Science: Blog items
Year 1 - Our Learning This half-term
Date: 17th Dec 2020 @ 3:10am
Year 1 – Our half term!
We have had a very busy half term! From exploring 2D and 3D shapes in Maths, to balancing and creating routines in PE, and listening and appraising reggae songs in Music!
In Science this half term we have been learning about animals; learning lots of new vocabulary including carnivore, omnivore and herbivore and the five animal classifications.
In Computing we have been creating our own Christmas artwork using Paintz, exploring the different tools to create shape, images and text and on the 1st December our class elves arrived in Beech and Hazel with a letter - he asked us to find out everything we needed to know to write back to him! So, in Reading into Writing we explored the journey of a letter, finding features, piecing together the layout, and reading the letters from our class elf, before finally writing our own letter.
It has been a very exciting half term, filled with lots of learning and fun!
Date: 9th Dec 2020 @ 3:54pm
Year Two have had a busy half term, crammed with lots of learning. From calculating and finding number bonds in Maths, to appraising and creating Christmas
songs in Music. We have been Super Scientists by planning investigations about everyday materials and we really enjoyed using primary sources in History to find out more about why we remember soldiers from The First World War.
Date: 25th Nov 2020 @ 4:55pm
In Science we have been learning about Rocks and soil! We did an experiment to find out about which soil was the best drainer, and we found out that it was sandy soil. We kept our experiment fair by only changing one variable. This week we have also started learning about different types of rocks: igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. We have sorted them and looked at how they were formed.
Date: 19th Nov 2020 @ 8:12pm
As part of our Science topic, Everyday Materials, pupils in Year Two were set a challenge to design a boat to carry an 'orange' across a river. We were given a range of materials including paper, clingfilm, tinfoil, sponge and fabric. We then had to use these materials to create a boat that would float. During this investigation we found that the sponge floated well initially, but when it began to absorb the water it became too heavy and started to sink. We also found that tinfoil was a useful material as it was waterproof and it didn't absorb any water. Then some of us had the brilliant idea of covering the sponge with tinfoil, this made a great boat as it floated well and the tinfoil kept the sponge from absorbing the water. We really enjoyed working in small groups to tackle this challenge and we found out a lot about the properties of some everyday materials.
Date: 13th Nov 2020 @ 7:07pm
This week in Science we began our topic on animals by observing animals in our school environment. We firstly discussed what we already know about animals, and then what we would like to find out.
We recapped on the 5 animal groups, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish, and talked about what features animals have to have to fit into these groups. We learnt that we fit into one of these 5 groups, and that we are mammals! We also discussed birds have feathers and wings, fish breathe underwater using gills, and amphibians can live on land and in water.
We then talked about what kind of animals we thought we might see/find on our observation hunt. We recapped on our safety rules when we are using the Forest School area before heading outside! We found beetles, worms, spiders and ants and we saw dogs, birds and humans! We looked closely at the animals, before returning them to their natural habitat. We then headed back in to the classroom to record our observations to help us answer questions!
Date: 9th Nov 2020 @ 3:30pm
This week the children have been busy planting bulbs ready for Spring. They learnt which way round they should be planted in the ground and hopefully we should see crocus, tulips and daffodils blooming in our garden next year!
"You dig a hole in the ground then put the bulb in...flowers will grow" Oscar.
"...it goes this way round...this hairy bit at the bottom" Alfie.
Take a look at our photos!
Date: 5th Nov 2020 @ 8:27pm
We could not have picked a better day for our first Forest School session - bonfire night! We discussed fire safety and learned that fires need three elements to survive: heat, oxygen and fuel. With this in mind, we collected a variety of dry sticks and learned how to safely use a fire lighting steel. When the fire was lit, we toasted Marshmallows, which were delicious!
Date: 5th Nov 2020 @ 4:11pm
Year Two had an exciting start to the new half term. As an introduction to our new Science topic, Everyday Materials, we were set a challenge to build a bridge out of paper. We experimented with folding paper and creating different shapes to see how many counters we could support. Our strongest bridge held over 100 counters, amazing for a single piece of paper!!
Date: 2nd Nov 2020 @ 5:23pm
It was great coming back to school after our week off and we kicked it off with our WOW lesson on Electricity.
We had four investigations to complete:
- Identifying symbols used to represent a bulb, buzzer, motor, cell (single), battery (2 cells), simple switch (open and closed), push switch and wires.
- Creating a simple circuit with a bulb, 2 wires, a battery, a buzzer and a motor.
- Investigating insulators and conductors with sever objects: ruler, rubber, pencil, sharpener, scissors, mirror, paper clip, tinfoil and split pin.
- Creating a switch - we used a piece of card, 2 split pins and a paper clip and created our own off/on switch, where we added it to our simple circuits.
During our different investigations we realised that conductors of electricity (lets electricity pass through easily) were all made from metal materials. Amazingly, we quickly realised that the lead of the pencil would conduct electricity, which we thought was really cool!
We can't wait to find out what our other science lessons on Electricity has in store for us!
Watch this space...
Date: 20th Oct 2020 @ 9:29pm
Everyone has been very busy weeding the raised beds and preparing the pots to plant bulbs in a few weeks time. The children worked together, sharing tools, digging and chatting about the different creatures they found living in the soil.
"Look! A worm! It's wriggling!" Amy.
"It's very long (worm)" Oscar.
Date: 7th Oct 2020 @ 8:46pm
In Science today we have learned all about refraction. Refraction is where light waves travel at a different speed when they go through other transparent materials, such as water or glass. This causes the rays of light to change direction and bend.
Refraction creates illusions. Because light bends when it travels between air and water or glass, objects seen through these materials look bent or distorted. Objects can look bigger or smaller. They can also look as if they have turned the opposite way or flipped upside down. We carried out several investigations to see refraction in action!
Date: 13th Sep 2020 @ 7:08pm
Welcome back to Year 3. Not only have we been busy learning about each other, but we've also been starting to learn about our new topics in Computing and Science. We looked at the vocabulary needed for Forces and Magnets and learnt how to use our new email accounts to login to the Chromebooks. We completed some self portraits in green and we talked about Year 3 expectations. We were all very smart and organised in our first week back and have lots of great things to learn and look forward to!
We're going on an animal hunt!
Date: 11th Mar 2020 @ 10:07pm
We're going on an animal hunt! The children looked for the animals hidden outside and when they'd found them they had to name them and then look at the patterns, colours, how many legs they have and such like.
"It's a kangaroo...they have their baby's in the pocket...they jump and have two big legs and little arms" Rosalie.
"It's a snake...green...little stripes...snakes don't have legs or arms" Freddie.
"Mine's a lion...it has a mane...a long tail" Chisom.
Date: 13th Mar 2020 @ 3:24pm
For our new science topic children have been learning all about light. Children have been setting up simple experiments, joined in with practical enquiries and created fair tests to discover that without light we cannot see. Children have recognised that light can be dangerous, darkness is the absence of light and light travels in straight lines.
Date: 12th Mar 2020 @ 9:16am
In Science, we have been learning all about electricity! We were able to explore the snap circuits and create our own circuits. We realised that there couldn't be any breaks in our circuits or they wouldn't work! We were able to make light bulbs glow, motors spin and we even made one circuit sing happy birthday! We had lots of fun experimenting with the circuits but we also learnt how to use them safely and how electricity works.
Date: 10th Mar 2020 @ 12:48pm
Today we learned what the word habitats mean. We looked at a range of habitats and thought about who might live in this habitat and how they may have needed to adapt to survive there. We drew pictures of animals to go with each habitat.
We then learnt what microhabitats are and went out and explored looking for microhabitats. We found lots of microhabitats around the school grounds housing worms, spiders and woodlouse.
Date: 5th Mar 2020 @ 7:49pm
When Year 4 returned to school they found out that their new subject was going to be called ' Oh I do like to be by the seaside'. This topic has a focus on Geography, Science and D&T. The children created ocean themed water colour washes onto their paper. They created different tones and shade to show light passing through the water. Once they were dry the children researched different ocean creatures and created silhouettes to add to their ocean landscapes. Children also started to investigate habitats and elements of living things.
Date: 5th Mar 2020 @ 12:07pm
Reception have been busy exploring in the garden looking for signs of Spring. The children noticed how the garden was changing and new plants, flowers and leaves were beginning to grow.
"Look! I can see a yellow flower...I think it's called a daffodil". Jaz.
"These are growing too... these are smaller pink and purple flowers" Alexander.
Date: 27th Feb 2020 @ 8:57am
On our first day back after half term, Year 2 had a great morning experimenting with electricity! We defied gravity by making a balloon stick to the wall and we even made salt and pepper jump from a bowl! We learnt that this was all down to static electricity. We had lots of fun making our hair stand up. We also used snap circuits to make fans and lights. We had a great morning and can't wait to learn more about electricity!
Date: 13th Feb 2020 @ 7:27pm
We have been exploring the properties of different materials in science and today we tested materials to discover which were waterproof and would make a good umbrella. We ensured we conducted a fair test by treating each material the same. We found that although glass was waterproof it would not make a good umbrella because it was fragile. We learned that paper was not waterproof, nor was fabric but plastic was.
We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!
Date: 7th Feb 2020 @ 8:55am
Year 2 had lovely day at Blackpool Zoo. We saw lots of interesting animals and we learnt lots of new facts! Did you know that elephants have 40,000 muscles in their trunk alone?!
During the day, we also had a lesson about habitats. We learnt how animals adapt to their surroundings to survive. We also got to touch a bearded dragon and elephant poo! We had a brilliant time and luckily the weather was perfect!
The One Where We Looked At Evolutionary Trees
Date: 6th Feb 2020 @ 12:42pm
What a fun Science lesson we had today! We learn that before humans evolved, early common ancestors with other mammals walked on all fours, but fossils that have been found tells us that early humans (australopithecines and homo species) ‘evolved’ to walk on two legs (anatomical evidence, but also bipedal footprint fossils). We now understand that we DID NOT evolve from primates but that we simply have common ancestors. We looked at the advantages and disadvantages of home species evolving to walk on two legs (bipedalism) and how they needed to evolve and adapt in order to survive. We learnt a crazy fact too - our closest living relative is a chimpanzee with around 97% identical DNA. Who knew that? Well, we do now! We then looked at how biscuits have evolved over time and what has changed to their characteristics each time. We ordered the biscuits in complexity and described how they have changed - this helped us to understand the evolution process of many living things; such as, cockroaches, ferns, primates and many more.
Date: 29th Jan 2020 @ 8:46pm
This week Year 2 have been learning about different types of animal classifications and explored how each one was unique. Children worked collaboratively and discussed many different animals and then made choices as to what classification they were, based on their individual features. Next we played guess who, where children had to describe the different features and the class had to guess which animal classification it was (E.g bird, fish, mammal, amphibians or reptiles). Afterwards children compared each of the classifications and discussed the similarities and differences between them.
Date: 21st Jan 2020 @ 4:58pm
Today, we had our second 'No Pen Day' of the academic year! Along with that, we had some of our parents come in to school and see their children learning. The parents enjoyed coming to learn some maths and watch the children tackle some challenging work - loop card games involving fractions, decimals and percentages and a square number problem where children had use patience, resilience and determination to find a solution. We also spent our morning looking at different ways on how we could practise our spelling without using pen and paper. We thoroughly enjoyed the 'Taboo' game where we had to describe a particular Year 5 and 6 spelling. In the afternoon, we learnt about adaptation and mutations - how plants and animals adapt in order the survive in a certain biome.
Date: 17th Jan 2020 @ 12:41pm
This week in Fit 2 Go Year 4 have been learning about the Eat Well Plate and the different food groups. They discussed the purpose of each food group and why a balanced diet is so important. Using this knowledge the children were able to plan a day of healthy meals and snack for themselves.
