What your child learns in Year 6 Science
New curriculum, taught from 2027
Lessons
1Chemical change: new substances and the signs to look forMaterials2Simple circuits: loops, switches and circuit diagramsMatter Interactions and Energy3Drawing forces with arrows, and how levers helpMotion and Forces4Earth's water: stores, clouds, vapour and the water we useEarth and Space5Earth's fresh water: ice, lakes, rivers and groundwaterEarth and Space6Traits, inheritance and variation in living thingsOrganism Diversity7Blood, the heart and how food reaches every part of youLife Processes8Habitats: measuring their features and who lives whereEcosystems
Physical science
4 areasMaterials: Chemical change
- Chemical changes make new substances, from reactants into products
- The clues: gas bubbles, a new solid, a colour change, getting hotter or colder
- Why most chemical changes cannot be undone, and the rechargeable battery that can
- Chemical changes in cooking, burning fuel, digestion and making materials
Matter interactions and energy: Simple circuits
- A power source, wires and a load joined in a complete loop
- Open and closed circuits, and how a switch controls them
- Conductors and insulators
- Drawing circuit diagrams with standard symbols
Motion and forces: Representing forces
- Forces as arrows showing size and direction
- Simple free-body diagrams, and balanced forces that cancel out
- Levers, pivots and why pushing far from the pivot is easier
- Spotting levers in everyday tools
Earth and space: Earth's water
- Water stores, including clouds and invisible water vapour, and how water moves between them
- Why most of Earth's water is salty, and how little is fresh
- Groundwater, aquifers, and where New Zealand towns get their tap water
- Reading water data, working out household water use, and showing amounts in grids and graphs
Biological science
3 areasOrganism diversity: Inheritance and variation
- Traits, and how young inherit them from their parents
- Variation between individuals, and how surroundings shape traits
- How some differences help living things survive
- Measuring a trait such as leaf length and drawing a histogram
Life processes: Circulation and nutrients
- How digested food gets from the gut into the blood
- The heart, arteries, veins and capillaries
- What the body uses nutrients for
- Comparing different models of the circulatory system
Ecosystems: Habitat features
- Measuring a habitat's water, sun and temperature
- Why different places are home to different living things
- Recording along a transect line
- Predicting where an organism lives and planning a garden
How is Year 6 maths going?
See the Year 6 maths guideSummarised by Vertex Academy from the New Zealand Curriculum, Science Years 0 to 10 (August 2026), Ministry of Education. Vertex Academy is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Ministry of Education.