Mrs James – Retired 2022

December 4, 2019

Sounds and Waves

This week we used wire coat hangers and string for our sound investigation. We worked in pairs to bang the hanger off the table. We each held the end of a piece of string that was attached to the hanger and we could hear the sound quite quietly. When we wrapped the string around our fingers and then placed our fingers in our ears the sound was much louder.

Following this, we took turns individually, held onto both pieces of string and placed our fingers in our ears. The sound was even louder it sounded like ‘booongg’.

We watched a video on how vibrations make sounds for example when we sing our vocal cords vibrate and create a sound.

November 26, 2019December 16, 2019

Communication and Sound

As part of our science work we have started investigating sound and animal communication.

As an introduction Mrs James showed us a video on TigTag showing how some animals communicate. It was interesting to see what an important part vibration plays in the creation of sound.

We carried out a task that required us to attach two plastic cups together with a piece of string. We tried it out with different lengths of string and we could hear a little of what our partners were saying.

It was suggested that we pulled the string tight in order that it would vibrate. It was fun to hear the laughs and giggles as the voices at either end of the string became clearer.

We discussed how stringed instruments work and a few musicians amoung us shared their experience of tuning instruments which required us to tighten the strings.

November 20, 2019

Friction Experiment – Rice

Last week we investigated friction using rice and plastic bottles.

Mrs James asked us to fill the bottles with rice and then pick it up using only a stick.

To begin with we thought she had missed out something but then as we followed the instructions and gave it a try there were shrieks of laughter as we all managed to pick up the bottles.

We had to make sure that the bottle was filled tightly right up to the top with rice and then we pushed the sticks in carefully.

The fact that all of the air had been pushed out of the bottle allowed friction to be created between the stick and the rice particles. Therefore when we tried to lift the bottle the stick held it up – FRICTION!

November 20, 2019

Science – Friction

For the last few weeks we have been carrying out investigations on friction.

As an introduction we worked in groups to record the results when rolling different balls over different surfaces – the pitch, the grass and the playground. We noted which balls travelled well and which balls did not travel far on the surfaces.

The ball that travelled the furthest was the hockey ball on the pitch and the one that got stuck was the spikey ball rolling on the grass. We discovered that this was due to the amount of friction being created as the two surfaces touched each other.

The sponge ball did not travel well either. This was because the ball was quite light and did not have the force of the weight pressing down on the surfaces.

October 22, 2019

Raft Building – Outdoor Learning

Before the October holiday we went on a twig hunt around the playground. We managed to collect some sticks and twigs which we then made into miniature rafts. We worked with a partner or in a group of three to tie the twigs together and make a raft that would hopefully float in the classroom sink.

Some of us succeeded, others had rafts that tipped over and sank. As well as being a simple science experiment we also had to work together to design and create our rafts in the first place. We gathered the required materials then set to, trying to build our boats.

Have a look at some of our creations!

October 9, 2019

Shelters

Following a discussion on the Right’s of a Child, we discussed the need for shelter. We decided instead of making a few big shelters that instead we would work together to make smaller shelters.

We collected the required objects then we started to build!

We all managed to create a shelter for our small mouse friends using the natural materials that we could find.

September 10, 2019

Outdoor Learning – 3D shapes and nets

We have been working on creating 3D shapes using natural materials such as branches and twigs. We used string to bind them together to make free standing models.

However, this simple task was not as simple as it sounds. Mrs James gave the groups different materials to join the branches together. Two groups were given pegs instead of string. The two groups found it particularly difficult to make free standing shapes with the equipment provided. Mrs James explained that this links in with our learning context on Children’s Rights. Situations aren’t always fair or equal.

To follow this up we used loose parts to create the nets for simple 3D shapes. We worked in small groups to achieve this goal. This required us to discuss our options and plans as well as developing decision making skills.