Changing KS3 Science Lessons

After recently posting my embryonic thoughts on how we might consider changing the way we teach science at KS3, I heard from another teacher who had been developing another approach. For details please see the Quarky Teacher's post here: https://twitter.com/QuarkyTeacher42/status/1477596036734631941?s=20

Although to create a complete, resourced, KS3 curriculum in this fashion would be a huge undertaking, I am really taken with the idea of teaching based on a specific domain, rather than lesson by lesson through a set topic in biology/physics/chemistry.

As an example, consider a series of lessons (say taking a half-term) ostensibly talking about space, but in actuality covering a much wider range of KS3 subjects.

Transporting Astronauts and Supplies to and from the International Space Station

The teaching and learning sequence could cover the following:

• the solar system, the relative positions of the Sun, Earth, moon, other planets and the ISS;
• how the ISS remains in space even though it experiences the Earth's gravitational field;
• the concept of free-fall and how objects of difference masses fall with the same rate of acceleration;
• mass, weight and gravitational field strength;
• the consequences of zero air resistance;
• atmospheric pressure and how it changes with height;
• the forces required to lift a spacecraft beyond the Earth's atmosphere;
• the combustion reactions of rocket fuel and the forces generated (exothermic reactions, gas pressure etc);
• the effect of mass on the force required and the use of staged rockets;
• the speed of rockets and satellites;
• distance-time graphs;
• relative velocities as spacecraft dock in orbit;
• the effect of living on the ISS on the human body; 
• how is oxygen, water, carbon dioxide etc managed on the ISS;
• how can plants grow in space, how can Earth-like conditions be created;
• photosynthesis, respiration, pollination;
• air resistance causing friction and heating on re-entry;
• how parachutes decelerate the descent to a safe rate - terminal velocity.

This is just a first idea for one particular topic as an example and it needs a lot more thought, careful mapping to the National Curriculum and integration with relevant practical activities to build "working scientifically" skills.