Progression in Scientific

knowledge, concepts & skills

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Living things and their habitats

(Biology)

Concepts

Function

Variation

Adaptation

Cause and effect

Process

Working Scientifically

Explore and compare living and non-living things (including things that have never been alive)

Describe how most living things (including plants) live in habitats or micro-habitats  suited to them

Know that habitats provide for the basic needs of different animals and plants (and how they depend on each other)

Use simple food chains to identify and name different sources of food

Recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways (using classification keys)

Recognise that environments can change and can pose dangers to living things

Describe the differences in the life cycles of a mammal, an amphibian, an insect and a bird

Describe the life process of reproduction (birth, growth, development)

Classify living things according to common observable characteristics (reptiles, amphibians, mammals, insects)

Give reasons for classifying plants and animals based on specific characteristics (for example vertebrates and invertebrates)