To round off our learning from STEM week we researched different planets in the solar system and created a whole class fact file.
We then added our fact file to our STEM Week display board ready for the showcase tomorrow!
We are so excited to show off all of our STEM Week activities to other classes 
This morning we launched our bottle rockets outside and used our launch pad to help balance them before take off.
\
We then had another virtual visit from Ross, an engineer from INEOS. We learnt all about petrochemicals and where they can be found in everyday life.
We have had a fantastic STEM week are looking forward to showing off all of our learning at our STEM showcase next Friday 
Our February issue of Mearns Monthly Mail has arrived! This month we are donating all of the proceeds to UNICEF and their campaign to support Ukraine 
Well done to the whole class for an amazing effort with our second newspaper 
Today we were very lucky to have a visit from Aeronautical Engineers, John Stevens and David Lacey. We learnt all about Mars and how space travel has developed to allow us to visit new planets 
we enjoyed an interactive quiz and designing our own drone that would be able to fly on Mars 
We then began our very own scientific mission by creating our own Bottle Rockets. First, we decorated and designed them using paper, straws and tape. Then we made mini pouches of bicarbonate soda and filled our rockets with vinegar. This will cause a chemical reaction when we add the pouches and help them to take off
Our launch will take place tomorrow
This morning we had a visit from engineer David Ferguson, he told us all about his journey into his Mechanical Engineering and the current projects that he is working on 
Afterwards we moved onto science and we made our very own Water Cycles! We will continue to make observations and watch out for the evaporation, condensation and precipitation processes for the remainder of the week 
We were then given an engineering challenge to create our own building using cocktail sticks and jelly tots. We considered which shapes create the strongest structure and were given 30 minutes to complete our brief 
We showcased our completed projects to our class and tested the strength of the structure by placing books on top of our building 
All groups worked well together to create a strong, stable structure! Well done to our winning group from Ravenclaw whose building held a total of 15 books (and counting) 
We had a very busy and exciting start to STEM week today in 6.22! This morning we began with a Maths themed investigation specifically focused on identifying symmetry in nature 
we recognised that animals, flowers and plants possess symmetrical patterns and characteristics. We were then set a challenge to replicate symmetrical patterns of animals and flowers. This required attention to detail and full class focus!
We then moved into science and watched a live lesson on Space with Brian Cox 
he explained the development of space travel, experienced what it would have been like to travel to space on Saturn V mission and life on different planets. We then created scientific posters to showcase our learning!
In the afternoon we moved onto an engineering challenge. We were given a brief to design a marble maze using Lego. We worked together in groups to engineer and design a challenging and engaging maze that included doors, twists, turns and bridges!
We then had an opportunity to share our learning and see if we could complete other groups marble maze! We spent time reflecting on our design process and what changes we could make to improve our engineering process.
We are so excited for the rest of STEM week!
This week we began a new area of writing and learnt that a persuasive text is a text which argues a point of view,
to convince the reader to agree with the author. Using strong, clear, emotive language helps the reader to agree with you.
Our motion this week was ‘School Uniform Should be Banned.’ In many countries around the world, it is compulsory for children to
wear a school uniform. The rules can be very precise and schools may even specify what hairstyles pupils can or cannot have. However, there are also many schools around the world who do not require their pupils to wear a school uniform and children are, within
reason, allowed to wear almost anything they like. There are
arguments in support of both perspectives, our class discussed these within their persuasive pieces of writing.
We really enjoyed the start of this new topic as it encouraged us all to share our own beliefs and debate different ideas!
Fibonacci have been advancing their fractions knowledge this week after developing skills in converting fractions and decimals into percentages.
Some excellent discussions and jotter work were produced across the board!
Over the last month we have spent time developing our creative writing skills through exploring characterisation and descriptive setting. Our Learning Intention today was to incorporate those skills into our own story which we spent time planning.
Miss Hardie was blown away by the fantastic descriptive writing that was used and the level of detail that we had included in our stories to transport our reader to the setting.
Now we will progress onto learning about persuasive writing techniques!
