Key Stage 1 · Year 2 · ages 6 or 7
Year 2 science: what your child learns
Year 2 science looks at how living things live and grow, and why materials suit particular jobs. Children sort things that are living, dead or never alive, explore habitats and food chains, and find out that plants need water, light and a suitable temperature. They also study how animals grow into adults, what they need to survive, why exercise, food and hygiene matter, and how materials squash, bend, twist and stretch.
Guides for parents
Year 2 science
Growing up and staying healthy
What Year 2 children learn about how animals and humans grow, what they need to survive, and why exercise, healthy food and hygiene matter, with a worked example.
Year 2 science
Living things, habitats and food chains
What Year 2 children learn about living, dead and never-alive things, habitats and microhabitats, and simple food chains, with a worked example and home ideas.
Year 2 science
How seeds and bulbs grow
What Year 2 children learn about how seeds and bulbs grow into plants and what plants need to stay healthy, with a worked example of a light test and ideas for home.
Year 2 science
Uses of everyday materials
How Year 2 children choose the right material for a job and find out how squashing, bending, twisting and stretching change shape, with a worked test and ideas for home.
Everything in the Year 2 science curriculum
The National Curriculum topics for Year 2, in the order the National Curriculum lists them.
Working scientifically
- Working scientifically (years 1 and 2) (Key Stage 1)