Beach School

The children were given the opportunity to appreciate many aspects of our wonderful beach, which they may not have thought about or even experienced at all.

The children were able to follow their curiosity by exploring and asking questions about our beach, the eco-systems it boasts and how we can take care of it.

We had a very fun morning!

Science 

To help us understand the life-cycle of birds, we dissected a raw egg.
The method we followed:

1. Use a magnifying glass to explore the shell of the egg and look for tiny holes on the surface of the shell.
2. Put pressure on the side of the egg using a spoon or knife.
3. Cut the egg into two sections, carefully tipping the innards into a bowl.
4. Use toothpicks to pick away the eggshell and find the membrane.
5. Starting with the outer edges, pick out the different sections.
6. Whilst exploring, can you find the: membrane, albumen, chalazae, vitelline membrane, yolk and germinal disk?
7. Draw a diagram and label each part identified.

In Science this week, we have been looking at the 2 different ways plants reproduce; asexual and sexual reproduction. We had a look at a flowers reproductive system using a picture and labels and a real flower from the school groups. We then talked about the process of asexual reproduction and took some plant clippings of our own. We are going to observe these of the next couple of weeks to see how they grow and develop. Finally, we spoke about the different ways seeds are dispersed and when out into the woods to find evidence of this. 

Topic 

Day Of The Dead

British Sign Language 

Spring Term

Topic - Sketching Maya Temple's

In Topic this week, we have been looking at the different types of temples and pyramids in the ancient Maya Civilisation. We then had a go at sketching the El Castillo temple. We had to think carefully about the perspective of the temple and how things might look different if they are further distanced away. We persevered really well with this and below are a few examples of our final pieces.

Religion was an integral part of the ancient Maya culture, intertwined with all other aspects of society.

The Maya believed in and worshipped a number of different gods. They believed that the gods had a good side and a bad side and that they could help or hurt them. The Maya would dance, sing and sometimes make offerings of blood to the gods to demonstrate their respect and loyalty.

In Year 5 we collabrated our learning with clay making. The process took us 2 days to make the design of our clay mask. The clay went into our school kiln which lasted 5 days before we glazed out masks ready for the final 5 days in the kiln. 

Science - Properties of Materials 

In Science this week, we have been looking at the properties of materials. We looked at 10 different objects with a range of materials and tested 3 different properties; magnetism, transparency and whether the material was an electrical conductor or not. We talked about why different objects might need different properties, for example, a raincoat must be made from a waterproof material in order to do its job properly. 

Below are some pictures of us testing each material and recording our answers in a table.

Autumn Term

Topic- Pyramids and Pharaohs

Over a series of Topic lesson, we have been designing and creating a wooden maze aimed at ancient Egyptian children!

We were given a design problem and specification so we knew what our product had to include. It took a lot of time to plan to ensure our final product would meet the requirements of the design specification.

After some planning and designing time, we made a prototype to check everything would work as should and if not, adaptations were made to our initial design sketch. We then had to careful measure and cut our wood, we had to be sure it as accurate otherwise of pyramid net would not fit!

Below are some pictures of us in action.

Science

After testing the levels of air resistance with different materials last week, this week we looked at water resistance. We discussed whether we think water creates more resistance on moving object or air and we decided water. We came up with this conclusion by linking to our own knowledge; when we walk through air, we can barely feel the resistance but when we walk through water, we can feel the water pushing against us. We then went on to investigate how different shapes create different amounts of resistance when moving through the water.

Literacy

Journey to the Afterlife

In Literacy, we have been learning about explanation texts. We have read an explanation text called ‘The Journey to the Afterlife’ which explains what the ancient Egyptians believed they needed to do for their loved ones once they died so that they can reach the afterlife safely. We split up into groups and we created a freeze frame for each paragraph of the text to help us understand the process they went through.