Narrative and Model Products

Model Products

Narrative

The Learning targets were:

To identify that animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition, and that they cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat

To identify that humans and some other animals have skeletons and muscles for support, protection and movement.

To recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways

To explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment

To recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things.

In addition to these learning targets, children were also working on the ‘working scientifically targets

In addition to these learning targets, children were also working on the ‘working scientifically targets

Our Learning:

During the Summer term of 2021, Year 3 and 4 children at Plover Primary School studied healthy eating and the human body and how the food we eat affects our bodies.

Our guiding question was: How can we make Doncaster more healthy?

During Hook Week we engaged in a range of immersive crafts to enhance the learning environments, such as making giant mouths and life-size skeleton pictures.

We had some learning targets during Hook Week:

• To identify that humans and some other animals have skeletons and muscles for support, protection and movement.

• To recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways

• To explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment

To achieve these learning targets, we completed a range of research activities linked to food chains and animal classification. We created posters and presentations and we even played food chain games to help our learning.

To help engage with the expedition, the final day of Hook Week was a ‘dress-up’ day, when we could come dressed as a scientist or medical professional. Mental Health was incorporated into this day, with mindfulness activities and by watching the Disney Film ‘Inside Out’.

In our first case study “What happens to the food we eat?”, we linked our learning to science (biology) as our learning targets were:

• Identify the different types of teeth in humans and their simple functions

• Describe the simple functions of the basic parts of the digestive system in humans

We learnt about teeth and the role teeth play in the human body. We also learnt the different types of teeth and their functions. We discovered how we should look after our teeth and to do this we experimented by using disclosing tablets to highlight the plaque on our teeth - it turned our mouths bright purple - we looked so weird. We conducted an experiment on an egg to find out how it would react in different substances - just like our teeth would react!

Later in the case study, we found out about digestion. We now know about all the different parts of the digestive system and what job they do. even created our own poo in our digestive system experiment!! Ergh!!

In Case Study 2, our guiding question was: How does our body use the food we eat?

and learning targets were: to identify that humans and some other animals have skeletons and muscles for support, protection and movement.

We learnt about muscles and the skeleton and how the food we eat affects our muscles and skeleton. We created skeletons and we can now name the key bones in our body. We gained an understanding of how our muscles work and that there are different types of muscles. We also learnt how muscles and bones are necessary to move and stand and how they also protect our body.

We also completed a collaborative grapple task to design a machine that could be used in space to prevent muscle wastage.

In Case Study 3, we looked at how we stay healthy. We investigated healthy foods as well as what incorporates a healthy lifestyle.

Our learning target was: to identify that animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition, and that they cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat

After a visit from local hero and inspiration Ray Matthews, we took part in the daily mile to promote an active lifestyle.

We investigated our local area, examining what opportunities there were to make healthy choices in what we ate and what we did in our spare time. We looked at websites and menus from local restaurants and considered what would make them more healthy. We presented our findings to a local Councillor, by explaining to her what we felt the local area needed to be more healthy.

All of the expedition learning was supported by our English lesson, where we had the opportunity to design a poster to promote looking after your teeth, we used different information texts to research and create our own explanation texts.

Alongside the case studies and English lessons, our art lessons during P Block supported our final product by learning about how to create animations, and then we worked collaboratively to write presentations on our chosen topics and we used IPADS and a stop motion app to create animations to bring our presentations to life.

Hooks / Learning Visits and Environments

Learning environments were zoned to allow the classrooms to reflect the different areas of study.

Ideas for transforming the learning environment include

Using pool noodles and plastic bottles to make a mouth/teeth to hang from the ceiling

Large toothbrush

X Ray Machine

Expert visitors were a paramedic to talk to the children about staying healthy.

A local runner and charity fundraiser, Ray Mathews, to talk about his amazing life running marathons and how he had to eat healthily to do it.

Final Product

Our final product was to complete an animated video about our learning during this topic. It focused on the teeth, digestion, muscles, skeleton and how we can keep our body healthy, but some children also chose to make their videos about food chains. The children had to work collaboratively and grapple with using technology to create their presentations and animations. For the majority of children, this was the first time they had attempted animation and most of them picked up the skills needed with little input from adults.