Today we have been talking about the changes we can see in our plants, since planting the seeds. We spoke about the roots, shoots, leaves and stalk and how you need to be gentle with them as hey are living things. We learnt that plants need sun, water and to eat nutrients from the soil, to grow. We did some active learning to help us remember which are the roots and which are the shoots.
Mrs Williams
#LovePlover
Year 4 were visited by Harry – our expert scientist – who kindly launched the science topic that we will be studying during this expedition. He introduced the children to states of matter: solids, liquids and gases. We were mesmerised by the video of experiments he prepared for us in his lab at university and have been really inspired by him. When he inflated a balloon right in front of us, without blowing it up in the normal way, gasps were heard from all. I wonder if your children can tell you how Harry did this?
Thank you Harry!
Mrs Haycock
#LovePlover
What a great hook week!
We started with chocolate tasting and then delved into the history of chocolate. We were introduced to the concept of Fairtrade and learnt about solids, liquids and gases with our expert visitor and scientist, Harry.
The week ended with our Rockstar day – kicking it off with the Rockathon times tables challenge. Everyone looked fantastic and had great fun on Times Tables Rockstars.
Looking forward to what comes next!
Mrs Graves
#LovePlover
Nursery have planted some seeds so that we can learn to take care of living things. Each child could choose whether they wanted to plant broad beans, cress or sweet pea flowers. We spoke about what seeds need to grow and how to take care of them. We can’t wait to watch how they grow over the coming weeks.
Mrs Williams
#LovePlover
As part of our immersion into our new expedition, Years 5 and 6 spent a day investigating changes in states of matter, understanding how solid substances such as salt and sugar can dissolve in water (becoming liquid), then the water evaporates to reverse the change of state, leaving solid crystals of salt or sugar.
We also understood how sand didn’t dissolve in water, but remained solid, sinking to the bottom of the liquid. We were able to retrieve the sand by using a filter.
We discussed how, in the past, science was unable to explain these changes of state and may have led to claims of witchery.
6B kick started their first case study today and became scientists. They predicted if solids would dissolve in liquids and if the temperature would impact the final results. They further developed their prior knowledge of states of matter. We are looking forward to even more science experiments tomorrow!
-Miss Blackham
#LovePlover
You may recall, a little while ago, Years 5 and 6 took cuttings from a houseplant while investigating asexual plant reproduction during our science case study.
Now the cuttings had successfully rooted, it was time to pot them into their own compost so they can get enough nutrients to grow into beautiful plants to decorate our classrooms.
Thank you to the children who helped to do this. We will keep them well fed and watered and observe their growth as the year passes.
Exploring shadows has been so much fun this afternoon. We have used light ray torches and opaque objects to solve the following problem: I like to have a long shadow behind me when I am performing on stage. Where do I need to ask my technical lighting team to place my spot lights to make sure my shadow is just how it like it?
I’m not sure who was more excited about the arrival of our new equipment from the Ogden Trust team, the kids or me!
Special shout out to Joe, Zuzanna and Pheobe who realised that it was darker under the tables. They decided to carry out their investigation on the floor and under a table. This meant that they had blocked as much natural light from outside as they possibly could, meaning their torch light and shadows created were more easily seen.
Mrs Haycock
#LovePlover
Well done 4H! Most of us can sort sources of light from non-sources of light! I loved watching you sort these cards and listening to your conversations about why you were placing items in the columns you placed them in. We just need to remember that the Moon is NOT a source of light. It simply reflects the sun’s light down to us on planet Earth which is why we can see it in different shapes at different times of the month. If it was its own light source, it would look the same all of the time!
Mrs Haycock
#LovePlover
Today, children in year 5 learned about asexual plant reproduction – how new, genetically identical clones of plants, can be made. We learned about how potatoes, garlic and strawberries can all produce new plants through their tubers, bulbs and runners. Finally, we took cuttings of Pothos – a jungle plant – and placed them in water. We hope to see them develop roots and have some lovely plants for the classrooms once they’re ready!
