Modelled Science Lesson – Handout 1

Primary Lessons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Some of the resources in these lesson plans require a Science Bug subscription on ActiveLearn Primary. Talk to your local Pearson representative for details.

Year 4 Unit: Skeleton and Muscles Lesson 1

Main Focus Prior Knowledge Key Vocabulary Curriculum Objectives
• Know that humans have bones, human, skeleton, body, internal, • Understand that humans have internal skeletons that
I can explain why humans need bones animals, support, protection, move, provide support and protection and allow movement
to have bones. • Know that living things are organs
able to move
Teaching Summary
Ask students to discuss what they know about bones, and what they would like to know. Give them some time to discuss, and then write up the correct ideas given. Make a note of any
misconceptions or questions to address throughout the unit.
Tell students that today they will be learning about the human skeleton. Explain that skeleton is the name given to the complete set of bones found inside the body, and that the
scientific name for something inside a body is internal. Animals also have skeletons with some similarities to humans. Ask students to discuss what job they think the skeleton does.
Ask: ‘What would happen if we didn’t have a skeleton?’ When they have shared their ideas, tell them that the skeleton has two main jobs, and that the first one is for support and
protection. Without a skeleton, we would not be able to stand up, and it works like a shield for our organs, including our brain, heart and lungs. The other important job it does it to
allow us to move. Without a skeleton to hold us together, we would not be able to walk, wave or play. Explain that our skeleton is made up of lots and lots of bones – 206 altogether!
Tell them that they are going to learn some of the names of the biggest ones today.
Main Activity
Core: Using either ‘Bones’ or an illustration of human skeleton with certain bones labelled (see Physical Resources), ask students to create a song based on the song ‘Head,
shoulders, knees and toes’, using some of the bones mentioned in the picture. Give groups time to agree and perform in groups. Ask them to write down their new song in their books,
carefully copying spellings.
Support: Highlight or select key bones for students to use.
Extend: Ask students to write further verses for the song until they have covered all of the bones mentioned in the 'Bones' handout.
Plenary
Ask some groups to come to the front and share their songs – they should first perform by themselves, then everyone in the class can joining in!
Additional Activity
Watch a video showing different animals move (see Physical Resources) together and discuss what students have learned. Ask: ‘Do the animals move in the same ways as a
human?’
Resources
Physical Resources Photocopiable Resources
An illustration of a human skeleton for each group of students, with the following bones N/A
labelled: skull, scapula, humerus, ribs, spine, radius, pubic bone, ulna, femur, patella, tibia, Science Bug Resources
fibula
Year 3/Movement and Feeding 4/Bones
Video showing different animals move, including animals that fly, slide, jump, walk etc
Year 4 Unit: Skeleton and Muscles Lesson 2
Main Focus Prior Knowledge Key Vocabulary Curriculum Objectives
• Know that humans have bones, skeleton, internal, • Identify and locate the skull and rib cage and
I can find the skull and rib bones support, protection, understand their function in protecting vital organs
cage, and explain what they • Know that living things movement, humans, organs,
do. are able to move skull, rib cage, ribs, heart,
brain, lungs, jaws, live

Teaching Summary
Remind students that, in Lesson 1, they learned about why humans have skeletons. Give them some time to recall and discuss what these reasons were,
prompting as needed about the skeleton’s role in protection and support for the body, as well as movement. Explain that they are going to focus on two very
important sets of bones today – the skull and the rib cage. Ask students to think about where those sets of bones are found in the human body. Talk about
where they are and how they are shaped, using x-ray images to help explain. Encourage students to feel the shape of their own skulls with their hands, and place
their fingers on the top of their jaws as they open and close their mouths. They can also very gently press on their rib cages, to feel the ribs and gaps between
them.
Explain that these bones protect some of our most important internal organs – the brain (skull), lungs and heart (rib cage). All of these are organs that a human
cannot live without.
Main Activity
Core: Give students a blank, unlabelled illustration of a human skeleton. Ask them to colour in the skull and rib cage. When they have done this, ask them to label
them, and write a sentence or two underneath about what important jobs these sets of bones do in the human body.
Support: Give students key words, such as protect, support, brain, heart, lungs.
Extend: Ask students to write a short explanation about which bone (or set of bones) they think does the most important job in the body, and why.
Plenary
Ask students to think about what they do to stay safe, for example when riding a bike or travelling in a car. Ask: ‘How do these things give our bodies extra
protection?’
Additional Activity
Watch a video showing how the muscles and bones in human legs move when we walk. Discuss the video as a class. Ask: ‘What have you seen that you have
learned about today?’
Resources
Physical Resources Photocopiable Resources
X-ray images of the human skull and rib cage N/A
Unlabelled illustration of a human skeleton, one per student
Year 4 Unit: Skeleton and Muscles Lesson 3
Main Focus Prior Knowledge Key Vocabulary Curriculum Objectives
• Know that humans have human, bone, skeleton, move, • Understand the term joint as a place where bones
I can locate and talk about internal skeletons, which joints, movement, bend meet and describe the extent of movement of a
some of the joints on the help them to move and variety of joints
human body. protect organs

Teaching Summary
Review with students what they have learned so far about the human skeleton. Ask them to think about what might happen if a human skeleton was only one
bone, and how this might affect how humans could move. Explain that humans having lots of separate bones makes it much easier for us to bend and move. Tell
them that the parts of bodies that can move and bend are called joints. Joints are places where two of our bones meet. Ask students to discuss with their partners
any joints they can think of, and take some ideas. Explain that today, they are going to investigate the joints in their bodies, and how they move.
Main Activity
Core: Give each students a table as detailed in Physical Resources. Ask them to work in groups to identify some different joints in their bodies. In the ‘Joint’
column, ask them to describe where it is located e.g. ‘knee’. In the ‘Movement’ column, ask them to describe the range of movement that the joint has. For
example the knee joint may be described as ‘up and down’, ‘side to side’, ‘one direction’, ‘a circle’. These descriptions are all valid, provided they are accurate.
Give students plenty of time to consider the different joints before they write.
Support: Make suggestions to students as needed by asking questions. For example, ask: ‘What joints are there in your leg?’, ‘Can you move your knees in more
or fewer directions than your fingers?’
Extend: Prompt students to consider less obvious joints, such the spine or toes.
Plenary
Make a list of all of the joints that students have listed. Ask students to think about any joints that they did not think of (prompt them) and ask: ‘How would you
describe its movement?’
Additional Activity
Watch a video showing different animals move (see Physical Resources) and discuss as a class how, for example, a cat’s joints might differ from a human’s.
Ask students to think about whether they think they have more or fewer joints than a cat!
Resources
Physical Resources Photocopiable Resources
A table with two columns, headed ‘Joint’ and ‘Movement’ and around six blank N/A
rows, one per student
Video showing different animals move, including animals that fly, slide, jump,
walk etc (also used in Lesson 1)
Year 4 Unit: Skeleton and Muscles Lesson 4
Main Focus Prior Knowledge Key Vocabulary Curriculum Objectives
• Know that humans have bones, human, muscles, • Understand the terms contract and relax in relation
I can explain why muscles internal skeletons, which move, joint, movement, to antagonistic muscle action resulting in
are important in helping us help them to move and antagonistic, bend, relax, movement
move. protect organs contract, tendons
Teaching Summary
Remind students that they have already learned about why bones are important in the human body. Explain that today, they will be thinking about muscles. Tell
them that muscles are what allow us to move easily – they are attached to our bones through tendons. Explain that when we run, sit, jump and breathe, we use
muscles. Describe how sets of muscles often work together in (antagonistic – students do not need to know this term only the action) pairs – one set can bend a
part of our body, and another helps it to relax (unbend). They are usually found attached to a particular joint e.g. bicep and tricep muscles are attached to the
elbow joint to allow us to bend our arms. Explain that a scientific word for bend is contract – we relax and contract our muscles. Contracting our muscles is
usually something we do on purpose, whereas relaxation is what happens when we stop using the muscle.
Ask students to bend their hand gently towards their wrist, and back towards their arm. Ask them to do it again, once with their other hand on their inner wrist, and
again with their other hand on the base of the back of their hand. They should be able to feel the muscles contract as their hand moves towards them. Ask
students to take some time to think about other pairs of muscles. Ask: ‘Which parts of your body can you bend? Where are the muscles that help our bodies to do
this?’
Main Activity
Core: Show students a simple diagram of human muscles. Ask students to create a poster about why muscles are important, and what job they do. They could
use the information on the diagram to talk about particular muscles, and explain what types of jobs they help us to do.
Support: Point to some specific examples and ask questions. For example ask: ‘What jobs can our leg muscles help us to do? Why do we need muscles in our
fingers and wrists?’
Extend: Encourage students to think about a larger range of different muscles and the jobs they do i.e. eating, breathing and tiptoeing.
Plenary
Ask all the class to stand up. Perform an action, and ask students to copy it. After each one, encourage a discussion about which muscles you used to do each
movement.
Additional Activity
Watch a video showing how the muscles and bones in human legs move when we walk. Ask students about any bones that they recognise from what they have
learned. Ask: ‘Where are the muscles connected to them? Can you see which muscles are working as pairs?’
Resources
Physical Resources Photocopiable Resources
Simple diagram of human muscles N/A
Large sheets of paper
Variety of coloured pens/pencils
Year 4 Unit: Skeleton and Muscles Lesson 5
Main Focus Prior Knowledge Key Vocabulary Curriculum Objectives
• Know that humans have bones, muscles, diet, • Know that bones are important for producing
I can explain how diet and internal skeletons and exercise, support, protect, blood cells
exercise can help our muscles for protection blood, bone marrow, cells, • Explain the importance of exercise and diet in
muscles and bones. and movement heal, grow, stronger, food, maintaining healthy muscles and bones
healthy, calcium, protein

Teaching Summary
Review what students have learned so far in this unit about bones and muscles – what jobs they do, and why they are important. Explain that, like anything else,
if we want our bodies to work well, we have to give them the right care. For our muscles and bones, this means making sure we have the right diet and the right
amount of exercise. Tell students that our bones not only support and protect us, but they are also where our blood is made. Inside our bones is less tough
material called bone marrow. Bone marrow makes the cells (the ‘building blocks’ that are too tiny to be seen with our eyes) that our blood is made up of. If we
look after our bones and muscles, we are fitter, feel better, and can even heal more quickly if we hurt ourselves. Exercise is very important, because by making
our muscles work hard, they can grow stronger. This helps us to do all of the activities we love to do!
Ask students to have a discussion about what kinds of food might help keep our bones and muscles healthy. Ask them to feed back some answers. Ensure they
understand that as well as fruit and vegetables, it is important to get plenty of calcium from dairy products, seeds and nuts, as it is one of the ingredients our
bones need to stay tough and strong. Protein is also important in building our muscles – this is found in meat, eggs, grains and beans.
Main Activity
Core: Give each student a blank plate outline and ask them to create a meal that would be good at keeping muscles and bones healthy. Ask them to label each
foodstuff, explaining what it is and why they have included it on their plate.
Support: Give students some prompting ideas by asking questions. For example ask: ‘What type of protein would you use? What about calcium… etc?
Extend: Ask students to think about other health implications in their choices e.g. a beef burger may be a good protein source, but does it contain anything less
healthy?’
Plenary
Compare some good examples of plates and use them to question the students’ understanding. Ask: ‘Why do you think [student name] chose to include this food
on their plate? Do you agree?’
Additional Activity
Ask students to think about their favourite foods. Ask: ‘Do they contain anything which helps to keep muscles and bones healthy? Could they be made more or
less healthy by adding something, or by taking something away?’
Resources
Physical Resources Photocopiable Resources
A blank plate outline, one per student N/A