P3 from P2/3 will be learning about electricity and electrical circuits in Science this term.

For homework parents can help their child  to research the different types of power station that can be used to generate electricity and  to identify the dangers of electricity in the home.

Primary 2 in P2/3 will be learning about the patterns of movement over time of the sun, earth and moon in Science this term and how these relate to the length of a day, a month and a year.

For homework on this unit, parents could help their children to find out about the length of days and years on other planets in the Solar System and why they are different from those on earth.

Or, they could find out about an animal that hibernates and present their findings to the class with a drawing or picture they can talk about.  They could also make a moon diary for a month by drawing the shape of the moon at night for each day in February. They would need some help from an adult with this.

P7 from P6/7 will be learning about the brain and the structure and function of sensory organs.

For homework, they should research optical illusions and activities that trick the eyes and write and draw about these and bring their work in to share with the class.

They will also be learning about the role of microorganisms in producing and breaking down some materials. For homework on this subject, they should find out about how water waste is treated to kill microorganisms during recycling.  They can make an annotated diagram on this and bring it to school to share with the class.

Primary 6 and P6 from P6/7 will be learning about the Solar System this term and particularly the scale, sizes, times and relative motion within it.

For their homework on this subject, they should research facts about on planet, the Sun or any of the dwarf planets and make a fact file including a drawing on their findings. They should also make a poster or a Powerpoint presentation on some of the various space missions that have set out to provide information about the planets over the last 50 years, for example, Venera, Messenger, Cassini-Huygens and the Viking space missions. They could also create models of some of the planets using decorated polystyrene balls available from craft shops.

P5 from P4/5 will be conducting an experiment into the effects of fertilisers on the growth of plants this term in Science. For homework, they should research online about the subject of  Hydroponics (raising plants without soil) and consider why this might be useful. They can write about how it works and make some drawings to show what is involved.

P4 from P4/5 will be learning about reducing the spread of disease caused by germs in Science this term and how to prevent diseases spreading.

For homework on this topic, they should research famous scientists whose work has led to the reduction of the spread of infections. They could find out about Louis Pasteur, Edward Jenner, Alexander Fleming, Joseph Lister, Robert Koch or Jonas Salk. They could make a poster with drawings/ printed pictures of these, annotated with information about what they discovered.

They will also be learning about the human skeleton and could research animal skeletons to find the differences between them and human ones.

Primary 4 will be learning about the different ways of producing sound from vibrations and how to change the pitch of sound in Science this term.

For homework for this unit, Primary 4 can make some musical instruments, where the pitch of the sounds can be altered. This could include elastic band guitars, drums or panpipes.

They could also research in books or online to find out about other animals that produce infrasound, such as whales, alligators or Rhinoceros.

They could make a string telephone by connecting two empty cartons with a long piece of string and try them out to see if the string can carry the vibrations from their voice to someone in another room.

They will also be moving on to learn about the human skeleton and its purpose. For homework on this subject, pupils can research the skeletons of some animals of their choice. They can make drawings and label them and bring them into school to compare with human skeletons.

Primary 2 will be learning about living and non -living things in Science and the differences between them. They will be learning about the seven characteristics of living things  e.g. growth, respiration or the need for nutrition. They will also be learning about how living things rely on each other for nutrition through food chains.

For homework, take your child on a walk and ask them to name the living and non-living things that they can see and ask them to explain why they think they are living or non living.

Primary 1 will soon be learning about day and night in Science and the reasons for this. At home, they could make a simple sundial using a stick stuck in the ground. They would need a sunny day to do this. They can observe how the shadow of the stick changes its position throughout the day. If possible, they could make a drawing of the different positions of the shadow or take photographs every hour to show what happens.

They will also be learning about forces and their effects. For homework, challenge them to move a ping pong ball from one side of a table to the other without touching it. They will need to exert a force to move it in some other way.