Autumn
Physics: Forces
Students will explore the different forces and how they interact, causing work to be done and energy to be transferred. The difference between speed and velocity is analysed in graphs and students will interpret these and use equations to do calculations. Students will learn how reaction time and other factors affect the overall stopping distance of a vehicle.
Physics: Waves
Students will learn how waves carry energy from one place to another and can also carry information, and explore the uses of these waves in the electromagnetic spectrum. Students will be able to explain how wave speed can be calculated using different methods.
Physics: Magnetism and Electromagnetism
Students will learn about magnetic force and how an electromagnet is made. The uses of electromagnets is explored, and how the motor effect can be utilised to make electric motors.
Chemistry: The rate and extent of chemical change
Students will explore the reactivity of chemicals and how the rate at which they react can be measured as well as manipulated. Reversible reactions will be studied, looking at how conditions can be altered to affect the yield in industry.
Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Students will explore the chemistry of carbon compounds. This includes fossil fuels, particularly crude oil and how it is made more useful through separation and processing.
Chemistry: Chemical Analysis
Students will look at the process of chromatography to separate soluble substances in detail. They will also learn the tests needed to identify gases.
Chemistry: Chemistry of the Atmosphere
Students will learn how the atmosphere has changed over time from when the Earth first formed to current day. They will look at the problems faced in our current society with pollutants, and the effects of greenhouse gases and global warming.
Spring
Chemistry: Using Resources
Students will learn how industries use the Earth’s natural resources to manufacture useful products. They will consider sustainability, and learn about how life cycle assessments consider environmental impact at all stages of a product’s life. Students will also learn how potable water is obtained, and how we treat sewage from homes, farms and factories. Finally, they will learn some alternative methods of extracting copper due to the decrease in high grades ores, and the importance of recycling products.
Biology: Homeostasis and Response
In this topic, students will learn how hormones and nerves send signals around the body to monitor and control systems. They will learn how hormones regulate the blood glucose level and what happens if this process goes wrong. They will also learn about the hormones involved in the menstrual cycle, and how these can be artificially manipulated in contraception and fertility treatments. They will learn how nerves send signals to effectors, allowing us to move and react to the environment around us, as well as how reflexes differ to coordinated responses.
Biology: Inheritance, Variation and Evolution
In this topic, we will discover how sex cells are produced through meiosis, and how these combine in fertilisation. Students will discover the basics of inheritance through the study of genes, focusing on those characteristics controlled by a single gene. They will study some examples of dominant and recessive inherited disorders, and learn how to predict the chance of offspring inheriting these conditions. The topic will go on to discuss evolution by natural selection, how humans have interfered in this process with selective breeding, and how technology has developed to allow us to carry out genetic engineering. It will finsih looking at how classification groups organisms, and the changes that occurred to allow the three domains of life to be added to the existing Linnean classification system
Biology: review
In this topic, we will review the biology content first learned in year 9, and build on this to develop understanding. We will newly look at how therapeutic cloning can be used for stem cell therapy, factors that affect the rate of photosynthesis in plants, and the inverse square law.
Summer
Chemistry: review
In this topic, we will review the chemistry content first learned in year 9, and build on this to develop understanding. We will newly look at half equations using ions and develop chemical calculations to include moles and calculating reacting masses. Oxidation and reduction will be explored in terms of electron transfer, and the difference between strong and concentrated will be learned. Finally, students will develop their understanding of energy changes to include bond energy calculations.
Physics: review
In this topic, we will review the physics content first learned in year 9, and build on this to develop understanding. We will newly look at more complex calculations involving more than one equation, weaving these throughout the content.
Biology: Ecology
In this topic, students will learn how biotic and abiotic factors interact, explore food chains in more detail, and look at interdependence in an ecosystem. They will go on to investigate how populations can be estimated as well as how trends in factors can affect distribution of organisms, for example how light intensity affects plant growth. Adaptation of organisms will be studied, as well as ways to maintain biodiversity. Finally, we will revisit the carbon cycle from a biology perspective, and look at the impacts of deforestation and land use.