All posts by Mrs Henderson

World Down Syndrome Day

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Today we celebrated World Down Syndrome Day by wearing odd socks!

Down syndrome occurs when an individual has an extra partial (or whole) copy of chromosome 21. It is not yet known why this syndrome occurs, but Down syndrome has always been a part of the human condition.

World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) , 21 March, is a global awareness day which has been officially observed by the United Nations since 2012.

The date for WDSD being the 21st day of the 3rd month, was selected to signify the uniqueness of the triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome,

 

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Our Day…

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Today we have been looking at our digestive system.  We worked in small groups to demonstrate what is happening inside our bodies when we eat food.  We used everyday items to represent different things inside our bodies.

First we “ate” some food (crackers and bananas) and it travelled to our stomachs (plastic bag).

Then we added saliva (water) and stomach acid (orange juice) to help break down the food in the stomach.

Next our stomach muscles got to work and squeezed all of

the food until it was a gloopy mixture.

 

I wonder if everyone liked this part…?

Then the food was transported to the small intestine (tights) where it was again pushed and squeezed by many muscles.  This allowed all of the useful nutrients to be squeezed out for the body to use, leaving behind what our body doesn’t need.

After that, whatever was left over was sent to the large intestine (cup) and left the body as poo!  This was the part that many found too disgusting to watch!!

Poor Peter just couldn’t look!

We began our new novel today The Nowehere Emporium.  Don’t worry if you are not in school right now, you can catch up with the story on Teams!  Mrs Smith will post more information on this soon.

After playtime we did some Maths, focusing on different aspects of multiplication.   Keep practising at home too everyone!

In the afternoon we spent time in our research groups to begin our posters.  Each group has chosen an aspect of Human Body that they would like to find out about.  Everyone worked so well in their groups, making sure all members had a job to do and felt included.

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Topic Work

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We now have 2 skeletons on display in the classroom.!  We have had some helpers today, writing labels for each one.

The skeleton on the left has been labelled with common terms for the bones, such as thigh bone, knee cap and skull.  The skeleton on the right shows the medical terms for each bone, for example femur, patella and cranium.

This afternoon we made our own moving skeletons.  It was very fiddly and we had to have a lot of patience to make it work!   

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Skeletons

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Today we worked in groups to try to build a skeleton!  It was interesting to see if anyone knew how our bones are connected.  We had fun trying to identify the internal organs too and where they are located inside our bodies.

Last week we wrote down all of the things that we would like to find out about the Human Body.  So many excellent questions!  We are going to begin group research projects soon to try to answer some of our questions.

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Quiz Time!

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In P4/5/6, we have been learning how to build electrical circuits as part of our topic work.  We have also looked at which materials act as conductors of electricity and which materials are insulators.

We found out that metal is a conductor, so we used tin foil to help us build an electrical quiz board for the younger pupils in our school.

We thought carefully about  the focus for our quizzes and tried to keep in mind how to make the questions suitable for younger pupils.

It was amazing to see how many social skills were developed during this process:  turn taking, co-operation, talking and listening, compromising and providing support and encouragement to each other.  Of course, there were opportunities to develop ICT skills too.  It was lovely to see so many pupils eager to pass on their ICT knowledge!  What a team!

To play our games, you need to use an electrical circuit.  Instead of completing the circuit, the  wires at each end connect to our quiz board – one wire to a question and the other wire to the answer.  If the question and answer match, the bulb will light up!  This means that we have completed the circuit!

We can’t wait to show you the finished quiz boards soon and test them out on the P1/2 and P2/3/4 classes!

 

 

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Merry Christmas!

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We can hardly believe it is the last day at school in 2021 already!  What a year it has been!

P4/5/6/ sat back and relaxed with an ice lolly on Monday afternoon while they enjoyed their online Christmas pantomime!

Wishing you all a lovely Christmas and all the best for 2022!

Let’s make it a good one!

 

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LEGO Renewables

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Emma Chittick, who is a STEM Engagement Advisor for Skills Development Scotland, came in to help us with another STEM wind turbine challenge., but this time we used LEGO!

She set a competition to see which design could generate the most power.  The tricky part was trying to build a strong structure to set the turbine on.  The class also had to consider how they attached their blades and in which direction they were facing.

Everyone was so engaged and worked well on their own or with a partner to complete the task.

Well done P4/5/6!  You did a great job!

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Wind Turbine Challenge!

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As part of our topic work, we have been learning about Renewable and Non Renewable energy sources.  We discussed the advantages and disadvantages of these and which ones would work best in Shetland.

Last week, we worked in teams to design and create a wind turbine using a selection of materials.  The turbine had to turn when  we used a hair dryer on it and it also had to lift a plastic cup!  Lots of things to consider in their designs!

It was lovely to watch everyone interacting and taking turns to contribute.  Everyone showed consideration towards the ideas shared and compromises were made as to what the design would look like and how it would work.

It was important to try little tests now and again, to check if any changes needed to be made.  Some groups found that when the hair dryer was switched on, the blades of their turbine were not strong enough and required further reinforcement.  Some found that there blades were the wrong size or shape and some discovered that they needed to attach their cup differently so that it would lift without getting tangled in the turbine blades.  Lots of learning going on!

We tested all the designs and everyone had the chance to add their thoughts on what they thought had worked well and what could be done to improve their designs further.  I was impressed with how the children were able to make suggestions in a such a positive, caring and considerate way.  Look out world…some future engineers here!

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