Tag Archives: Technology

Blackout!

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.

The red cellophane was the least effective and we were surprised to find that the light was blocked by the white paper!

Group Presentations

P5/6 have spent many weeks researching an area from our Biodiversity topic and have been preparing a PowerPoint presentation to share their learning.  It was wonderful to finally see their presentations this week and give each other feedback as to what we thought went well and what could be done to make it even better.  Each group looked at the importance of plants and how they benefit society in different ways.

Well done P5/6!

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STEM – final challenge!

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!

STEM

This term we are looking at renewable energy so we invited Emma Chittick into our class to work on a few STEM projects linked to our learning. In week 1, the children were challenged to build a wind turbine using Lego. When their structures were ready, everyone had a trial run and were given time to make any necessary alterations to their design. It was very exciting waiting to see if it would turn with the wind from the fan! We measured how much electricity was produced from each design.

In week 2 the class were asked to build a structure with solar panels that would capture natural light and artificial light. This meant that they had to design a structure that could change the angle of the solar panel. Again, they were given a trial run, then a fair test with the same conditions for each group. During our testing, we quickly realised one disadvantage when relying on solar energy. The position of the sun moved as we were testing at our classroom windowsill, resulting in less direct natural sunlight for some of the tests.

Keep a look out for the final challenge next week!

Making Iron Age Brochs and Viking longhouses

Chris Dyer came into school again this afternoon to help us to make our models. Last week we planned them and this week we were given all the materials and now we have to make them! We used polystyrene blocks for the stonework and wood for the roof. We’ll be making other artefacts with clay.

Here is how we got on today.