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PawStepsPets on the Green · Science
🔬 Science subject guide

Science

Living things, habitats and how bodies work — with real animals.

Science comes alive when you can watch it wriggle, hop and grow. On PawSteps, every scientific idea is explored through real creatures — from tiny minibeasts to clever mammals. Learners investigate how living things are grouped, where they make their homes, how their bodies work and how they've adapted to survive. Whether you're just starting out or heading towards your GCSEs, there's a topic here to spark curiosity.

Topics you'll cover

Classification Habitats Life cycles Adaptations Food chains The human body Evolution Materials Forces Ecosystems
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🎓 Deeper learning

Working scientifically plus real, checked facts — observe, question, test and explain. Built for the National Curriculum, KS1 to GCSE biology.

🔬 Work like a scientist

“Working scientifically” is a real part of the curriculum. These are the steps scientists actually use.

👀 Observe

Looking closely and noticing details.Try: watch how a snail moves and describe it.

❓ Question

Asking questions you could investigate.Try: which food do the guinea pigs eat first?

🔮 Predict

Saying what you think will happen, and why.Try: predict which seeds grow tallest.

⚖️ Fair test

Changing one thing and keeping the rest the same.Try: same soil and water, different light.

📊 Measure & record

Gathering results in tables, charts or drawings.Try: record plant height each day for a week.

🧠 Conclude

Explaining what your results show.Try: the plant grew most in the light — why?

🐾 Amazing true facts

Real, checked science facts. Turn on Challenge tasks for a thinking question on each one.

An octopus has three hearts

✔ True fact

An octopus really has three hearts, and its blood is blue. Two hearts pump blood to the gills; one pumps it to the rest of the body.

🎓 Challenge: Classification: an octopus has no backbone. Which group does that put it in — vertebrate or invertebrate?

A camel's hump is full of fat

✔ True fact

A camel does not store water in its hump — it stores fat. The fat gives it energy when food is scarce in the desert.

🎓 Challenge: Adaptation: explain how storing fat (not water) helps a camel survive in a hot desert.

Butterflies change shape completely

✔ True fact

A butterfly's life cycle has four stages: egg → caterpillar → chrysalis → butterfly. This big change of shape is called metamorphosis.

🎓 Challenge: Life cycles: how is a butterfly's life cycle different from a human's? Name one difference.

Gary the hedgehog has thousands of spines

✔ True fact

A hedgehog is covered in around 5,000 to 7,000 spines. When it is scared, it rolls into a tight, prickly ball to stay safe.

🎓 Challenge: Adaptation & behaviour: rolling into a ball is a defence. What is it protecting, and from what?

📚 Key words to know

A knowledge organiser: the important science words and what they mean.
Living / non-living
Living things grow, feed and reproduce; non-living things do not.
Habitat
The place where an animal or plant naturally lives.
Adaptation
A feature that helps a living thing survive where it lives.
Life cycle
The stages a living thing passes through as it grows.
Metamorphosis
A big change in body shape, e.g. caterpillar to butterfly.
Vertebrate
An animal with a backbone (fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, mammal).
Invertebrate
An animal without a backbone, such as a snail or spider.
Producer
A plant that makes its own food using sunlight.
Predator / prey
A predator hunts; prey is the animal that is hunted.
Camouflage
Colours or patterns that help an animal hide.
Classification
Sorting living things into groups by their features.
Nocturnal
Active at night, like a hedgehog.

Q1. Name the four stages of a butterfly's life cycle in order.

Answer: Egg → caterpillar → chrysalis → butterfly.

Q2. What is the difference between a vertebrate and an invertebrate?

Answer: A vertebrate has a backbone; an invertebrate does not.

Q3. What does a camel really store in its hump?

Answer: Fat — for energy, not water.

Q4. In a fair test, how many things should you change at once?Challenge

Answer: Just one — you keep everything else the same.

Q5. A hedgehog is active at night. What word describes this?

Answer: Nocturnal.

Q6. In a food chain, what do we call a plant that makes its own food?Challenge

Answer: A producer.

👩‍🏫 For teachers & parents — curriculum links

This section builds both substantive knowledge (facts) and disciplinary knowledge (working scientifically), so learning goes beyond themed activities.