On Monday 3rd September we took part in a Dynamic Earth science workshop. The presenters played the characters of Dr Oliver and Earthy. Earthy was feeling poorly and had to visit the doctor to find out what was wrong and what he needed to make him better. The workshop taught us about air, water and land pollution and what we can do to help reduce this. Some children were invited to be Dr Oliver’s assistants. Everyone thought it was a great way to learn about the problems of pollution and what we can do to look after our planet Earth.

SUMBURGH HEAD TRIP

On Friday 18^th of May our class went to Sumburgh Head to learn about local wildlife and sea life.  We partnered up for going on the bus.  When we got there a lady called Helen who works for the RSPB came on the bus and stood at the door told us a few safety rules.

After that we got off the bus and Helen took us on to the grass.  We played a game to learn about food webs.  We were given some cards with different names there was sand eels, the sun, human, seal, killer whale, the animal plankton and the plant plankton.  We learned that all the living things in an eco system are linked and if one species is in decline and it affects everything else.

Next Helen got us all a pair of binoculars between two of us from the car. Then we started walking up the hill.  She showed us how to make the binoculars work like a microscope. Then she showed us some spiky green stuff and told us to turn the binoculars so they looked like a microscope then you could see the cells in it.

Then we learned about the black on the cliffs.  It was lichen there are about six different species.  Then we learnt about some different types of dolphins and whales like the humpback whales and the orcas and many other whales, and then we had our snacks.

After that we looked at birds around where we had our snacks then we slowly moved up the hill.  When we got up a bit we stopped and looked at some puffins then we saw one of the puffins coming  and peeking out of its burrow then it went back into its burrow.  Then we looked though the telescope and we looked at some different birds.  Here are a few: shags, puffins, some guillemots, and kittiwakes.

After that we went to the lighthouse.  First we went to the aquarium.  On the wall there were lots of fish and at the end there was a little computer thing that told you about some fish and their prey.

Next we went through to a room that had a big model whale at one side and on the other side was a place where you put on some headphones and you press a button of a bird and then you`ll hear the type of noise it makes.  And also there was a bit where you can feel the inside a puffins mouth.  We also saw an egg shell and it came from some bird.

Finally we went outside and went back to the parking spaces and we gave our binoculars back to Helen and went on the bus and went back to school.

We all thought it was a great trip.

By Tory, Abi, Emma, Kelsi and Isabel

This term Mr Rose has been visiting our class to help us with our topic of Living things. We have learned about the importance of water and the water cycle. We have done work on grouping and classifying living things and learned about how life began on earth, the diversity of living things and evolution. We have even learned about dinosaurs!
On Monday 11th June, Michelle, Amy’s mum brought in some fossils from her grandad’s collection, for us to look at. It was really interesting.  We had to be  careful handling them as they are delicate and precious.  The biggest was the jawbone and teeth of a mosasaur, a huge swimming reptile!

On Friday 8th June p4/5 were invited to p6/7 to try out their rain forest games which they had designed and made. Everyone agreed they had done a brilliant job and the games were all good to look at, very educational and fun to play.  Well done p6/7!
Here are some of p4/5’s comments:

Amy-I had so much fun playing your games and I loved all of them. I learned the names of animals I didn’t know like chameleon and spider monkey. Thank you.

Lucien-They were really good. I enjoyed it. The games were really great and I learned a lot more about rain forests. I learned that there were a lot of trees being cut down and I thought it was really bad but I really enjoyed it. Thank you.

Koll-It was great and I hope we can play them again and I learned some facts like a bush baby can jump 15-18 metres!

Fergus-I really liked all the games that I played and they taught me a bit more about rain forests. I really liked Lilly-Jane’s animal matching game the best but all the games were really good and I wish I could do it again.

Daniel-I loved all the games. The one I loved the most was Christie and Declan’s game.

Liam-I really liked playing your games. My favourite one was the Top trumps. I learned about a lot of the animals like humming birds and the South African chimpanzee.

Isabel-I really enjoyed all of the games but I really enjoyed Michaela and Jemima’s one the best and I learned about some different animals.

Ellie-I really enjoyed playing the games. I want to go back and play more. I learned that in 2030, there will be about 10% of our rain forests left!

On Wednesday 6th June the whole school with some friends and family from the community took part in a history walk around the Boddam loop. We learned lots about the history of our school area from the story tellers at the different stops. Here are some of the primary 4/5 children’s comments.

Tory-I liked learning about how the sports field came about and that it is not just for playing football.
Emma-I really liked learning about the history of the area round the school and I’d like to go on another walk.
Matthew-I really liked learning about all the different things that happened in the war time in Shetland and other places.
Amy-I enjoyed the whole thing and I’d like to do it again.
Robbie-I liked learning about Voe and the fishing boats coming in and my house was built by a sea captain called Captain Sinclair.
Evie-I really enjoyed it and I liked learning about the war time in Shetland and other places as well.
Frankie-I was interested in how they salted the fish and how lots of boats came into the voe. I liked learning about the Norwegians coming in and they thought they were spies.
Ronan-I think we should do it again. I liked the bit about the war.
Abi-I enjoyed looking at the old money and I’d like to do it again.
Bella-I liked learning about the football pitch. It wasn’t always flat! I’d like to do it again.
Isaiah-I liked learning about school punishments in the past!
Daniel-I liked learning about the war.
Hayden-I liked learning about the school in the past like the punishments.
Isabel-I liked learning about the school-the separate playgrounds for girls and boys!

The primary 5 children had a brilliant time working and performing with the team from Scottish opera . They worked really hard to learn the songs in their music lessons and in their extra practices with p5/6. They showed good team work, listened well and performed brilliantly on the day of the performance. They had a lot to learn in a very short while! Well done to everyone.   The primary 4 children can’t wait until it’s their turn!

Primary 4/5  enjoyed their trip to Mareel yesterday (16th May) to watch Baba Yaga.  The show is part of Edinburgh international children’s festival produced by Imaginate.  It was billed as an uproarious musical journey, a new take on an old Russian folk tale.  Here is what some children thought of it:

Koll-“It was one of the best things I’ve done in school.”

Frankie-“I enjoyed going to see something different but it wasn’t my favourite.”

Abi-“It was really funny.”

Robbie- “The message was to follow your dreams.”  “It was ok.”

Evie-” It was a hilarious play.  I’d love to see it again.”

Tory-“I enjoyed it a lot.”

Kayla-” I thought it was hilarious when Baba Yaga was doing the Floss.”

Fergus-“I liked that bit too.”

Liam-“It was wierd but I kinda liked it!”

Emma-“It was really funny and wierd and I’d like to go and see it again.”

Mia-“It was funny and I enjoyed it.”

Isabel-“The first time I watched it I liked it but I didn’t really get it.  The second time I understood it and enjoyed it.

Primary 4/5 did their class redd up on Wednesday 9th May. We were lucky to have a dry sunny afternoon. Everyone got stuck in with great enthusiasm and we collected several bags of rubbish from the school up to and around Mainland’s shop and along the road to the Baptist church.

On Monday 7th May we had a visit from the Edinburgh Science Festival Workshop-Robo Constructors. We had a brilliant morning learning about robots and we were able to put our engineering skills into action constructing robots to carry out different tasks. It was great fun and we all learned lots!

We had a visit from Angela Hopwood to remind us about healthy eating and the importance of mental and social health as well as physical health.