Primary 5/6 Balmullo

Boats have long been a method of transport for people and cargo alike for centuries. As we have been learning about density over the past few weeks, we thought it would be a good idea to investigate how boats float on the water.

After watching a video, we realised that metal is more dense than water so it should sink in the water. However, the shape and design of large ships means that air is trapped inside the boat making it lighter and less dense than the water! We also found out that bullheads (metal supports) create water tight compartments that prevents the ship from sinking.

To test this out, we have designed some of our own boats that will be made next week. We had to consider what materials would be best to build a boat, what shape and design the boat would be, what the weight would be and how we can include bulkheads. Here’s what we had to say about the challenge:

“Evan and I took it very seriously by making a one-way valve that will filter out water from the boat” – Freddie

“It was fun designing the boat but I found it hard to think of ideas. After thinking with Ethan, I think we have found a solution.” – Cameron

“I liked working with Lucy today and it was challenging to think of different materials to build the boat with but we worked together as a team to come up with the solution.” – Elle

“Abi and I found it hard to think of ways to design the bottom of the boat as we wanted it to be round. We have decided to make it out of tinfoil and Lego.” – Sophie

We will be making our designs next week and we look forward to sharing it with you.

See you soon,

Primary5/6 at Balmullo.

As part of our classroom theme, ‘Japan’ the children have decided to learn about Karate. This is a form of martial arts that originates from Japan and the children were very keen to try it. Through videos online, we found a martial arts ‘sensei’ who showed us some different drills such as ‘Kihon’, which incorporates breathing and punching, and warming up techniques such as crunches to work our muscles. We have reflected upon this learning and had the following to say about our experience:

“I enjoyed looking like a fool and punching the air.” – Katie

“We enjoyed the Kihon drills because we were able to practise different skills in karate – Ethan.”

“We felt tired after it.” – Lucy

“I wanted to do more.” – Robbie

We realised that breathing plays an important part in Karate because if we focus on our breathing during exercises it becomes easier to recover and improve our fitness. We also want to find out more about Karate including:

“I want to find out more about how to kick properly.” – Cameron

“I want to know more about the moves and drills.” – Evan

“I want to learn how to protect myself.” – Josh

“I was surprised how tired my arms were” – Lewis

We really enjoyed the experience and the instructor was very clear and helpful. We will be black belts in no time.

Until next time,

Primary 5/6 at Balmullo

It is hard to believe that Christmas and New Year has passed and we are in 2019! We have been hard at work this week getting back into a routine and mapping our learning for the term. We have decided to learn about Japan and compare and contrast this country with Scotland. This week we have investigated what we would like to find out during this comparison.

The children have decided that we will explore Japanese technology, origami, wildlife, clothes, the rising sun, their way of life, their food, climate, the making of anime and Japanese writing.

This week, we explored why Japan is known as the land of the rising sun. This is because Japan is located to the east where the sun rises. We found out that the Japanese saying for this is ‘Nihon’ which translates to ‘Sun’s Origin’. This has been translated into the land of the rising sun.

We created our own rising sun images where we looked at shadow and pattern. We also managed to write land of the rising sun in Japanese.

“It was quite fun and people did different pattern” – Elle

“The pictures turned out really nice” – Sophie

“I enjoyed learning to write in Japanese” – Abi

“It took a really long time to do the pictures, but it was worth it!” – Declan

We are also creating PowerPoint presentations to present to the class about Japan where we will research Japanese culture, Japanese clothes, Japanese technology and Japanese cities.

We will keep you posted with our findings!

Primary 5/6 at Balmullo.

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