As part of our Space topic we did an experiment in class to find out how weight affected the launch of a rocket.  First of all we had to blow up a balloon and hold the end with a food clip.  We then had to add a 10cm piece of straw to the top of it.  This was thread through a 6 metre piece of string.  We then released the food clip and then had to measure how far the balloon travelled along the string.  After that we had to complete the same again, but this time we had to attach a piece of plasticine to the bottom of the rocket. Again we had to release the food clip to then measure how far the rocket launch.

This experiment was teaching us that rockets need to be as light as possible to travel furthest, however some of our results defied the odds!

It was lots of fun, and even Mr Laidlaw had to come out of his office to see what the hilarity was all about!

Every Thursday the P7 young Digital Leaders have been coming into class to take out groups of pupils to code ‘Jingle Bells’ into the Micro:Bits.  It was lots of fun and we used lots of our META skills like; Collaborating, Communicating, Creativity, Sense-Making and Adapting.

On Friday 14th November, it was Children In Need.  We did lots of fun activities in class, including a ‘Pudsey Drive.’  It was lots of fun and got very competitive.

On Thursday 25th November we all arrived at school very early for our class visit to Glasgow Science Centre linked to our recent learning on Space.

After sitting in traffic on the motorway for almost an hour we finally arrived!  We went straight to explore level 1, 2 and 3 of the Science Centre.  It was lots of fun and we got to see and do loads.

Then it was time for lunch before we headed to the IMAX cinema to watch ‘Space: The Final Frontier.’  It was a 3D film and was really cool, but a bit scary when asteroids were flying towards us.

Next we had another 30mins or so to go back onto the Science Centre floors to explore some more.  My favourite was the tilted room – it was really hard to walk in it.

Finally it was time to head home, and thankfully the journey home was much quicker than the journey there.

Have a look at some of the fun things we saw and did.

Primary 5 – Term Two Newsletter

P5 – Term One

On Thursday 3rd October, in the afternoon classes from P5 to P7 were celebrating International Older Person’s Day.  We invited older people in our community into school for an afternoon of songs, games, crafts and more!

P5/6 did chair aerobics, P6 sang some songs, P7R made bookmarks and P7B made shortbread and served the teas and coffees.

P5 did a ‘Beetle Drive’  We had to explain the game and then play it with our visitors.  It was lots of fun!

We used our collaborating skills when working as a team playing beetle drive.

We were using our focusing skills while we played the game – it was quite quick-paced.

We used our communicating skills, especially when explaining the game but also whilst we were playing.  We were chatting to the people in our group too.

We used our leading skills to lead the game in our group.

All of our visitors had a lovely afternoon and we hope we can invite them in again someday.

On Friday 4th of October, P5 took part in a webinar organised by DRAX.  We learned about DRAX and the work that they do, especially with hydropower.

First of all we thought about all the things we do that requires electricity.  We talked about renewable and non-renewable energy sources.  We played a game of Top Trumps with these energy sources.

We looked closely at hydropower and how a water turbine works to produce energy.

We heard about Tongland Hydro-electric power scheme near Kirkcudbright and what DRAX have done to help the wildlife and environment.   They have created ‘fish ladders’ for the fish to be able to travel upstream.

It was very interesting.

We were then asked to create a moving water turbine that would be tried and tested under the running tap.  We had the choice of all of the resources and STEM materials available in the classroom.  We even got to try out Miss Anderson’s new Strawbees kit, which was lots of fun!

We all tested our water turbines and were surprised that most of them worked.  Unfortunately a couple of group’s turbines did not work.

P5 – Term One

During the first few days of P5 we have been busy setting up and exploring our learning environment.  We have enjoyed the different activity baskets and resources on offer for some free play, and we’ve enjoyed getting to know the new pupils who have joined us in P5.

Whilst enjoying the baskets, we have been using lots of our META skills; especially creativity, curiosity, leading, collaborating and communicating.

Have a look at some of the activities we’ve enjoyed.