Tag Archives: Practical activities

The Results Are In!

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We tested the last of our wind powered cars today.  Some groups needed more time to make slight modifications to their sail or car structure.  As well as engineering skills being developed here, the pupils were working with a partner to share ideas, make decisions and persevere with the task when it didn’t always work first time.  What a lot of learning going on!

Some cars didn’t get finished in time, but those pupils will still get the chance to test their sail making abilities, using a ready made toy car.

As each car was tested. it was lovely to hear the positive feedback given to each group, along with some helpful tips on how to improve on each design.  Some common themes were:

  • Getting the right shape and size of the sail
  • Can the wheels turn?
  • Is anything on the bottom of the car creating too much friction?  We realised that the car would need even more wind energy to help it to move.
  • How the sail was held up – was it secure enough?

With Mrs Smith, the class have been working on their measuring skills and these skills were put into good use for this task!  There were lots of helpful pupils who were keen to read how far each car had travelled.  Very accurate measuring from all!

All of the cars moved when wind energy was provided, even if just a little bit.  However, the most successful wind powered car travelled a massive 1m 80cm!

Even when things didn’t go to plan, it didn’t matter!  We had fun watching the results and learning from the process.  This car was even pushed over by the wind!

 

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I wonder…

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Today we  got into groups to decide on our focus for our own dissolving investigations.  We spoke about making it a fair test, ensuring that we only change one thing so that we can see if that change had an impact.

One thing that every group chose to keep the same in their investigation was to use the same amount of water in each jar.   We had to make sure we measured it very carefully.

Some groups were keen to  find out what would happen if we mixed soluble substances and insoluble substances together in the water.  Most found that the flour just made the water cloudy so it was difficult to see if the salt or sugar dissolved.

Others wanted to find out if the water temperature would have an affect on the speed at which the substance dissolved.  One group tried to dissolve sugar in cold, warm and hot water.

I wonder if you can guess which jar contained the hot water…?

A couple of groups were keen to see if they could separate sugar and salt from the water once it had dissolved and how long this would take.   We won’t know the results of these investigations yet, but will keep you posted!

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Light

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It has been a busy scientific term in P4/5/6!  Over the past few weeks we have explored all aspects of Light.  We learned about shadows, reflections and how light can bend when it travels through a different medium.

We had fun with a periscope, looking around the room for a secret message being held up on a whiteboard.  This was made possible with the mirrors reflecting the light.

Our camera obscuras showed us how light is reflected into our eyes.  This appears as an upside down image.  Our brain flips this around so that it makes sense to us.  But in this camera, it is projected upside down on to the tracing paper screen.  One pupil decided to do some handstands so that she would be seen the “right way up” in her friend’s camera obscura!  It was lots of fun to experiment with.

 

It’s quiz time!

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Wednesday afternoon was spent in P1/2, sharing with them the electrical quiz boards that we made last term.

Each pair supported a couple of P1/2s to try out their quiz and gave them time to explore the electrical circuits used to the play the game.  If they managed to match the question with the correct answer, the bulb lit up!

Everyone in P4/5/6 did so well to explain their quiz and how to use it.  They showed patience and understanding when more time was needed for the pupil to find the right answer.  We would like to thank the P1/2s for having us in their classroom, they listened so well to their buddies and were so enthusiastic about each game they played.

We have missed having these opportunities to mix with other classes and develop important communication and social skills.  We hope to be able to do something like this again soon!

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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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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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Thursday 16th September – Our Day

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What have we done today?  It’s been a busy day with lots going on!

First the class went to see Mrs Inkster for their Music class.  They have been working on, “Wonderland Tea Party Rhythms.”  This has involved them using different phrases to help them clap out the rhythms.  Then they saw how these rhythms looked in musical notation.

Grammar was waiting for them on their return!  Different groups were looking at different aspects of grammar… speech marks, homophones using dictionary work and proper adjectives.

We took advantage of the nice weather to go outside to measure larger areas in metres and centimetres.  We found keeping count of the whole metres the hardest part when measuring the length of the multi court!  Tomorrow, we will try using the trundle wheel some more and we’ll look at the different ways these measurements can be recorded.

The afternoon saw us quietly reading…always a relaxing, enjoyable time!  Then we wrote out our, “Diamond 9 Skills for Teamwork,”ideas.  We worked on these last week, deciding in small groups, which skills we thought were most important when working together.  See the photos below.

Lastly, some pupils went through to Mrs Inkster to let her hear their voices ahead of choir starting up again.  She was very impressed!

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Transition Day

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What a super Transition Day we had with the new P4/5/6 class this week!  Mrs Smith came in for the first part of the morning when we spent some time getting to know each other with the Find the Fib game.  Everyone (including Mrs Henderson and Mrs Smith) had to think of 3 things to share with the class about themselves.  BUT, 1 of them had to be a fib.  We had fun trying to guess which statement was false.  Sometimes it was very tricky to decide!

We spent a little time writing down all of the things that were important to us.  Some people had similar interests but it was also good to point out that it’s OK to like different things too.

We then got into groups and took part in some team building games.  We played Lower the Hoop, Pass the Hoop, Lego building Relay and Silent Birthday Line up.  We managed to put everyone in order from youngest to oldest…without saying a word!  Well done everyone!  Amazing!

The afternoon was spent doing a STEM activity.  Each team had the challenge of building a newspaper bridge which would be strong enough to hold a textbook.  Some bridges were so strong that they were able to hold more than 10 books!  It was great to see how everyone worked together as a team and took responsibility for the task.

We are looking forward to welcoming the class back in August where we can continue to get to know each other and work as a team.

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Lights, Camera, Action!

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While P6 have been taking part in their Play Leader training on Monday afternoons, P5 have been busy with Mrs Douglas, planning and preparing for their own stop motion animations.

Over the past 4 weeks, Liam, Eveline, Conor and Freya have been exploring how stop motion animations are created.  They have written their own storyboards and spent time creating resources for 2 different short stories.  These stories will be shared with P1/2 when they are ready.

Today the children began filming their stories and quickly learned that it was not going to be a simple task!  It requires a lot of patience, trial and error.  The group are learning so much from each other and it has been lovely to see everyone being so supportive.

Here are some behind the scenes shots of their filming session earlier today.

 

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