Science // Area
Energy
Age coverage
Ages 5 to 14
Starts at age 5 // 2 topics
Starting at age 5
Your child is beginning to understand energy — observing how sunlight warms objects and surfaces, and designing simple structures to create shade and reduce warming effects.
- Sunlight warms things up
Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth's surface, noticing that sunlight warms the ground, water, and objects
Ages 5 to 6Concept - Building shade from the sun
Use tools and materials to design and build a structure that will reduce the warming effect of sunlight on an area, such as a shade or shelter
Ages 5 to 6Method
Starts at age 7 // 1 topic
Starting at age 7
- Naming types of energy
Name and use vocabulary for types of energy and energy transfer — kinetic energy, potential energy, heat energy, light energy, sound energy, electrical energy…
Ages 7 to 9Language
Starts at age 8 // 5 topics
Starting at age 8
Your child is discovering how electricity works — building simple circuits with batteries and bulbs, understanding how switches control electrical flow, and learning which materials conduct electricity and which don't.
- Building a simple circuit
Construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts: cells, wires, bulbs, switches, and buzzers
Ages 8 to 9Method - What uses electricity at home
Identify common appliances that run on electricity and understand that electricity is a form of energy that powers devices in everyday life
Ages 8 to 9Concept - How switches work
Recognise that a switch opens and closes a circuit, controlling whether a lamp lights or a buzzer sounds
Ages 8 to 9Concept - Will the bulb light up?
Identify whether or not a lamp will light in a simple series circuit, based on whether the lamp is part of a complete loop with a battery
Ages 8 to 9Concept - Conductors and insulators
Recognise some common conductors and insulators, and associate metals with being good conductors of electricity
Ages 8 to 9Concept
Starts at age 9 // 6 topics
Starting at age 9
Your child is exploring how energy works — understanding how it moves between objects, changes from one form to another, and can be transferred through sound, light, heat, and electricity.
- How energy travels around
Observe and provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents
Ages 9 to 10Concept - Reading and drawing circuit diagrams
Draw and read simple circuit diagrams using standard symbols for cells, bulbs, switches, buzzers, and wires; identify whether a circuit is complete or broken…
Ages 9 to 10Representation - Speed and energy
Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object
Ages 9 to 10Concept - Circuit vocabulary
Use technical vocabulary for electrical circuits — circuit, component, cell, battery, current, voltage, resistance, conductor, insulator, switch, series…
Ages 9 to 11Language - Building an energy-converting device
Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another
Ages 9 to 10Method - What happens when things collide
Ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that occur when objects collide
Ages 9 to 10Concept
Starts at age 10 // 3 topics
Starting at age 10
Your child is learning how electricity works in circuits — understanding how batteries power different components like bulbs and buzzers, and how to draw circuit diagrams using proper symbols.
- Drawing circuits with proper symbols
Use recognised symbols when representing a simple circuit in a diagram, including cell, wire, bulb, switch, buzzer, and motor
Ages 10 to 11Representation - More batteries, brighter bulb
Associate the brightness of a lamp or volume of a buzzer with the number and voltage of cells used in a series circuit
Ages 10 to 11Concept - Why circuit components behave differently
Compare and give reasons for variations in how circuit components function, including brightness of bulbs, loudness of buzzers, and switch positions
Ages 10 to 11Concept
Starts at age 11 // 4 topics
Starting at age 11
- Energy stores and transfers
Identify the main energy stores (kinetic, gravitational potential, elastic potential, thermal, chemical, nuclear, electromagnetic) and the pathways by which…
Ages 11 to 12Concept - Energy can't be created or destroyed
Explain the principle of conservation of energy (energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred between stores), and describe how energy is dissipated…
Ages 11 to 12Concept - Current, voltage, and what they measure
Understand that electric current is the rate of flow of charge (measured in amperes using an ammeter), and that potential difference (voltage) is the energy…
Ages 11 to 12Concept - Static electricity and sparks
Explain static electricity as the build-up of electric charge through friction, describe how charged objects attract or repel each other, and relate static…
Ages 11 to 12Concept
Starts at age 12 // 7 topics
Starting at age 12
- Renewable vs non-renewable energy
Distinguish between renewable energy resources (solar, wind, hydroelectric, tidal, geothermal, biomass) and non-renewable resources (coal, oil, gas, nuclear)…
Ages 12 to 14Concept - Efficiency, Sankey diagrams, and work done
Calculate energy efficiency as the ratio of useful output energy to total input energy, construct and interpret Sankey diagrams, and calculate work done using…
Ages 12 to 13Method - Heating experiments and Q = mcΔT
Plan and carry out experiments to measure energy transferred during heating, including using the equation Q = mcΔT, recording temperature changes over time, and…
Ages 12 to 13Method - Conduction, convection, and radiation
Describe and compare the three mechanisms of heat transfer — conduction (particle vibration through solids), convection (fluid movement in liquids/gases), and…
Ages 12 to 13Concept - Power: watts and energy per second
Define power as the rate of energy transfer (power = energy ÷ time, measured in watts), and compare energy transfer rates in different everyday contexts
Ages 12 to 13Concept - Ohm's Law: voltage, current, resistance
Apply Ohm's Law (V = IR) to calculate current, voltage, or resistance in a simple circuit, and explain that resistance opposes the flow of current
Ages 12 to 13Method - Series vs parallel circuits
Describe and apply the rules for current, voltage, and resistance in series and parallel circuits, and explain the practical uses of each circuit type
Ages 12 to 13Concept