Hill Top Primary Academy

Year 6

What we are learning this year:                                                                       

Space Scientists

Explaining The Theme
 

In this unit, we’ll be finding out:

• How the Sun, Earth and Moon are connected
• Why the Earth’s rotation results in day and night
• How the tilt of the Earth’s axis gives us the seasons
• How the Moon affects the Earth
• How we can make a model rocket

Entry Point

The children had great fun launching their own rockets. They designed them and then added Alka-Seltzer tablets and water to a film canister, standing back to watch the results. 

The Great, the Bold and the Brave

Explaining The Theme

In this unit, we’ll be finding out:

• About the Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta
• How people voted in Athens and Sparta
• How the Persian War brought the Greek city-states together
• What the Parthenon can tell us about Athenian life
• How to perform our own Greek play
• About the life Alexander the Great and what he achieved
• Why Rome had a republic and then an emperor
• What daily life was like in Ancient Rome
• What happened when the Romans invaded another country
• Why the Roman Empire declined
• What happened when the Anglo-Saxons invaded and settled in Britain
• About the Viking invasion of Britain
• About the life and legacy of Alfred the Great
• How to use archaeological evidence to find out about the past
• About the history of Britain, from the Roman occupation to the Norman Conquest
• How to create our own piece of art in a Greek or Roman style

Entry Point

For this entry point, the children took on the role of classical architects. Their task was to recreate some of the most famous and celebrated buildings from the past. Working in groups, children had to demonstrate all eight of the IPC values: resilience, thoughtfulness, adaptability, morality, communication, co-operation, respect and enquiry.

Investigators

These days we have lots of science knowledge at our fingertips; it can be found quickly and easily on the Internet. The science knowledge in books and websites is what other scientists have discovered in the past. To discover new things ourselves we need to be able to be able to ‘do’ science not just ‘know’ about it.
During this unit we will learn how to ‘do’ science. We will learn several, important, scientific skills. These skills can be used in a whole range of scientific situations. However we will use these skills to investigate one branch of science: materials and their properties. We will also see how these skills can be applied to one real world context – the exciting world of forensic science!

In this unit, we’ll be finding out:

• About several ways to investigate in science
• How to make sure our investigations are well designed and reliable
• Ways to: collect, record, interpret and present our findings
• About several materials and their properties

Entry Point

 The children were shocked when they came to school only to discover that a crime had been committed in our Library and they had to become detectives. They investigated the scene and found evidence such as blood samples and finger prints. They then interviewed members of staff to find out what had happened. 

Learning Journey

Brain Waves

Every day we are learning lots of new and different things – gaining the knowledge, skills and understanding that we will need to become successful adults. By finding out more about how we learn, and how we can improve our learning, we will be better equipped for meeting the many challenges ahead of us.

In this unit, we’ll be finding out:

• How different people learn
• About the importance of practice when learning a skill
• How the brain works
• How to make connections between our learning
• How we can share our learning with others
• Why it is important to learn from other children and cultures around the world
• How positive thinking can help us to succeed
• How to look after our brain
• How to design a school for learning

When they learn children will be:

• Investigating
• Thinking
• Reflecting
• Researching
• Teaching
• Observing
• Assessing
• Presenting

Entry Point-Making optical illusions.

Our Learning Journey 

Exit Point

Out of Africa

First there was the big bang! Then life began on Earth 3.8 billion years ago. But when did humans arrive
and where did we come from? If we can find out the answer to these questions perhaps we can figure out
where we are heading in the future…

n Science, we’ll be finding out:
How life began in the sea then came out of the sea
How fossils provide information about living things from the past
Why the dinosaurs died out
About the classification of plants and animals
How plants and animals reproduce
How living things evolve and change over time
How plants and animals are adapted to their environment
How adaptation leads to evolution
Whether there is life on other planets

In Technology we’ll be finding out:
What foods early humans ate, grew and cooked
About prehistoric food and cooking techniques

In International, we’ll be finding out:
How superbugs evolve and spread around the world
Why we should prevent species extinction

Our Entry Point

Knowledge Harvest

Our Learning Journey

The evolution of sea creatures...

A geological timeline of earth...

The evolution of fish to land animals...