AoLE

Science and Technology

Pupil Voice

When the children entered the classroom none of the electrical items were working. They had all been taped up, with the children thinking that it was Aunty Julie who had done it. This led to the children's pupil voice... What If...? What if the computer would not work? What if there were no lights? What if our phones did not work? What if we couldn't use the electricity again?

What is electricity?

We explored electricity which led to many questions. Where does electricity come from? What uses electricity in our school and in our homes? What if we didn't have electricity? The children went on a walk around the school identifying different sources of electricity.

Electrical Safety.

After much discussion about the dangers of electricity, the children created and presented posters about electrical safety.

Exploring Light.

What if there was no light? We read the book The King Who Banned the Dark and the children investigated sources of light in and around our school. They had many discussions about what would happen if the lights didn't work, and about the history of light, looking at candles, lamps and torches.

Lighthouses.

Using our literacy book, The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch, as inspiration we researched Lighthouses on the Chromebooks. We found out what they were used for and we watched videos showing how lighthouses used to use oil and lamps for lights, and how they have changed to modern lighthouses that are run by computers.

Materials.

We investigated different materials and talked about their properties and use. After practically exploring the materials we sorted materials in the classroom.

We then worked in groups to use recyclable materials to create our own lighthouses. First we designed our lighthouse. Then we explored and chose the materials we wanted to use. Then we created our lighthouses.

After creating our lighthouses we then decided to make a new boat for Mr Grinling (from the Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch). We worked as a group to decide which material would be best for a boat. We needed to use materials that would be waterproof and strong enough. After building our boats we then tested them to see if they were waterproof. We found that plastic was the best material to use, and that the cardboard boat eventually got waterlogged and sank.

What If?

At the end of the topic we revisited our pupil voice and once again asked the children 'What If?' This time we asked them to think of a 'wider world' what if question, away from electricity and lights. Each child was encourage to create a poster for their what if? question, and then they were encouraged to discuss their questions and come up with answers.

What If Wales Win The World Cup?

We moved onto 'What If Wales Win The World Cup?' - We learnt about alphabetical ordering using the countries in the World Cup groups, we compared Wales to our chosen countries from the World Cup, we made our own football video and lots more!

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