Year 2 are investigating the suitability of materials in science!

By Mandy Graves27th January 2022

After looking at different uses for materials last week some children were discussing which materials were best for outdoor seating. we decided to use this conversation to create an investigation. Children thought about their prior learning of material properties and uses to make a prediction about which material would be best suited to make an outdoor bench.

Children drew a scientific diagram of there equipment before testing four different materials for strength by adding weight and pressure to each one. They then poured water over each material to see what happened when the material got wet. We then tested the strength of each material again.

Children then wrote about their findings. Some children discovered that metal was the best material whilst others though plastic was a good alternative.

There were lots of discussions about all of the materials. A great afternoon for our scientists in Year 2!

Exploring Gears in Year 5

By Miss J STAINES27th January 2022

In Science, Year 5 have have been exploring different types of mechanisms including gears.

Gears work when the teeth of one gear mesh with another.

When you mesh, two gears, the driver gear makes the follower gear turn in the opposite direction.

If you use a small gear to drive a large gear, the large one will turn slower.

If you use a large gear to drive a small gear, the small one will turn faster. Less effort is needed to make the wheel turn lots of time.

An idler gear can be placed in between a driver gear and a follower gear to make a driver gear and a follower gear turn in the same direction.

Year 2 have been observing and classifying Materials

By Miss P STATHERS21st January 2022

Our new unit in Year 2 is Materials. We have been looking at different materials and their properties. This week we went outside to look for different materials. We then thought about why some materials are used outside more often than others.

 

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Light

By Mrs D O'LOUGHLIN22nd December 2021

Year 3 began this unit by thinking about the question ‘what is light?’. They looked at a variety of objects/images to determine what a light source is. Some of the objects that we needed to have more in depth discussions about were; the moon, windows, reflective clothing and mirrors.

We decided on the following: a light  source is something that gives out light.

A mirror is not a light source because it does not give out light – it reflects light. A window is not a light source because it does not give out light – it allows light to pass through. The moon is not a light source because it does not give out light  – it reflects the sun’s light.

 

We continued by investigating the reflective properties of different materials in order to design a school rucksack.

 

Look at these fabulous designs:

We continued by looking at different types of mirrors. The convex and concave mirrors were very surprising!

 

We also studied the way that shadows change in relation to the time of day and distance from the light source.

 

We found out about a famous scientist from history – Justus Von Liebig who invented the mirror.

Science – Physics – Y4 – Electricity

By Mrs H HEBDEN15th December 2021

So now that we can create and fix a simple circuit, we were challenged with creating a switch to turn the bulb or buzzer on and off.

We need a switch within the light-boxes that we are creating for DT, so it was important that we figured this out and really understood how the switch worked!

Year 2 have been using secondary resources to research Florence Nightingale.

By Mandy Graves9th December 2021

Year 2 have been using videos and book extracts to find out about Florence Nightingale.

The children really enjoyed finding out about the important changes Florence made to health care and why she is such a famous nurse. This was linked to our learning recent learning about hygiene.

Children were able to find the key facts and share their ideas.

Exploring in the Snow December 2021

By Mrs J SANFORD2nd December 2021

F1 were very excited to arrive at school today, with the snow falling. Once we had done our morning jobs, we decided to venture outside to explore the snow. Before we set off we asked the children what they thought we should wear. We decided we needed hats, gloves, coats and wellington boots. We spoke about the material of wellington boots and why they were better than our school shoes. One of the children laughed how a few weeks ago they were in shorts and t-shirts at school and how cold they would be if they were wearing that today. We discussed seasons and how it was still autumn although the weather was looking more like winter today. When we set off on our walk on the school grounds, there had  just been a heavy falling of snow. We loved the noise our wellies made crunching in the snow. We went to the corner of the field to the natural area. Two of the boys where very concerned where the bugs had gone, which we had seen under the logs a few weeks before. We discussed them finding somewhere warm underground. We made snow balls and decided the snow was ice and it was really cold. Some of us even made snow angles. Most of all we enjoyed having fun with our friends. We saw Mr Wileman, our site manager, busy putting salt on the ground to melt the ice so that people didn’t fall. Some of the children had remembered the ice melting when we put salt on it on our Tuff Spot a few weeks ago. The children enjoyed exploring in the snow but were pleased to get back to the classroom and get warm.