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P3 Sciences (First level): What to Teach (Scotland)

Your Teacher Information Pack for P3 Sciences (First level) in Scotland: the curriculum structure, our short summaries with links to the official wording, and key dates.

Learn how – Teacher Information Packs: watch the 2-minute video · print (PDF) · also Year Planner setup

Country
Scotland
Stage
P3
Level
First level
Ages
6–7
Source
Curriculum for Excellence – experiences and outcomes (broad general education)
Last checked
2026-10-20

Usually P2, P3, P4 (a guide, not a fixed year group). Roughly US Grades 1–3 (approximate).

Curriculum for Excellence levels are a guide, not year groups: learners move through levels at their own pace.

Plan the whole year: open this course in the Year Planner – every lesson dated around your term dates, with a coverage check. Free.

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What to teach

Below are the experiences and outcomes with their official codes, in our own short summaries. Each code links to the official document.

Planet Earth: Biodiversity and interdependence

  • SCN 1-01a Telling living from non-living and sorting into groups.
  • SCN 1-02a Food chains showing how animals and plants depend on each other.
  • SCN 1-03a Designing experiments on plant needs and growing healthy plants.

Official wording

Planet Earth: Energy sources and sustainability

  • SCN 1-04a Recognising different energy types and their importance to life.

Official wording

Planet Earth: Processes of the planet

  • SCN 1-05a Water changing form and relating this to everyday experience.

Official wording

Planet Earth: Space

  • SCN 1-06a Recording sun and moon patterns and linking them to days, months, years.

Official wording

Forces, electricity and waves: Forces

  • SCN 1-07a Predicting how forces change the shape or motion of objects.
  • SCN 1-08a Magnetic forces between magnets and materials; designing a game.

Official wording

Forces, electricity and waves: Electricity

  • SCN 1-09a Describing circuits as loops and building series circuits for a model.

Official wording

Forces, electricity and waves: Vibrations and waves

  • SCN 1-11a Producing sounds from vibrations and changing their pitch.

Official wording

Biological systems: Body systems and cells

  • SCN 1-12a Skeleton and major organs, their functions, and keeping them healthy.
  • SCN 1-12b Reliability and limitations of senses in responding to environment.
  • SCN 1-13a Symptoms, spread, prevention, and treatment of germ-caused diseases.

Official wording

Biological systems: Inheritance

  • SCN 1-14a Comparing family generations to understand inherited characteristics.

Official wording

Materials: Properties and uses of substances

  • SCN 1-15a Choosing appropriate materials for practical challenges.
  • SCN 1-16a Predicting and testing whether solids dissolve in water.

Official wording

Topical science: Topical science

  • SCN 1-20a Contributing to discussions of current science news.

Official wording

Assessments and key dates

Qualifications Scotland exams 2027: Mon, 26 April 2027 to Thu, 3 June 2027 (timetable). There are no national tests of curriculum levels; teachers judge progress using the Benchmarks.

Trusted free resources

Links only: we don't copy their content and we aren't connected to these organisations.

More packs

Sciences – Early level · Sciences – First level · Sciences – Second level · Sciences – Third level · Sciences – Fourth level · P1 Sciences · P2 Sciences · P4 Sciences · All Scotland packs · Find another TIP

Codes and structure from Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes and Benchmarks, Education Scotland (Crown copyright). Summaries are Classfern's own words – always read the official wording via the link.

No official wording is reproduced: codes and structure are facts, and the short descriptions are our own summaries. Always read the official wording via the links. Checked on 2026-10-20.

Classfern is not affiliated with or endorsed by Education Scotland, Qualifications Scotland (formerly SQA) or the Scottish Government.