Category Archives: STEM

Measuring Length

The children have recently been learning about measuring length. They loved being outdoor with their ‘friendly sticks’ to practice using the correct mathematical language of longer, shorter, etc.

They worked well with partners to use non-standard units to measure some larger lengths…………

…..and some smaller lengths……

The Primary 2’s moved on to measuring lengths in metres and half metres. They also worked together to make an underwater display of one metre long fish, with a few smaller half metre ones swimming along too.

Worms!

We had an afternoon of fun with lots of worms in the class. The children learned some facts about worms and watched a little video about them.

Miss Robertson brought in these worms to show the class and shared lots of interesting facts about them with the children.

They then got a worm each to watch and look more closely at.

The children were really gentle with them, watching how they moved and using the magnifiers to zoom in and look more closely at their bodies. The worms were quite funny as they got annoyed and waved and waggled their bodies at the children.

Polycrub produce

The children have harvested their first produce. The radishes were ready to be eaten so the children pulled some up and brought them into school.

They all had a chance to taste a little bit in class – not the most popular vegetable but they all tried some.

The cooks also got some radishes which they prepared for the classes at lunchtime.

Investigating in the Wildlife Garden

The children have been finding lots of insects and minibeasts in the School Wildlife Garden. They used the magnifiers to look closely at them and watch how they moved.

The school pond also has a couple of resident frogs and lots of tadpoles. There were also other water beetles and insects around the water.

Back in class the children have been learning about different minibeast and insects. They have been doing some research about them during writing lessons and learning how to label diagrams.

They used oil pastels to create this amazing wall display.

STEM fun

We read this book by Polly Dunbar about a penguin who wouldnt say anything. It was very funny and the children loved it.

In the story the penguin gets fired up to Space in a rocket so the children made their own little penguins as part of a STEM activity.

They had great fun seeing how high the penguins could be blasted. The Primary two Children have been learning how to write instructions so did a fantastic job explaining how to do this STEM challenge.

Polycrub update

A huge thankyou to the parents who helped to water the plants throughout the Easter holidays. They have fairly shot up. The sunflowers were ready to be re-potted into bigger pots so the children have been busy doing that and lots of watering this week.

As part of their literacy this term the children have been learning how to write instructions. Lucy-Jo was very clear on how to plant a seed.

The Eco-Committee

The primary 1/2 class are the Eco-Committee for this term. They shared their plan in assembly last week of how they were going to involve the whole school in planting and growing their own food in the Polycrub this year.

Each class have been given a section of the polycrub to be responsible for planting in. There is also a rota for watering and looking after the plants throughout the term.

There have been lots planted already – tatties, peas, radishes, carrots, lettuce, beetroot, to name a few.

The children have also planted sunflower seeds and tomatoes in little pots which will need careful looking after and re-potting oncce they grow a little bit.

Each class is responsible for not only looking after the plants but keeping the polycrub tidy and organised for the next class or group of children who come in.

it is also a great space outdoors at Whiteness Primary to play. The children took a break from planting to work on their teamwork skills and have a lot of fun on the hill.

World Book Day

The children, and staff had so much fun on World Book Day. So many great character costumes and books were brought in.

They loved listening to stories, acting out stories, reading and making books.

They painted their own book covers and wrote stories inside. They loved using their favourite stories to help. So much excitement and enthusiasm for reading- it was so lovely to see,

The Pet Popper-Upper

As part of their learning about looking after pets the children listened to the story of the Pet Popper -Upper. They then had to set to work creating their own one.

The ideas and creativity was amazing and the children loved coming up with new ways to make the pet pop up. it was good to see their confidence growing as they tried new modelling techniques and practiced craft skills.

Hickory Dickory Dock Clocks

The children loved the story of the Hickory Dickory Dock Clock and set to work creating their own versions.

Their clock needed tp have numbers, hands, switches and passcodes to work.  The final Clocks were great and the children loved showing  them to the class.

Many of the children wrote about their clocks and how they had made them.

First Day of Term 3

The children had a great time today exploring and playing with the new resources ready for them in the classroom.

The vets area was really popular and the children worked together to plan out what they would need in the vets to look after the animals.

They collaborated and worked well together to build the train set. It was great to listen to their conversations and how they shared their ideas. The children also loved investigating the snow and ice in the water tray.

Lots of great vocabulary and science going on.

They spent part of the day outdoors, making the most of the snow. It was amazing to see the friendships, teamwork, problem solving and creativity going on. They had so much fun.

Just before they headed back indoors it was time for a photo with their igloo and snowman.

 

Bingle Bongle Bit Bots

After listening to the story of The Bingle Bongle Bit Bot and how he fixed everything the children set to work making their own Bingle Bongle Bit Bot robots.

They learned some new techniques for joining the different parts of their models to ensure they held together.

They had to make sure the robot had switches and buttons for different purposes. Some even had docking stations for charging and different compartments for storing things in.

 

2D and 3D shapes

The children have had great fun learning about 2D and 3D shapes this term. They have had lots of opportunities to familiarise themselves with the shapes through practical activities both indoors and outdoors.

There have been lots of conversations about the faces, corners and names of the new shapes. They have enjoyed finding examples of these shapes in the environment.

Making a Magic Potion

Haggis the witch made a magic potion in the cauldron with the help of the children.

They had so many ideas for disgusting things that could be included in the mixture…….wizards ear-wax, slugs slime, fish scales etc.

They repeated a little rhyme while stirring in the ingredients and of course said some magic words to make it work.

They thought of lots of ideas for what the potion would do and finally it started to bubble……

the children completed some recipes for magic potions in their writing jotters. There were so many great ideas.

STEM Committee

The p1/2 children have been the school’s STEM committee this term so they set a challenge to the pupils in the whole of primary.  The children presented the task to the older children and provided them with the resources required.

The children were put into mixed age groups of 5-6 pupils. They were given a set of materials and had to work together to create a paper chain. There was a time limit and limited resources.

There were prizes for the longest chain and for the team who demonstrated the best ‘teamwork’. It was amazing to see how the children collaborated and shared out the different jobs within their groups.

The final chains were laid out and measured against each other to find the winner.

Number Formations

The Primary One children have been learning the letter formations this term. This begins as a character in a story, a little rhyme, some creativity and lots of practise.

For number 1, the children made penguins like the character in the story. This was great for practising those scissor skills and listening to instructions.

For number 2 the children made little nest models with two eggs made of plasticine, they also had two feathers for tickling each other like the character in the story. They worked with a partner to collect outdoor objects (two of each) and create a picture together.

 

Number 3 was a butterfly so the children added lots of ‘3 things’ to their pictures

 

For number 4 the children made these beautiful peacocks and learned a few facts about them.

 

Number 5 was a jumpy kangaroo so the children made jumps out of lego. Great for their fine motor skills.

For number 6 they used 6 sticks to make their own shapes and designs. They also used plasticine to make a swamp scene with 6 snakes, 6 rocks etc. This was a great opportunity for communication for collaboration.

 

Number 7 is a giraffe with 7 little birds on his back, 7 spots, 7 leaves etc.

 

 

 

For number 8  the children made spiders with 8 bendy legs and spider webs with 8 ‘spokes’ and 8 flies on their paper collage.

They also used plasticine to make ball shaped spider bodies and strengthen those little hands. Matchsticks were used as legs.

Number 9 was great fun practising in the shaving foam.

Tiger 10 was a favourite and the children made masks. They all had ten whiskers.

Afore Noo

As part of our IDL this term the children have been finding out about items from the past. We got a selection of items from the Lerwick Museum to investigate which were fascinating.

There were lots of opportunities for discussion, investigation and figuring out what some of the items were.

They particularly loved the old typewriter. They got to try and type some messages and loved the mechanical element of it.

They made their own typewriters in art with Miss Whelan and decided what the paper would have typed on it as it came out of the top.

They had great fun learning how listening to music has changed over the years. The record player was great for listening to and swaying to some Bing Crosby tunes. They also looked at cassette tapes and CD’s which some of the children had seen before.

They practised drawing and cutting circles to make their own records for display in the classroom.

Ms Sinclair also brought in an old gramophone and gave a demonstration of how to work it. The children got a chnce to wind up the handle to get the turntable moving. There were some scottish dance tunes to dance to this time.

They loved hearing about how watching TV has changed over the years with limited channels and black and white images. They made their own old style TV’s and made themselves the stars of the show.

 

Voxter and Soft Play

The children were so excited heading out on the bus to Voxter Woods for the morning.

Being in the trees was so much fun. There were swings, balancing ropes, a saddle swing and a zip line to play on. The children were really good at taking turns and helping each other on these.

There were trees to climb, dens to build or add to, bugs to investigate and lots of places to explore. What a fantastic place for children to exxperience.

They had snack in amongst the trees.

We all went to the top of the hill and got a class photo before heading back to the bus.

By the time we got to the Soft Play in Voe it was time for lunch. The children enjoyed their packed lunches which the school had provided.

The children spent the afternoon playing with their friends in the Soft play. There was so much to do and they never stopped.

There were some very tired bairns on the way back to school on the bus, but what a great day out.