Own-pace blocks · Science
Science, one layer at a time.
- Years 4 to 9, with Key Stage 4 to follow.
- Physics, chemistry and biology build on each other, like layers.
- England's Key Stages 2 and 3 are the spine; we check them against the US Next Generation Science Standards and the IB.
Years 4–9England · United States · International BaccalaureateMapped
At a glance
- Years 4–9covered
- 71blocks
- 48objectives benchmarked
- 32published sources checked
Science
How it builds.
- Orientation & methodAsking a testable question, running a fair test and judging the result.
- PhysicsForces, energy, light, sound and electricity.
- ChemistryMaterials, particles and how they react.
- BiologyLiving things, bodies and ecosystems.
Science
Year by year.
Year 4Age 8–9 · US Grade 3 · IB PYP
By the end of Year 4, they can:
- Ask a question you can test and set up a fair test
- Explain sound as a vibration and build a simple circuit
- Sort solids, liquids and gases, and describe the water cycle
- Name the parts of digestion and build food chains
- Group living things with a classification key
Where each thread sits
● Same year◐ A year either side○ Later, or not taught
| Thread | England | US | IB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orientation & methodThe science stack; fair tests | Same year | Same year | Same year |
| PhysicsSound; simple circuits | Same year | A year either side | Later, or not taught |
| ChemistrySolids, liquids, gases; water cycle | Same year | A year either side | A year either side |
| BiologyDigestion; food chains; grouping | Same year | A year either side | A year either side |
Where it differs this year
- England is the only one of the three that names digestion, teeth and classification keys at this age; NGSS leaves body systems to middle school (MS-LS1-3) and the PYP scope and sequence never names them.
- NGSS teaches no circuits at Grade 3 (electric forces there are limited to static electricity); electric currents first appear in Grade 4 (4-PS3-2, 4-PS3-4), and the PYP science scope and sequence does not cover electricity at all.
- Grade 3 NGSS spends the year on forces and magnets, life cycles, inherited traits, fossils and weather, which England splits across Years 3, 5 and 6.
In the PDF: the full objectives and the sprint plan. Get the map
Year 5Age 9–10 · US Grade 4 · IB PYP
By the end of Year 5, they can:
- Plan a fair test by controlling variables
- Explain gravity and friction, and how levers and gears help
- Explain day and night by the Earth's rotation
- Compare materials and tell reversible from irreversible changes
- Describe life cycles, plant reproduction and human growth
Where each thread sits
● Same year◐ A year either side○ Later, or not taught
| Thread | England | US | IB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orientation & methodVariables | Same year | Same year | Same year |
| PhysicsGravity, friction, levers and gears; space | Same year | A year either side | Same year |
| ChemistryMaterials; dissolving; irreversible change | Same year | A year either side | Same year |
| BiologyLife cycles; plant reproduction; growing up | Same year | A year either side | A year either side |
Where it differs this year
- Grade 4 NGSS centres on energy and waves (speed and energy, energy transfer by sound, light, heat and current, wave amplitude and wavelength, light entering the eye), which England places in Years 4, 6 and KS3.
- NGSS moves gravity and the Sun's place among stars to Grade 5 (5-PS2-1, 5-ESS1) and explicitly excludes human reproduction from Grade 3 life cycles, so England's 'growing up' unit has no K–5 NGSS counterpart.
- Simple machines are named in the PYP scope and sequence (age 9–12: lever, ramp, pulley, screw, wheel, gears) but are not a performance expectation in NGSS.
In the PDF: the full objectives and the sprint plan. Get the map
Year 6Age 10–11 · US Grade 5 · IB PYP (exhibition)
By the end of Year 6, they can:
- Record results in tables and graphs
- Explain how light travels, and use circuit symbols
- Meet the periodic table as a map of the elements
- Describe the heart and circulation, and how lifestyle affects the body
- Classify living things and explain evolution using fossils
Where each thread sits
● Same year◐ A year either side○ Later, or not taught
| Thread | England | US | IB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orientation & methodRecording results | Same year | Same year | Same year |
| PhysicsLight; voltage | Same year | A year either side | Later, or not taught |
| ChemistryPantry map preview | Later, or not taught | Later, or not taught | Later, or not taught |
| BiologyCirculation; healthy bodies; evolution | Same year | A year either side | A year either side |
Where it differs this year
- Circuit symbols and voltage have no NGSS counterpart at any grade: NGSS never sets performance expectations on current, voltage or resistance, even in high school.
- Grade 5 NGSS is about particles of matter, conservation of weight, plants making food from air and water, matter moving through ecosystems and energy in food coming from the sun, ideas England holds back to KS3.
- England teaches evolution in Year 6, after NGSS (Grade 3 traits and fossils) and the PYP 7–9 band, but before NGSS's natural selection at middle school.
In the PDF: the full objectives and the sprint plan. Get the map
Year 7Age 11–12 · US Grade 6 · IB MYP 1
By the end of Year 7, they can:
- Form a hypothesis and judge a claim by its evidence
- Explain forces, speed and energy transfers
- Use the particle model and group elements by the periodic table
- Describe cells and how they specialise
- Describe reproduction in plants and humans
Where each thread sits
● Same year◐ A year either side○ Later, or not taught
| Thread | England | US | IB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orientation & methodThe stack revisited; evidence | Same year | Same year | Same year |
| PhysicsForces; speed graphs; energy stores | Same year | Same year | Same year |
| ChemistryParticles; atoms; the pantry map | Same year | Same year | Same year |
| BiologyCells, membranes, specialised cells | Same year | Same year | Same year |
Where it differs this year
- From here all three are bands, not years: England's KS3 programme covers Years 7–9 with no year split, NGSS middle school is a grades 6–8 band that states order (integrated or discipline-by-year), and the MYP prescribes no content at all. 'Same year' for Years 7–9 means 'inside that band', not 'this exact year'.
- NGSS limits assessment of cell parts to the cell wall and membrane (MS-LS1-2); England expects nucleus, cytoplasm, vacuole, mitochondria and chloroplasts.
- NGSS middle school never mentions the periodic table; it arrives in high school (HS-PS1-1), while England lists it in KS3.
In the PDF: the full objectives and the sprint plan. Get the map
Year 8Age 12–13 · US Grade 7 · IB MYP 2
By the end of Year 8, they can:
- Measure current and voltage, and explain how a motor works
- Explain reflection and refraction of light
- Predict reactions from element groups and write word equations
- Use pH to sort acids and alkalis, and describe neutralisation
- Describe respiration, photosynthesis, digestion and breathing
Where each thread sits
● Same year◐ A year either side○ Later, or not taught
| Thread | England | US | IB |
|---|---|---|---|
| PhysicsElectricity, magnetism, light, waves | Same year | Same year | Same year |
| ChemistryElement families; reactions; acids | Same year | Same year | Same year |
| BiologyRespiration, photosynthesis, digestion, lungs | Same year | Same year | Same year |
Where it differs this year
- Acids, alkalis and pH appear nowhere in the NGSS performance expectations (middle or high school); England puts them firmly in KS3.
- NGSS treats electricity only through electric and magnetic forces and fields (MS-PS2-3, MS-PS2-5); England's current, potential difference and resistance have no NGSS counterpart.
- NGSS excludes the chemistry of photosynthesis and respiration (MS-LS1-6, MS-LS1-7 boundaries); England expects word summaries and aerobic versus anaerobic respiration, including fermentation.
In the PDF: the full objectives and the sprint plan. Get the map
Year 9Age 13–14 · US Grade 8 · IB MYP 3
By the end of Year 9, they can:
- Calculate pressure, moments, power and efficiency
- Explain how gravity shapes orbits in the solar system
- Sort reactions as exothermic or endothermic, and explain reaction rates
- Explain the carbon cycle and human impact on climate
- Describe DNA, natural selection, and how disease spreads and is fought
Where each thread sits
● Same year◐ A year either side○ Later, or not taught
| Thread | England | US | IB |
|---|---|---|---|
| PhysicsPressure; moments; space; efficiency | Same year | Later, or not taught | Same year |
| ChemistryEnergy in reactions; climate; rates | Same year | Same year | Same year |
| BiologyDNA; evolution; ecosystems; disease | Same year | Same year | Same year |
Where it differs this year
- Three Year 9 blocks run ahead of England's own KS3: efficiency, rates of reaction and pathogens/immunity are not in the KS3 programme and arrive at KS4 (GCSE); KS3 covers only power, catalysts and drug or deficiency effects on health.
- Pressure and moments are not in NGSS middle school performance expectations, and they do not appear as high school PEs either; NGSS physics stays with Newton's laws, energy, fields and waves.
- NGSS gives climate change its own PE (MS-ESS3-5, causes of the rise in global temperatures) inside an Earth-science strand that England has no separate thread for.
In the PDF: the full objectives and the sprint plan. Get the map
Science
Where we take a different approach
- A sport lens pulls some topics forward. Cells come about three years early, and the chemistry of food one to two years early, when sport makes a child curious.
- A topic learned early counts as a head start. It still has to be learned in its own year before it counts as stacked.
- An engineering strand turns science into projects.
- England teaches digestion and teeth in Year 4; US standards leave body systems to middle school.
Science
How we checked.
- England's programmes of study are the spine. Each objective is checked against United States and International Baccalaureate.
- 32 published sources, listed in the PDF.
- Last checked October 2026.
Changes ahead
- Years 10 and 11 are planned, not mapped yet.
- England's reformed national curriculum is due from September 2028. We will check this map again when it is published.
Get the detailed map
The full year-by-year objectives, mapped against England, the US and the IB, with the sprint plan and every source we used.
Other stacks.
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