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As Scientists this week, we were out and about identifying materials in our everyday environment. We worked well in pairs to identify the materials and then we had a chat about why that material worked well for its purpose. We were able to give good explanations such as “It is strong, it is waterproof, it won’t bend and it is colourful” as we though carefully about the objects use/function.
Year 4 have been experimenting with solids, liquids and gasses.
We learnt all about the formation of the particles within solids, liquids and gasses and even acted out how they move.
We then looked at many different items such as, wood, plastic, cotton, water, PVA glue, slime, tooth paste, foam, flour, helium and air. We then classified and grouped these based on whether we thought they were a solid, liquid or gas. This was a challenging task as many of the items made us think really hard as they showed the potential to be multiple state of matter. We looked at the flour closely as we were able to pour this similarly to a liquid but discussed that each grain is a solid. We also looked closely at the slime as this filled the shape of each container it was put in but we could also pick it up and rip it. Finally, we carefully considered the foam as this held its shape in the container for a long time but eventually spread to fill the container.
This experiment sparked some really good discussions and got us to think deeply about what we had learnt about the different states of matter.
F2 had a glorious morning getting muddy- mixing, pouring, scooping, digging, painting, sweeping and making! In F2 we have been reading the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’ and loved making ‘dirty waffles’ for the pigs and ‘Wolf soup‘! We made some brilliant recipes, measuring and weighing our own collected ingredients!
Some of us enjoyed painting with mud! We mixed our own mud paint, making sure not to add too much water or mud getting the right consistency…we didn’t want it too watery! This brought up lots of topics for discussion about what the paint needed to feel and look like! If it was too watery what could we do to change the consistency? And if it was too solid… what could we do to change it? By the end of the session we had made the perfect mud paint!!!
Alongside mud painting some of us just enjoyed JUMPING UP AND DOWN IN MUDDY PUDDLES! These were moments of pure joy and happiness! After our P.E session yesterday on ‘jumping’ we were experts at it! Talking through the steps on how to jump- bend the knees and push!
This week in F2 we have been reading the story ‘The Three Little Pigs!‘ We have loved this story, especially acting out characters like the wolf! And we have been huffing and puffing all about the classroom!
This got us thinking?
Could we really blow down a house? And what are houses made from? We had great discussions about the materials used to build a house and whether these materials were strong or weak? Could they withstand the ‘huff and puff’ of a wolf? After many discussions, we decided to put it to the test. As a class we predicted what we thought would happen to the different houses we made, from the different materials we picked (sticks, bricks, straw, plastic, metal, wood). We made a tally chart, ticking or crossing if we thought the wolf could blow it down! In order to get enough ‘huff’ we used a hairdryer to give us enough blow- this brought up lots of discussions about how the hairdryer worked and electricity! Together the wolf and the children ‘huffed and puffed’ and attempted to blow down the houses! We then assessed our predictions and whether we had predicted right, filling in our tally chart to evaluate!
Year 6 have been thinking about the 3P’s in their Design and Technology unit of work.
Design and make a Product for a Person with a Purpose
As technologists Y6 were challenged to design chocolate truffles that were to be a gift.
DT is not just about ‘making’. There are lots of steps that come before and after that !
Investigate – Learning about existing products
Focused Practical Task – Practising vital skills
Design – Designing a range of possible products
Make – Making the product
Evaluate – Looking back on what you did and considering what went well, what didn’t go so well and thinking about what you would have done differently
Our Learning Journey took us through each of these stages.
For two weeks the children were challenged to be chocolatiers.
Work in progress!!!
Now time to decorate !!!! Preparing the packaging!!!
! 
Nearly there!!!
What a professional looking finish !!!
Today in year 4 we observed what happens to a battery powered light bulb over time. We set up a simple circuit and observed the light bulb, noticing that it was very bright. Later in the day we made another observation and noticed that bulb was a little bit dimmer. We discussed that the brightness of the bulb had reduced because the power from the battery was being used up. Eventually, by the end of the day we made a final observation and noticed that the bulb had completely gone out. We discussed how the power from the battery had been completely used up from the bulb and there was no longer any power left to light the bulb.
This afternoon in year 4 we had a fun, practical lesson identifying, classifying and grouping household item into a Venn diagram. We made a note of items that we use everyday then sorted them into the diagram showing which are battery powered, which are mains powered and which do not use electricity at all.
Today in year 5 we looked at how mechanisms can be built using cogs and how useful this can be. We looked at creating different mechanisms using the driver, idler and follower cogs. The children were able to explain how the cogs counter rotation helps create movement.
The children had a special visit on Tuesday from some firefighters! They kindly let us explore their fire engine and have a go using the hose. We enjoyed learning all about firefighters 🚒🚨🔥
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