Year 5 Science Animals (Incl. Humans) Block 5AH Life Explorers

Year 5 Science Animals (incl. humans) – Block 5AH – Life Explorers

Session 1: Gestation Gurus
Science curriculum area: Animals (incl.humans) / i. describe the changes as humans develop to old age
Working Scientifically (UKS2) / i. recording data using tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs
ii. reporting and presenting findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal relationships and explanations of and degree of trust in results, in oral and written forms
iii. identifying scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or argument
Teaching Objectives /

To represent scientific data in graph forms
To look for patterns in animal gestation periods and draw logical conclusions

Other Curriculum areas / Computing:
i) select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to design and create a range of programs, systems and content that accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information
Teaching Objectives /

To use software to create graphs

Key Vocabulary:Scatter line graphs, bar charts, causal relationships, support/refute, gestation, life cycle, sperm, egg, foetus
Resources
Photo equip & staff photos, Who? What? When? resource, animal reproductive ages and offspring, gestation game, animal list & table, graphing resourcesother considerations statements / Weblinks
- Human reproduction, BBC.
Whole Class:For this entire block you should be aware of the sensitive nature of materials and consult with your school’s SRE policy.Have all resources printed off and access to school graphing software.Set up a ‘photo booth’ in the classroom.Get chn to pose with friends and have their photo taken. Look at the photos on your IWB and ask if their baby photos would look the same…would photos taken in 2 years’ time look the same? What about 60 years’ time? If you can, have photos of teachers as babies,chn and teenagers and see if chn can work out who is who. Note that people change from birth to adulthood and into old age. Explain that in this block chn are going to explore the human lifecycle in much greater detail than in the Living Things block. Set chn the‘Who? What? When?’ lifecycle challenge to complete and note the conversations chn have, what they add in at each stage and what questions they write down as a pre-assessment to what the chn do and do not know. Ensure that you explore the chn’s questionsover the coming sessions. Explain that chn are going to create a non-fiction book throughout the blockthat will include a wide array of information, diagrams and graphs that outline the key aspects of human life.Ask chn when they think different animals are able to reproduce and how many offspring certain animals have - note that humans have only a few offspring and take many years to grow into adults. Now ask the chn what they think the foetus is doing in the mother’s uterus (or womb)? Growing and developing. Why is it not born straight away? Because it would not be developed enough and couldn’t survive.Ask chn how long they think a human foetus stays in a mother’s uterus before it is born. Explain that the length of time a mammal spends in its mother’s womb is called its ‘gestation period’ (although it can relate to other animals). Do chn think the gestation period is the same for all mammals? Explain thatit varies hugely from one species to another.Note that, for example, horses have a gestation of about 11 months and that once a foal is born it can walk within a few hours, unlike chimpanzees,whichhave a gestation of about eight months and their babies are fairly helpless for quite a few months after birth.Ask how they think the baby gets nutrients from its mother during gestation – explain that a structure called the placenta connects the foetus to the mother. Can they identify where this connection once was on themselves? (Belly button)Play the gestation game – match the animal gestation period and life span of a range of animals. Then explain that chn will be graphing some gestation data with factors that may relate to the length of gestation. Can chn suggest possible things to consider? (Average lifespan, size of the animal, number of offspring produced in each pregnancy)
Activities:1.Gestation research: get chn in pairs to complete research for a range of animals (see suggested list) to find out their gestation, lifespan, average number of offspring per pregnancy, and size of animal. Note variations across different websites. Record in the table provided and get chn to suggest the types of graph that would be best to present their data (see examples) and to use school software to create computer generated scatter graphs. 2.Causal relationships: once chn have graphed their data get them to discuss what they can see and to try and find patternsin their data (use the word correlation where appropriate). Point outwhythe scatter graphs are useful when noting correlations. Now support chn to come up with scientific ‘hypotheses’ as to why these patterns are evident, e.g. ‘smaller species have a shorter gestation than larger species because… ‘
Plenary / Share chn’s hypotheses and recap on what a ‘causal relationship’ is. Explore the ‘other considerations’ statements and then notethat somecorrelations don’t make scientific ‘causal’ sense and that suchcorrelations can be misleading – e.g. a correlation has previously been noted between ownership of red cars and heart attacks, but one does not cause the other!Watch the BBC video and explain that you will explore foetal development in the next session. Homework: ask chn to find out their gestation period and some key milestones, e.g. when they first crawled.Please note that this may be difficult for chn not with their birth parents and sensitivity should be used – you may wish to choose later milestones.
Outcomes / Children will

Complete online research to find out the gestation periods of a range of animals (including humans)
Create a visual comparison of gestation periods (including humans)
Look for patterns in gestation periods

We refer you to our warning, at the foot of the block overview, about links to other websites.