Practical Science for Year 4

Introduction Contents
This book of science activities aims to help the busy Notes for Teachers / Working Scientifically 2
teacher deliver high quality science lessons with as
much manageable practical classroom work as Living Things and their Habitats
possible. This book is a major update of our previous Programme of Study 3
Photocopiable Practical Science Series bringing it in Lesson Notes 4
line with the 2014 National Curriculum for England.
Appendix 1 5
Existing material has been rearranged and new material
has been added making full curriculum coverage easy Lesson 1 – Life in a Pond Habitat 6
to complete. Lesson 2 – Life in a Woodland Habitat 9
Lesson 3 – Using Keys to Group Living Things 12
Each lesson follows a similar format with the following
elements:
1. A simple information sheet with questions that Animals, including Humans
explore the main concept to be studied during the
Programme of Study 15
lesson.
Lesson Notes 16
2. A classroom based experiment that, on the whole,
can be carried out by small groups of children Lesson 1 – The Human Digestive System 17
working independently. Lesson 2 – Teeth and Eating 20
3. A simple homework sheet which reinforces the Lesson 3 – Food Chains 23
concept discussed and the knowledge gained from
the experiment carried out. States of Matter
4. Detailed teacher notes that list the learning Programme of Study 26
objectives, the main points to be talked about, the
Lesson Notes 26/27
equipment needed for the investigation, how the
investigation should be carried out and the Lesson 1 – Solids, Liquids and Gases 28
conclusion that can be made from it. Lesson 2 – Measuring Time, Volume, Mass
and Temperature 31
Lesson 3 – Change Caused by Heating 34
Topical Resources publishes a range of Educational Lesson 4 – Change Caused by Cooling 37
Materials for use in Primary Schools and Pre-School Lesson 5 – Evaporation 40
Nurseries and Playgroups.
Lesson 6 – Condensation and the Water Cycle 43
For the latest catalogue:
Tel: 01772 863158
Fax: 01772 866153 Sound
e.mail: sales@topical-resources.co.uk Programme of Study 46
Buy online at: Lesson Notes 47
www.topical-resources.co.uk Lesson 1 – How Sounds are Made 48
Lesson 2 – Sound Travels through Materials 51
Topical Resources, P.O. Box 329, Broughton, Preston, Lesson 3 – Sound can be Changed 54
Lancashire. PR3 5LT Lesson 4 – How we hear Sound 57
Copyright © 2014 Peter Bell
Illustrated by John Hutchinson
Designed by Paul Sealey, PS3 Creative
Electricity
3 Wentworth Drive, Thornton, Lancashire
Printed in the UK for ‘Topical Resources’ by Programme of Study 60
T. Snape and Co Ltd, Boltons Court, Preston, Lancs. Lesson Notes 61
Lesson 1 – Two Types of Electricity 62
First Published January 2014 Lesson 2 – Switches 65
ISBN: 978-1-909458-35-2 Lesson 3 – Conductors and Insulators 68

page 1
Lesson Notes
Back to Contents

P.23 Lesson 3
Food Chains

Animal, including Humans

P.17 Lesson 1
The Human Digestive System
Learning Objectives:
To be able to describe the simple functions of the basic parts
of the digestive system in humans.
Talk about:
What digestion is.
How food is ripped and ground up by the teeth.
How saliva is added to help the dry food make its way to the
stomach.
How acids and other chemicals help turn the solid food into a
creamy liquid.
How nutrients are passed to the bloodstream from the small
intestine.
How liquids are removed from the food in the large intestine.
How the remains of the food is passed out of the body as
waste.
Experiment: Can you show what happens inside your
stomach?
Equipment: Snap and seal freezer bag, a cream cracker
biscuit, an egg cup of pure orange juice and two tea spoons of
water.
Method: Break up the biscuit inside the plastic bag. Add two
tea spoons of water to represent saliva. (This represents what
happens inside the mouth.) Add an egg cup of pure orange
juice to represent the acid in the stomach. Squeeze the back
to represent the contraction of the stomach. And then observe
what happens to the contents.
Conclusion: You can represent what happens inside your
stomach?
Learning Objectives:
To know the feeding patterns of animals can be represented
by simple food chains.
Talk about:
What eats what in the wild.
What a predator is.
What prey is.
What a simple food chain looks like.
Food chains always start with a green plant called a producer.
Food chains always end up with an animal called a consumer.
Food webs are more complex food chains.
Experiment: Can you make eight different food chains?
Equipment: Photocopy of page 24, scissors and paste.
Method: Cut out the 24 rectangles with living things inside
them. Assemble them into eight different food chains, each
containing three items. Remember each food chain begins
with a producer and an arrow means ‘is eaten by’. When all
the food chains are complete, paste them onto a blank sheet
of paper.
Conclusion: You can make eight different food chains.

P.20 Lesson 2
Teeth and Eating
Learning Objectives:
To know about the three different types of human teeth. To
know about different types of animal teeth.
Talk about:
The three kinds of human teeth.
How to identify the different teeth.
That humans only get two sets of teeth and that the final set
need to be looked after.
How tooth decay is caused by bacteria.
How to prevent tooth decay.
How carnivores and herbivores have different teeth.
Experiment: Which teeth are used to chop, rip and grind?
Equipment: Slices of apple and peeled carrot.
Method: Examine teeth in a friend’s mouth. Look for the three
different types of teeth. Observe as they bite and eat a piece
of apple. Observe as they bite and eat a piece of carrot. N.B.
Make sure local hygiene regulations are followed. Fill in the
experiment report sheet.
Conclusion: Incisors cut, molars crush and canines tear food.

page 16 © Topical Resources Ltd. May be photocopied for classroom use only.
 Animals, Including Humans Back to Contents
Information 1

The Human Digestive System

Mouth

Digestion is the way in which the food

we eat is broken down into substances
that can be used by the body.
Food Pipe
(Oesophagus)
Food placed in the mouth is ripped into
small pieces by the teeth and mixed
with saliva. This passes down the food
Stomach
tube (the oesophagus) into the
stomach. There acids and other
chemicals turn the food into a creamy
liquid. A flap at the bottom of the Small
Intestine
stomach opens from time to time to
let food into the small intestine.
Large
The small intestine is a long thin pipe, Intestine
which takes nourishment from the
digested food and passes it to the
bloodstream for the body to use as
fuel. The remainder goes into the
large intestine, a shorter wider tube.
Here the body takes away the liquids
and what is left is passed out as poo
(faeces).

Task
Answer these questions:
1. What is digestion?
2. What happens to food in the mouth?
3. What happens to food in the stomach?
4. What is the small intestine?
5. What happens inside the large intestine?
6. Draw and colour a diagram of the human digestive system.

© Topical Resources Ltd. May be photocopied for classroom use only. page 17
Animals, Including Humans Name:
Back to Contents
Experiment 1
Date:
Can you show what happens inside your stomach?
You will need: a snap and seal freezer bag, a cream cracker biscuit, an
egg cup of pure orange juice and two tea spoons of water.
Break the biscuit in pieces in the bag (representing teeth). Add
the water (representing saliva). Add the orange juice
(representing stomach acid). Rub gently and observe the changes.
First make a prediction
What do you think will happen in this experiment?

Carry out the experiment and write what happens

Draw a picture of what you did: Record what happens here:

What I did:

What I saw change: Why I think this happened:

Can you show what happens inside your stomach?

page 18 © Topical Resources Ltd. May be photocopied for classroom use only.
Name: Animals, Including Humans Back to Contents
Homework 1
Date:

The Human Digestive System

Draw and write a comic strip story about a piece of pizza as it journeys
through the human body. The first picture has been done for you.

© Topical Resources Ltd. May be photocopied for classroom use only. page 19