmental Science.