Shake me up Year Five!

Year Five have been busy in class learning all about Changing Landforms.  They've found out about tectonic plates, layers in the earth and all the different ways that our land is formed.  As part of their unit I was asked to come up with an activity to help reinforce some of their new learning.

We decided to focus on weathering and erosion and after learning about that, the boys got into groups and made a model of our school grounds - the bank at the back and the gentle slope down to the beach.  We built the surface up with firstly rock and dirt which we packed down to represent the hard surface.  We then covered the surface with sand to represent the top layer of soil.  Each group then got to model the effects of rain and wind - using sprinkled water and hairdryers!

We carefully observed the effects of both and it was great to see the boys beginning to make some really good observations of the channels the water carved through the sand, how the sand was carried and blown further than the rock, how the sand usually ended up being blown into the same places and how the higher areas began to shrink in height.
After we made our observations and applied our thinking to the everyday world, we were ready for another experiment.  This time the boys added shapes to their models to represent buildings, forests and roadways.  This time they were asked to observe and look for any differences that the man made structures made on the surface of our models.

Using models, the boys got to investigate the effects of wind and rain.  Through observation they were able to come up with some really excellent ideas about erosion and what we need to do to help slow down its effects.  Well done Year Five!

Static Strangeness!

The last couple of sessions for the year six electricity unit, were based around exploring static electricity and then applying their new knowledge to construct a simple torch using a limited amount of equipment.
For the static electricity investigations, the classroom was set up into seven different stations.  At each station, the boys had to do an activity using static charge and then answer a couple of questions or draw a quick sketch of what they saw happening.  Activities included getting a can to roll without touching it, making paper jump around on it's own, bending water, moving tin foil on its own as well as a couple of different experiments using balloons.

The boys had lots of fun creating and playing with static electricity.  It was great to see many of them beginning to think like scientists and beginning to understand the basic concepts of atoms, electrons and protons and the charge that they carry.  Well done Year Six!

In the last session, the boys were paired up and each given a couple of wires, 2 batteries, a bulb, some tin foil, a piece of card and a roll of tape.  Using the knowledge they had learned from the previous lessons, they had to construct a simple torch that they could turn off and on.

7/8T Robotics

We've started another round of robotics sessions for classes from Year 6 upwards.
This week saw 7/8T start some new challenges.  After revisiting what they had learnt and remembered from last year, they were ready for anything!
Each pair were given the task of putting several concepts together and including these in their own programme.  Once again, the boys enjoyed the challenge and of course, managed to add in the odd fighting arm!

Light me up Year Six!

The term started with all three Year Six classes coming along for some sessions around electricity.  We started the sessions with a chance to have a great play and explore with the wires, bulbs, batteries and switches.  Many of the boys hadn't played with the equipment before so it was great for them to have an opportunity just to investigate what they could do with it.

Throughout the lessons, the boys learnt about electrical safety, connecting up a circuit, series and parallel circuits, how to draw circuits, volts and amps, static electricity and how to make their own torch.

Term Two Happenings

It's been a rather busy term and I've been rather slack at keeping up with the science blog.
I think it's been one of the best terms ever so it's time I shared whats been going on!
Here's just a pictorial quick sample!