Autumn 1 - Light

This half term in science, we are learning all about light and the way it behaves. We began this half term by finding out about light sources. We classified and grouped different sources and then found out about Thomas Edison. We created a fact file of him using information from around the room.

We then thought about how light is reflected. First we explored lots of different materials to see which had the best reflective surfaces. Then, using our knowledge that light only moves in straight lines, we then used mirrors to try and bend light around objects. 

Spring 1 - Animals including Humans

For our new science topic, we are very excited!! Saffy is currently working in a rehabilitation clinic and she has asked for our help! She has some clients who need advice and this half term, we are going to be learning all of the scientific information to help advise our client! We started by thinking about different ways of grouping animals. We created 3D Venn Diagrams of animals based on their diets.

We've been back in the clinic this week and we've been learning about the role of a nutritionist. We looked through our client's food diaries and did some analysis. We looked at their sugar intake, using a handy guide to calculate, and we also looked at the number of portions of fruit and vegetables. We were quite shocked by some of the findings! We then completed some 'What if' analysis and came up with some different scenarios to suggest changes our clients could make! 

Hey - this was maths too!

This week, we’ve been thinking about bones! We were given the challenge of building a skeleton based on what we knew. We then learnt some of the names of the bones and some facts, including beginning to think about vertebrates and invertebrates and endo and exo skeletons. 

It's time to get investigating! This week, Saffy posed us the question: "Do people with the longest femur jump the furthest?" We decided to conduct an investigation. We thought about how we could do it before doing some planning. We made a list of equipment, thought about our variables and how to ensure it was a fair test and came up with our initial predictions.

We then conducted our investigation. We recorded our results in the table, linked back to our prediction by writing and conclusion and some of us even had a go at drawing a graph to show the data!

To end this topic, we thought about how everything we have discussed works together - nutrition, diet, bones and finally muscles! We learnt the names of some models, had a go at working some different muscles in our bodies and then finally made models to show our clients what the muscles look like. Now we have learnt all of the scientific knowledge we need, we are excited to meet with our clients again later this week to give them some advice!

Spring 2 - Plants

We began our new topic by thinking about what plants need in order to grow. We discovered that they needed light, space, air, nutrients and water. We planned an investigation where each group decided which requirement they were going to remove. We will keep measuring our plants and keep you updated on what happens!

As part of Science Week, we got to take part in a Silly Science session where things got explosive!

Back to plants, we began to think about how water is transported in plants. We put the process into the correct order and then planned an investigation to show how water moves through plants.

We looked back at our celery sticks and compared what had happened during a week. We saw that the water had moved through the xylem and reached the top of the celery stick!

Next, we looked at how plants reproduce. First, we did a retrieval practice where we remembered the 7 life processes of all living things. We then used secondary sources to research information about plants to help us create a fact file.

Summer 2 - Rocks

We began our next Science topic by brainstorming what we already knew about rocks. 

Saffy then gave us a list of vocabulary that would be key to this topic. We looked at each word and colour coded it depending on how confident we felt about our understanding. We looked at our 'spotlight' words which would be new to us, remembering that we would need to come back to these throughout the topic as we discovered their meaning. 

To begin our topic, we looked at a range of different rocks. We tried to identify the names and properties of the rocks and categorise them based on their appearance. 

We then focused on whether or not our rocks were permeable or impermeable. We devised an investigation to test which of these rocks allowed water to pass through them and which didn't.

We worked in groups to test each rock at a time, dropping 3 droplets of water on to each and observing what happens.