Today Mrs Douglas did a science experiment with the class to find out which material would work best to black out our windows during an air raid in World War 2.
We had 4 materials to choose from. We made a hypothesis, writing down which materials would be most effective or which materials would be least effective.
Then we attached the materials to the windows and went outside to test them. From inside the classroom , Mrs Henderson shone a torch behind each material and we had to see if any light could be seen on the other side of the window.
First we had to make a hypothesis.
Then we had to attach our different materials to the windows.
We didn’t think this would block out the light.
We were surprised that the white paper blocked out the torch light.
The red cellophane was the least effective and we were surprised to find that the light was blocked by the white paper!
We have been talking about how, for some pupils, learning times tables comes easily, whilst for others, they are really tricky to remember and recall quickly. We looked at different learning styles today and talked about how finding a way that suits our individual learning style might just make it easier to learn these tables. Over the past two weeks, we’ve tried out various ways to see which way we prefer. We’ve also tried aural learning, chanting our tables to the clave rhythm.
Visual Learning…
We made geometric circle patterns with string, moving around the numbers 0-9 to set out the times tables.
Sometimes, a diagram helps a learner find the answer.
Using materials for larger multiplication sums helps us visualise what’s happening too.
Verbal Learners…
Some like to recite times tables or create words, tongue twisters and rhymes to recall the facts. Good job Eveline!
Physical Learning…Some learn by using their bodies and moving to help them learn.
We wrote out the times table we needed to learn in a hopscotch game and jumped using our bodies until we got to the right answer. Chanting the numbers helped too!
Social Learners…Some like to work with others and learn together.
We wrote out a Tic Tac Toe board and the first one to get the multiplication answer right got to put in a 0 or X. We had fun racing against each other!
Kathryn and Conor made up their own symbols!
Logical Thinkers…Like to ask questions and see the whole picture. This group were setting out the 4 times table in a way that helped them count up in 4’s.
We have started to explore a new area of Maths this week. We braved the February weather to take our learning outside into the playground. The markings on our play areas were perfect for helping us explore parallel and perpendicular lines. We looked for right angles too. It’s amazing how many you find when you actively go looking!
A perfect example of perpendicular lines and right angles!
Fergus and Hannah used their metre stick to create a perpendicular line and right angles.
On Wednesday 5th February we enjoyed an afternoon of Biosecurity activities. Biosecurity is the protection of a species from other non-native invasive species.
We learned about the Storm Petrels on Mousa and the importance of keeping the island clear of any predators who would be a threat to them.
Afra Skene, a Biosecurity Officer in Shetland, provided lots of games and activities to get us thinking more about Biosecurity and how to spread the word to others in our community.
The children were asked to think of the ways in which they enjoyed learning and to invent activities, songs, games and challenges to try and teach others about Biosecurity. Hopefully some of our ideas will appear in a teaching resource being produced for schools in Scotland!
Here are the rats (with their tails) waiting to get on to Mousa to take the Storm Petrel eggs.
The Biosecurity officers are determined to protect the Storm Petrels on Mousa!
Who do we need to tell about Biosecurity?
Time to make a decision about how we like to learn. Games? Songs? Outdoor activities? Theatre?
We voted with beans. Three beans for our favourite way of learning, Two for 2nd favourite and one for our 3rd favourite. I wonder which one will gain the most votes?
Today we looked at the next aspect of our topic – electricity. It was great fun exploring the electricity boxes and trying to make an electrical circuit to light the bulbs! Lots of exciting discoveries were made and I’m sure the hilarity could be heard throughout the school as we tried to create a complete circuit with our bodies!
What will happen if we use 2 batteries?
Lots of investigative work here!
Can you light both bulbs?
I wonder what will happen if we do this…?
We all got together and experimented with making a circuit.
It was great fun finding out what we had to do to complete the circuit!
Today was our last STEM session with Emma Chittick this year. The children were asked to use all of the knowledge and skills gained over the past couple of weeks to build something that would generate electricity. Everyone was raring to get started and it didn’t take long for their designs to take shape!
Some made wind turbines, some used solar cells, while some used both in the same structure. It was great to see the children interacting and problem solving together to try and achieve success. I was very proud to see everyone working so well as a team and providing support for each other. Well done P5/6!
What have P5/6 been up to on their final day of term? They all worked on grammar activities first thing before heading out to the multicourt for class P.E. where we scored a record number of frisbee goals! Then we all worked on our own personal learning goals before lunch so all different types of activities were going on at the same time. The afternoon saw us gather together to have a whole school photo to celebrate our 50 years and this was followed by a great JRSO assembly. Happy holidays everyone and here’s hoping this weather holds!
The current favourite game to play in class PE is “Crounders” (a combination of rounders and cricket). The pupils have had so much fun playing it for the last couple of weeks, I finally managed to take some photographs to share with you…
Today in our Health and wellbeing we started to discuss the changes we and our body make in preparation for parenthood.
There was a lot of discussion around the different types of relationship we will face throughout our life. Sharing thoughts for how these relationships can sometimes be good and sometimes not, yet it is how we face these that will help to mould the person we become in the future.
The class split into groups and discussed the important decisions that we must make before (in adulthood) a couple decides to have a baby. This was a great exercise that proved to be much trickier for some than they expected as there was no right or wrong answer.
We had some good discussions over what was perceived to be right and not in the types of relationships and environments in which we could raise a family. It was lovely to hear that the pupils had a very open mind to all of the questions asked and their main concern was that a family was loved and cared for as this was the ideal environment for a family to flourish.
We’ve had a super morning today launching our bottle rockets at the sports pitch!
The pupils have been using our learning on forces – notably friction, air resistance and thrust – to try and adjust their own bottles to build the best rocket design possible. There have been some variations in style and we have all been looking forward to the day when we finally got to test them out…
We set a challenge to see which group could get their rocket to fly the furthest.
Becca and Hannah were the winners with a magnificent 24metres!
Once all of the groups had launched their rockets for distance the ones who struggled with coverage were given the chance to “take to the sky”.
It was a lovely, slightly chilly, morning and a fantastic way to extend our learning outside the classroom. I hope the pupils enjoyed the activity as much as I did – though they did work me hard with the hand pump and I did get a little wet a few times …
Just another blogs.glowscotland.org.uk – Shetland site
