Science

Summer 1

Evolution and Inheritance

Inheritance

When living things reproduce they pass on characteristics to their offspring. This is known as inheritance.

You’ve probably noticed that you might look like your parents. This is because you inherit key characteristics from them, like your eye colour, skin colour and height.

All living things produce offspring of the same kind, but normally offspring are not identical to their parents; there are variations that make them different.

For example, if you cross two different breeds of dog, you get a dog with a combination of characteristics. Some characteristics come from their mother and some from their father.

However, you don't inherit everything from your parents. For example things like hairstyle, scars and ear piercings.

Evolution

Evolution is the way that living things change over time.

The first person who explained how evolution happens was Charles Darwin with his scientific theory of natural selection.

Charles Darwin observed that although individuals in a species shared similarities, they were not exact copies of each other; there were small differences or variations between them. He also noticed that everything in the natural world was in competition.

The winners were those that had characteristics which made them better adapted for survival. For example, they were stronger, faster, cleverer or more attractive than others in their species. These living things were more likely to reproduce and pass on their useful characteristics to their offspring.

Individuals that were poorly adapted were less likely to survive and their characteristics were not as likely to be inherited.

Over time, the characteristics that help survival become more common and a species gradually changes. Given enough time, these small changes can add up to the extent that a new species altogether can evolve.

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin published his scientific theory of natural selection in a book called ‘On the Origin of Species’ in 1859.

Darwin’s theory explained how every living thing is connected in a family tree that stretches back billions of years to the beginning of life on Earth.

Summer 2

Animals Including Humans

This half term, in Science, we will be exploring the human body. We will begin to understand the respiratory system, explore the different parts of the heart (whilst also investigating heart rate) and also looking at the organs both inside and outside of our bodies. We are looking forward to getting started on our science. 

Please take a minute to look at some of the useful sights that have been added below.