Science 2020-21

Life Cycles – Living Things and Their Habitats

We have thought about how plants and animals reproduce.  We closely examined a flower and identified the different parts and their functions.  We found out about asexual reproduction in plants such as potatoes and strawberries.  We then considered gestation times for a variety of creatures.  Did you know, the longer a creature’s life expectancy, the longer the gestation period is likely to be?  Finally, we considered the ways in which animals are adapted to their habitats in order to maximise survival chances and produce offspring to carry on the species!  We learned about Darwin’s Finches on the Galapagos Islands and the differences in their beaks and food choices.  We used a range of equipment as beaks.  Have you ever heard of a Scissorbeak or Pegbeak bird?  We have!  We collected a variety of food types and had lots of fun, recording our answers in table form and interpreting the data to draw conclusions.

 

Science 2019-2020

 

Properties and Changes of Materials

As part of this topic, the children have had lots of experiments to conduct during our science lessons. This week we have been separating materials. Firstly, we had to select the correct equipment for our experiment. Next, we carried out the investigation using techniques such as filtration, magnetic separation and evaporation. We really enjoyed finding out which technique worked best for each mixture.

Properties and Changing of Materials

Last week we looked at different materials and thought about their properties. We discovered that materials are chosen for particular products and jobs because of their properties.

This week we started to think about special properties of materials. We investigated whether some solids were soluble or insoluble (dissolved or not).

We tested lots of different solids including gravy, rice and sugar.

Next, we thought about factors affecting dissolving. The children came up with lots of ideas such as temperature, number of stirs, speed of stirring and size of particles.

I demonstrated, with the help of the children, how temperature affected the rate of dissolving. We created a line graph of the results.

 

Earth and Space

Year 5 and Year 6 have been learning about the phases of the moon this term. We looked at the different shapes that the moon appears in the sky and worked out a formula to tell if they’re ‘Waxing’ (growing bigger) or ‘Waning’ (growing smaller) . We then tried to find out why sometimes we can’t see the moon at all in the sky. The children learned that the moon hasn’t really disappeared but is just between us and the sun so we can only see its dark side. The children learned a song to help us remember all eight phases then used their knowledge to create their own moon phase art. We think they look out of this world !

 

 

Science 2018-2019

Circuits and Electricity

Children in Upper Key Stage 2 have learnt about several ideas relating to electricity this half term. They are able to draw simple circuit diagrams and label them. They are also aware of the history of the discovery of electricity, electric current and voltage.

This week the children conducted an experiment to explore the following question:

What effects do differing voltages have on a electrical component in a circuit?

The children tested how changing the voltage affected motors and bulbs in a complete circuit.

The children made predictions, collected results and formed conclusions.