Science

During our science lessons so far, the children have been exploring how sounds are made. During one of our lessons, the children were investigating whether distance affects sound. The children investigated this by measuring the decibels of a sound made and then increasing the distance away from the sound. They found that the further away the sound is, the quieter the sound becomes due to the soundwave losing energy over a larger distance. 

We also looked at how we can affect pitch and volume of sounds! There were various zones set up including water and glass jars, rice in boxes and elastic bands wrapped around various objects. Children spent time at each zone exploring how they could affect the pitch of a sound and the volume of a sound. They had great fun at each zone! The children found out that the fuller the jar was of water, the lower the pitch due to the vibrations moving more slowly throughout the glass. They also discovered that the harder they shook the rice box, the louder the volume was due to them using more force to move the rice around. And finally, the children found out that the tighter the elastic band, the higher the pitch due to there being more tension for the soundwave to travel easily around the band. 

The children were looking at vertebrates and invertebrates in today's science lesson. Children recapped their knowledge from Year 3 on that vertebrates have a backbone and invertebrates don't! We focused on vertebrates today and how they are classified into 5 main animal groups: mamma;s, reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish. Each group were given various different information sheets and had to create a circle map of facts that they found out about their animal group. We then used classification keys to help us group and sort the various animal groups. 

In today's lesson, we were looking at grouping living things in a variety of ways based on their different characteristics. We found out that all living things need 7 processes in order to be classed as 'living' and we use MRS GREN to help us remember the different ones! We then looked at using a venn diagram to group different living organisms into categories based on where they live, their characteristics and their diet. The children really enjoyed sorting the different living things!

In our first lesson of our new topic, we looked at the different teeth we have and their different roles. We found out that we have incisors, canines, pre-molars and molars.  We had a go at concentrating on chewing a piece of apple to see how we use our teeth and tongue to chew it.  Using mirrors, we looked at our teeth and re-created them out of playdough! The children thoroughly enjoyed this and got really into it, creating some brilliant sets of teeth! 

Another science lesson means another experiment! The children were looking at condensation and evaporation this afternoon. We talked about how when a liquid is heated up, it turns into water vapour which is a gas. This process is evaporation. We also spoke about when the water vapour cools down, it turns back into a liquid. This process is condensation. We conducted our own experiment involving hot water, cling film and ice cubes! We covered the hot water with cling film to trap the evaporating gas which gathered at the top of the cling film. We then placed ice cubes on top to cool the water vapour down - this resulted in the water vapour turning back into a liquid and forming little water droplets. The children had a blast observing this!

Term 1 - States of matter - Lesson 3

We had a messy science lesson today! Today, we were investigating how heat affects solids. We explored different melting points of different solids (the point it turns to a liquid) and we wanted to find out how heat affects solids - specifically chocolate! Each pair of children had a chocolate button and a thermometer. They recorded the temperature of their partners cupped hands and placed the chocolate button inside. We timed how long it would take for the chocolate button to melt! When the button started to melt, the children recorded the temperature of their partners cupped hands once more. We had some very messy hands!! However, they were so incredibly sensible with the chocolate that I treated them to a chocolate button each! 

Term 1 - States of matter - Lesson 2

In our second science lesson, we investigated whether gas weighs anything.  We conducted a whole class experiment where we weighed three different types of fizzy drink and noted these weights down. We then shook/swirled the fizzy drink around to try and release some of the gas. We then re-weighed each fizzy drink and found that they were lighter! This tells us that gas does have a mass and that by shaking the fizzy drinks, we released some of the gas bubbles, making the drink lighter in weight!

In our first science lesson, we looked at solids, liquids and gases. We sorted some materials into the correct category: solid, liquid or gas. Once we had correctly sorted them, we looked at the particle formation that make up these different states of matter. We found that particles inside solids are tightly packed together and can only vibrate against one another. We also found that particles that make up liquids are still close together but they have slightly more room so they can move over each other. Finally, we found out that particles that make up gas have lots of room to spread out in and only move in a straight line until they bump into something, making it change direction. We then went outside and practiced being particles that make up the different states of matter!