What Do Scientists Do?

This scheme of work is also part of a Topic Bundle. Perfect if you are teaching 'Achievers and Inventors' as a cross-curricular topic.

Set the foundation of your scientific enquiry KS2 investigations in this first lesson.

Use the included lesson slides to take a look into the world of science and explore the three main branches of chemistry, biology and physics. Challenge your class to think about their own idea of what a scientist looks like and the skills they might need as a scientist. Then challenge the children to investigate scientific enquiry - the method scientists use to conduct reliable experiments.

Have you ever wondered how science could help solve a crime? Allow your class to explore the job of a forensic scientist and how they use their knowledge of chemistry, biology and physics to analyse and match evidence to help solve crimes. Discover how fingerprints can be analysed and matched, using careful observation skills, and generate interesting enquiry questions.

Explore how a microbiologist or pharmacologist uses scientific enquiry to develop new medicines for humans to use. Show your class how fair testing is an important part of the scientific process and how they can plan and conduct fair tests themselves. Encourage your class to identify the dependent, independent and control variables in their own and other experiments.

What does a zoologist’s job involve? Discover the studies of zoologists and how they must use careful observation skills to record the natural behaviours, appearances and environments of different animals. Challenge your class to develop their own observation skills to identify and classify different birds based on their physical features. Can the children work out what behaviours a bird might have from looking at the bird’s feet?

How does a plant scientist help an astronaut? Discover the answer with your class as you explore the role and research of botanists. Challenge your class to think about what helps plants grow well and conduct an experiment to test their own hypotheses. Recap on fair testing and allow your children to plan how they will carry out an investigation and record their results.

How do we know what is healthy? Investigate the human body and how it moves with your class. Explore how muscles work in pairs to move and discuss the work of sports scientists and nutritionists which helps athletes and sportspeople to give their very best performances. Have your class use their understanding of the scientific method to create an experiment to test and improve their reactions.