Year 9

The Year 9 Course is split into 6 modules

• Cells
• Forces
• Particles
• Energy
• Interdependence
• Particles 2

The same teacher takes the class for the entire year.

Scientific Vocabulary

Cells: You should be able to

• Use a word and/or symbol equation to describe respiration and explain similarities with burning of fuels.
  Explain that multi-celled organisms survive well only if all their parts work well together; use this to explain how smoking, alcohol, some drugs and exercise affect parts of the human body.
• Explain that the nucleus in a cell contains genes that control all the characteristics of the organism; use this to explain:
  • fertilisation, where genes from one parent join with genes from the other to produce a new set of genes;
  • how selective breeding, either by nature or by humans, can increase the chance of certain genes passing from parent to offspring.
• Describe photosynthesis and the requirement of chlorophyll, light, carbon dioxide and water know that plant nutrition involves photosynthesis and other nutrients obtained from the soil; use this to explain:
  • photosynthesis as a source of biomass;
  • that these other nutrients, used to produce proteins and other substances, can be supplied by fertilisers;
  • how leaves and roots are adapted to their functions;
  • conditions in which plants grow well.
• Distinguish between photosynthesis and respiration in plants, including the use of word equations.

Interdependence: You should be able to

• Describe relationships of organisms in a food web and use this to explain:

  • why photosynthesis is important to humans;
  • why maximising human food production can significantly affect other animals and plants;
  • how the abundance and distribution of organisms may be affected by pesticides, weedkillers and the accumulation of toxins;
  • how pyramids of numbers represent feeding relationships in a habitat.
• Explain that habitats change in response to changes in physical, chemical and biological factors.
• Begin to describe a model for the whole environment that recognises how the materials that make up all living organisms are recycled, and that energy from sunlight flows through the system; use this to explain the need for sustainable development.

Particles: You should be able to

• Identify evidence which indicates that a chemical reaction has taken place, such as the association of energy transfer with chemical change.
• Recognise that chemical reactions can be modelled by assuming that atoms can rearrange themselves, and that this can happen in only a limited number of ways, for example,
  A + B > AB, AB + CD > AD + CB.
• Use the particle rearrangement model to: 
  • predict the names and formulae for products that might be formed from given reactants;
  • write word and symbol equations for some simple reactions;
  • explain why mass is conserved in chemical reactions;
  • explain how acids react with bases and neutralisation occurs.
• Describe how metals react with: 
  • oxygen, water, acids and oxides;
  • solutions of salts of other metals.
• Identify differences in reactivity of metals to construct a reactivity series; use this to explain uses of metals and make predictions about the reactions of metals.

Forces: You should be able to

• Use friction in liquids and gases to explore how resistance to an object moving through changes with the object’s speed and shape; explain how streamlining reduces an object’s resistance to air and water.
• Recognise how the turning effect of a force (moment) is related to the size of the force and the distance the force is from the pivot; use moments to explain how a simple object can be balanced.
• Recognise how the effect of a force depends upon the area to which it is applied and that the force acting per unit area is called pressure; use the relationship to explain:
  • the pressure exerted by solids;
  • pressure within liquids and gases.
• Recognise that gravity is a force of attraction between objects, that this force is greater for large objects like the Earth but gets less the further an object moves away from the Earth's surface; use these ideas to explain:
  • how weight is different on different planets;
  • how stars, planets, and natural and artificial satellites are kept in position in relation to one another.

Energy: You should be able to

• Recognise the idea of energy conservation as a useful scientific accounting system when energy is transferred; use this to explain energy transfers in familiar situations, energy efficiency and energy dissipation.
• Develop, from a simple model of energy transfer in electrical circuits, the idea of potential difference in electrical circuits.
• Use the model of energy conservation to explain how:
  • the potential difference measured across cells or components shows how much energy is transferred from the cells to the current and from the current to the components;
  • electrical energy can be generated using fuels, including the energy transfers involved; recognise possible environmental effects of this.

Scientific Enquiry: You should be able to

• Explain how scientific ideas have changed over time; describe some of the positive and negative effects of scientific and technological developments.
• Select and use a suitable strategy for solving a problem; identify strategies appropriate to different questions, including those in which variables cannot be easily controlled.
• Carry out preliminary work such as trial runs to help refine predictions and to suggest improvements to the method.
• Make sufficient systematic and repeated observations and measurements with precision, using an appropriate technique.
• Select and use appropriate methods for communicating qualitative and quantitative data.
• Describe patterns in data; use scientific knowledge and understanding to interpret the patterns, make predictions and check reliability.
• Describe how evidence or the quality of the product supports or does not support a conclusion in their own and others’ enquiries; identify the limitations of data in conclusions.