Curriculum Overview

 

Key Stage 3 Key Stage 4 Sixth Form

Term 1: P2 Electricity

Students will consider information based on the following: Electric charge particle model which is widely used to predict the behaviour of solids, liquids and gases and this has many applications in everyday life. It helps us to explain a fundamental property wide range of matter everywhere. Understanding observations and engineers use these principles when designing vessels to withstand high pressures and temperatures, such as submarines and spacecraft. It also explains why it is difficult to make a good cup of tea high up a mountain! Ionising radiation is hazardous but can be very useful. Although radioactivity was discovered over a century ago, it took many nuclear physicists several decades to understand the difference structure of atoms, nuclear forces and stability. Early researchers suffered from their exposure to ionising radiation. Rules for radiological protection were first introduced in the microstructure of conductors, semiconductors 1930s and insulators makes it possible to design components and build electric circuits. Many circuits subsequently improved. Today radioactive materials are powered with mains electricity, but portable electrical devices must use batteries of some kind. Electrical power fills the modern world with artificial light and sound, information and entertainment, remote sensing and control. The fundamentals of electromagnetism were worked out by scientists of the 19th century. However, power stations, like all machines, have a limited lifetime. If we all continue to demand more electricity this means building new power stations in every generation. Electromagnetic effects are widely used in a wide variety of devices including electricity generators. medicine, industry, agriculture and electrical power generation.

There will be an end of topic assessment using past exam questions to be completed under exam conditions and assessed by the teacher.

boiling point
temperature at which a pure substance boils or condenses

Boyle’s Law
for a fixed mass of gas at constant temperature, its pressure multiplied by its volume is constant

density
mass per unit volume of a substance

freezing point
the temperature at which a pure substance freezes

internal energy
the energy of the particles of a substance due to their individual motion and positions

pressure
force per unit cross-sectional area for a force acting on a surface at right angles to the surface. The unit of pressure is the pascal (Pa) or newton per square metre (N/m2)

alpha radiation (α)
alpha particles, each composed of two protons and two neutrons, emitted by unstable nuclei

beta radiation (β)
beta particles that are high energy electrons created in, and emitted from, unstable nuclei

count rate
the number of counts per second detected by a Geiger counter

gamma radiation (γ)
electromagnetic radiation emitted from unstable nuclei in radioactive substances

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Create a supportive community:

Term 3: P5 Forces Part 1

Engineers analyse forces when designing a great variety of machines and instruments, from road

bridges and fairground rides to atomic force microscopes. Anything mechanical can be analysed in this

way. Recent developments in artificial limbs use the analysis of forces to make movement possible.

4.5.1 Forces and their interactions 4.5.2 Work done and energy transfer 4.5.3 Forces and elasticity 4.5.5 Pressure and pressure differences in fluids Required Practical: Investigate the relationship between force and extension for a spring Required Prac: Investigate the effect of varying the force on the acceleration of an object of constant mass. NOT including 4.5.4 Moments, levers and gears

There will be an end of topic assessment.

displacement
distance in a given direction

driving force
force of a vehicle that makes it move (sometimes referred to as motive force)

effort
the force applied to a device used to raise a weight or move an object

forces
a force (in newtons, N) can change the motion of an object

friction
the force opposing the relative motion of two solid surfaces in contact

magnitude
the size or amount of a physical quantity

resultant force
a single force that has the same effect as all the forces acting on the object

scalar
a physical quantity, such as mass or energy, that has magnitude only (unlike a vector which has magnitude and direction)

vector
a vector is a physical quantity, such as displacement or velocity, that has a magnitude and a direction (unlike a scalar which has magnitude only)

  • Spiritual
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  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

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Term 4: P5 Forces Part 2 and revision for mock exam

Engineers analyse forces when designing a great variety of machines and instruments, from road bridges and fairground rides to atomic force microscopes. Anything mechanical can be analysed in this way. Recent developments in artificial limbs use the analysis of forces to make movement possible.

4.5.6 Forces and motion 4.5.7 Momentum NOT including 4.5.7.3 Changes in momentum

There will be an end of topic assessment using past exam questions to be completed under exam conditions and assessed by the teacher.

force multiplier
a lever used so that a weight or force can be moved by a smaller force

free-body force diagram
a diagram that shows the forces acting on an object without any other objects or forces shown

moment
the turning effect of a force defined by the equation: moment of a force (in newton metres, Nm) = force (in newtons, N) x perpendicular distance from the pivot to the line of action of the force (in metres, m)

principle of moments
for an object in equilibrium, the sum of all the clockwise moments about any point = the sum of all the anti-clockwise moments about that point

  • Spiritual
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  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

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Term 5: Revision

Pupils will review all learning from Year 9 and 10 in science to complete their end of year exams. This will entail a lot of intensive revision time and personal analysis before returning in Year 11.

The 3 exams will be a set of past exam questions with around 100 marks available in each paper at either a Higher or a Foundation level. They should aim to answer one mark per minute. The questions will be a mixture of short answer and long answer questions, each worth 1-6 marks. Pupils we be expected to recall knowledge, describe and explain theories, complete calculations using memorised equations and apply their understanding to previously unknown data or scenarios.

  • Spiritual
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  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Create a supportive community:

Term 6: Consolidation of prior learning (+ P8 Space for Triple Students)

Test data from previous units should be used to identify areas of underperformance.

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Term 2: P7 Magnestism and Electromagnetism

Electromagnetic effects are used in a wide variety of devices. Engineers make use of the fact that a

magnet moving in a coil can produce electric current and also that when current flows around a magnet

it can produce movement. It means that systems that involve control or communications can take full

advantage of this.

There will be an end of topic assessment using past exam questions to be completed under exam conditions and assessed by the teacher.

alternator
an alternating current generator

dynamo
a direct-current generator

electromagnet
an insulated wire wrapped round an iron bar that becomes magnetic when there is a current in the wire

electromagnetic induction
the process of inducing a potential difference in a wire by moving the wire so it cuts across the lines of force of a magnetic field

Fleming’s left-hand rule
a rule that gives the direction of the force on a current-carrying wire in a magnetic field according to the directions of the current and the field

generator effect
the production of a potential difference using a magnetic field

induced magnetism
magnetism of an unmagnetised magnetic material by placing it in a magnetic field

magnetic field
the space around a magnet or a current-carrying wire

magnetic field line
line in a magnetic field along which a magnetic compass points – also called a line of force

solenoid
a long coil of wire that produces a magnetic field in and around the coil when there is a current in the coil

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:

Create a supportive community: