Organisms & Life Processes

Identify and name common animals from major groups: fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals

Identify and name common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees

Name and use vocabulary for what makes something living — alive, dead, never been alive, movement, nutrition, growth, reproduction, sensitivity, excretion — and…

Understand what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive: water, food, air, and suitable conditions

Classify common animals as carnivores (eat meat), herbivores (eat plants), or omnivores (eat both)

Identify and describe the basic structure of common flowering plants (roots, stem, leaves, flowers) and trees (roots, trunk, branches, leaves)

Describe and compare the external body structure of common animals across groups (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals)

Identify, name, and locate basic parts of the human body and associate each body part with its sense

Recognise that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults, and describe basic animal life stages

Observe and describe how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants through stages of germination and growth

Understand that plants need water, light, and a suitable temperature to grow and stay healthy

Observe that young plants and animals resemble their parents but are not identical, recognising inherited similarities and individual differences

Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all share the common stages of birth, growth, reproduction, and death

Identify and describe the functions of different parts of flowering plants: roots absorb water and nutrients, stems transport materials, leaves make food…

Understand the life cycle of flowering plants including pollination, seed formation, and seed dispersal

Understand that animals, including humans, need the right types and amounts of nutrition, and that animals cannot make their own food

Use vocabulary for classifying animals and describing life cycles — vertebrate, invertebrate, mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, insect, arachnid, larva…

Draw and interpret life cycle diagrams for flowering plants, insects (complete and incomplete metamorphosis), birds, and mammals — labelling stages, describing…

Identify that humans and some other animals have skeletons and muscles for support, protection, and movement

Explore and compare the requirements of plants for life and growth: air, light, water, nutrients from soil, and room to grow

Investigate how water is transported within plants, using observations such as coloured water being drawn up through a stem

Identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment and understand that adaptation may lead to evolution over time

Use evidence to explain how variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and…

Use vocabulary for variation and inheritance — inherited characteristic, acquired characteristic, variation, offspring, trait, species, breed, genetic…

Analyse and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group…

Describe the simple functions of the basic parts of the human digestive system: mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine

Identify the different types of human teeth (incisors, canines, molars) and describe their functions in eating

Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment as well as inheritance

Describe the changes as humans develop to old age, including the stages of the human life cycle

Use a model to describe that animals receive information through their senses, process it in their brain, and respond in different ways

Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behaviour, and reproduction

Use technical vocabulary for the major organ systems — organ, organ system, circulatory system, digestive system, respiratory system, skeletal system, muscular…

Use technical vocabulary for evolution and natural selection — adaptation, evolution, natural selection, extinct, extinction, fossil record, species, common…

Recognise the impact of diet, exercise, drugs, and lifestyle on the way human bodies function

Identify and name the main parts of the human circulatory system and describe the functions of the heart, blood vessels, and blood

Describe how nutrients and water are transported within animals, including the role of the circulatory system in delivering nutrients from digestion

Use models to describe that energy in animals' food was once energy from the sun, transferred through plants or other organisms

Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water, not from the soil

Understand that all living organisms are made of cells and use a light microscope to observe, interpret, and record cell structure

Describe the functions of the main components of plant and animal cells: cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, vacuole, mitochondria, ribosomes, and…

Explain photosynthesis as the process by which plants use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen, and describe how mineral…

Compare plant and animal cells, identifying shared features and structures unique to plant cells (cell wall, vacuole, chloroplasts)

Describe the hierarchical organisation of multicellular organisms: cells → tissues → organs → organ systems → organism

Describe the organs of the human digestive system and how food is physically and chemically digested, including the role of enzymes as biological catalysts

Explain biomechanics — the interaction between skeleton and muscles at joints, including the roles of tendons (attach muscle to bone) and ligaments (attach bone…

Explain that muscles work in antagonistic pairs — one contracts while the other relaxes — to produce movement, using the bicep and tricep as a key example

Identify the seven components of a healthy diet — carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre, and water — and explain the role of each…

Describe the structure and four main functions of the human skeleton: support, protection, movement, and production of blood cells in bone marrow

Calculate and evaluate energy intake and requirements in a healthy daily diet, interpreting food labels and nutritional data

Explain the health consequences of an imbalanced diet including obesity (excess energy), starvation (severe energy deficit), and deficiency diseases (lack of…

Explain how unicellular organisms such as bacteria and Amoeba carry out all the functions of life within a single cell

Use a light microscope correctly to prepare, focus, and examine biological specimens, including making accurate labelled drawings at an appropriate…

Describe the structure of the heart (four chambers, valves, coronary arteries) and explain how it pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs and oxygenated blood to…

Explain the role of gut microbiome bacteria in digestion, including breaking down dietary fibre and contributing to a healthy gut environment

Describe the structure of the human gas exchange system (trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli) and explain how the mechanism of breathing — using pressure…

Explain aerobic respiration as the process by which organisms release energy from glucose using oxygen, producing carbon dioxide and water; write and interpret…

Explain diffusion as the net movement of particles from a region of higher concentration to lower concentration, and describe its role in moving materials…

Describe the structure of a flower and explain the processes of wind and insect pollination, fertilisation, seed and fruit formation, and seed dispersal in…

Explain anaerobic respiration in animals as the incomplete breakdown of glucose to lactic acid when oxygen is in short supply, causing muscle fatigue; contrast…

Explain how the human body detects and responds to environmental changes including temperature, including the role of the skin in temperature regulation…

Describe the structure and function of the male and female human reproductive systems, and explain the processes of fertilisation, gestation, and birth…

Explain how pathogens (bacteria, viruses, and fungi) cause disease and describe how the immune system responds, including the roles of white blood cells…

Explain the effects of recreational drugs including alcohol, tobacco, and illegal substances on behaviour, health, and body systems, and distinguish between…