All posts by Mrs Chalmers

Sunflower Competition

As part of our school Science Week, Primary Six have been learning about seed germination and plant growth.  Each group planted a variety of sunflower, cress and broad bean seeds. In the forthcoming weeks we shall be caring for our young seedlings and checking their progress each day.

With our sunflowers we have been set the challenge to see who can grow the tallest sunflower and the fullest bloom, to allow us to participate in this years Horticultural Society Competition. We shall keep you posted with updates.

DNA Detectives!!!!

Primary Six have really enjoyed Science Week in school with the help of our Wee Science Explorers Team. Our class DNA experiments were really successful. With the Strawberry DNA experiment, we  extracted, isolated, and observed the DNA of a strawberry in a matter of minutes. It sounds impossible, but thanks to special characteristics of strawberries, it was actually very possible… and simple!!

To extract the DNA we first had to squish some fresh strawberries. A mixture of dishwater soap and salt became our extraction liquid. After mixing the extraction liquid together with the strawberries we then sieved. Next we added a small amount of isopropyl to enable the separation process to begin. Slowly we mixed together for 30 seconds and we could clearly see the DNA strands of the strawberry  as a white layer on top of our test tube. Amazing results!!

Releasing our Trout

 

Primary 6 pupils welcomed 200 brown trout eggs in January and we have been looking after them very carefully in their new home within our classroom. We have been monitoring the temperature, adding ice to keep it cool, changing the water and checking for any eggs that haven’t survived.

Yesterday we went to Strathclyde Park to release our fry with one of the scientists from The Clyde River Foundation.  We released them into the  water that is connected  to the Clyde. When the fry turn into trout they will go to the Clyde or the sea. We all named our fry before wishing them well on their next adventure at sea!

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Coding

This week in Coding with Mr Duncan and Mrs Chalmers we have been learning to create different variables for a Memory game. The first step in the process was to create four characters and then colour them four different colours. Next we programmed a sequence for our four colours and created a sound for the drum when the character changed each time. Finally we had lots of fun experimenting with our memory game.

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Trout Scientists

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Our trout hatchery was delivered this week by our Marine Scientist Paul from the Clyde River Foundation. We had lots of questions about setting up the tank and looking after the fish, to ask Paul during his visit.

We will receive weekly visits to the school, to oversee the trout development and monitor  how well the young fish are being cared for by the class.

Already our pupils  have shown great commitment in preparation for caring for the young fish. They have learned how each part of the tank works and what needs to be done to maintain a perfect environment for the fish. The water must be kept cool by using ice packs, in the form of frozen bottles. The pupils monitor the temperature of the tank by recording the temperature 3 times a day and keep the water clean by regularly replacing with fresher water.

Some examples of our learning activities:

  • The trout lifecycle
  • Parts of a fish body
  • Looking at the fish food web
  • Understanding the River Clyde
  • Investigating the effect humans can have on a river eco-system

Successful Learners

Here we are in Primary Six, showcasing our newly designed Brag Tags for Big Maths Champions. Our Learn It’s for homework this week have focused on revising our 6 and 9 times tables. These successful learners managed to beat their previous timed score and were awarded a new Brag Tag to add to their growing collection!

Should we reduce portion sizes?

Well, what a fabulous class debate with valid opinions and evidence to back up whether pupils were in agreement of the government reducing portion sizes in restaurants OR whether they disagreed with this initiative to cut down on childhood obesity. A few MSP’s commented on our twitter feed and even Mr John Swinney liked the fact that we were getting involved in politics and discussing real life scenarios which may affect our lifestyle. 18/32 pupils chose agree and 14/32 pupils disagreed with the government. We will use this data to display our results in graph form.