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These are additional resources, such as topic books.
  • Statutory programme of study.

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• If you need guidance on how to teach the topic, take the academy course by clicking the 'Lessons' icon. (Also suited to parent use.)

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Year 6 has the following 5 themes. Please select the one you want:

1. Living things and habitats

2. Human systems

3. Evolution and inheritance

4. Light (scroll down)

5. Electricity

4. Light

• (a) recognise that light appears to travel in straight lines.
• use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye .
Additional information:
Consider sources of light, Book: Light and shadows pages 6-7.

Text books and academy to use:


Simple (revision).

The whole book



Additional reading books to use:



(b) • • (b) explain that we see things because light travels from light sources to our eyes or from light sources to objects and then to our eyes


Additional information
Pupils might work scientifically by: deciding where to place rear-view mirrors on cars; designing and making a periscope and using the idea that light appears to travel in straight lines to explain how it works.
Consider mirrors and also reflection from non-mirror surfaces such as walls in the home (Book: How light bounces)

Text books and academy to use:


Specially written book for this topic about reflection from non-mirror surfaces.

Specially written book for this topic about mirrors.

The whole book


Here is a video from How we see things.

Additional reading books to use:


(c) use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain why shadows have the same shape as the objects that cast them.

Notes and guidance (non-statutory)

Pupils should build on the work on light in year 3, exploring the way that light behaves, including light sources, reflection and shadows. They should talk about what happens and make predictions.
They might investigate the relationship between light sources, objects and shadows by using shadow puppets.


Text books and academy to use:


Specially written book for this topic.

Simple.

Slightly more advanced,


They could extend their experience of light by looking a range of phenomena including rainbows, colours on soap bubbles, objects looking bent in water and coloured filters (they do not need to explain why these phenomena occur).

Additional reading books to use (including the idea that light is a source of energy):






Go to section 5: Electricity