SUBJECTSScience

Year 1 enjoyed going on a walk around the school grounds and local area looking for signs of Autumn. They will repeat this looking for signs of winter, spring and summer as the year progresses so that they can see changes over time.

Identifying and classifying skills were put to the test in Year 2 when they had to group objects according to the material they were made from (i.e. metal, plastic, wood, fabric). They then had to identify materials and their uses (e.g. glass is used for windows because it is transparent). The children found it funny to think which materials are used in a range of household objects and why (e.g. a teapot can be made of metal because it is strong but not chocolate because it would melt). They put their investigative skills to the test when they were set challenges to find the best material to fix Aunt Stella’s umbrella and the best material for a teabag.

Our Year 3 children compared and grouped different kinds of rocks on the basis of their appearance and simple physical properties. They then went on to carry out a range of tests to see which rock would be best suited to build steps outside. They learnt about the different types of rocks (igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic) and how fossils are made. They compared the composition of different soils as well as carrying out a comparative test to see which type of soil drained water through the quickest. Year 3 also researched the life of Mary Anning, putting their English skills to good use in writing some amazing biographies about her.

Making lots of noise was not only allowed but actively encouraged in Year 4 at the start of the Autumn term. The children absolutely loved all of the hands-on activities to investigate how sounds are made. Activities included looking at how a bell works, how yoghurt pot telephones work, how sound travels under water and whether sound travels in a vacuum. The children put their enquiry skills to the test when they were asked to carry out a fair test to investigate ‘What happens when we move away from a sound source?’ They also tapped into their musical side when they looked at how to alter the volume and pitch of sounds using drums, straw flutes, guitars and bottles of water. And finally, when the teachers ears could take it no more, the children investigated which materials were the best insulators?

This unit started with a flower dissection in which children had to see if they could identify the parts involved in sexual reproduction. Interestingly, the children then looked at a variety of plants which have deviated from this and do not rely on insects for pollination. The children were amazed to learn that plants have evolved all manner of mechanisms for reproduction including using bulbs, runners and spores. Moving onto the animal kingdom, the children researched the life cycles of a variety of mammals, invertebrates and insects. They looked for patterns in data when investigating the gestation periods of different mammals to answer the question: ‘Do larger mammals have longer gestation periods?’. As an optional homework assignment some of the children came up with their own questions about gestation periods, researched them and presented their findings. It was amazing to see some of the questions posed by the children such as ‘Do smaller dog species have the same length gestation period as larger species?’

The children enjoyed learning about Carl Linnaeus and his classification system for both plants and animals. They had a go at using and creating their classification keys, starting simple with sweets, before moving on to apply their learning to classify a range of birds, invertebrates and leaves.