Category: Tay
In Calderwood: Opening Week
STEM – Into Calderwood
This week we have been extending our skills, knowledge and understanding through exploration, investigation and play in STEM.
In Orkney, Mull and Shetland we have been learning about toys whizzing faster or slower down a ramp, depending on the angle of the ramp and the force applied by little hands. We have lots of great photos to show us learning through play and collaborating with others in our gallery. I wonder if you could explore: ‘how does the surface of a ramp (whether it is rough, shiny, smooth or bumpy) change the speed or distance a toy travels?’ at home. You could give it a go with a car, train, bus, lorry, any mode of transport which takes your fancy or even see if this movement changes if the toy doesn’t have moving wheels. We can’t wait to see how you get on!
In Bramble and Bluebell we put on imaginary wellies and headed off to the beach to extend our learning about under the sea to explore food chains at the seaside. We learned new vocabulary such a predator, prey and tides. We applied this new knowledge through imaginative play and games outdoors and had such fun doing this! We also took time to sort different types of animal and plant we would find at the seaside and learned a bit more about carnivores and herbivores at the shoreline. If you want to extend your learning you could click here to find out more about rockpools. We can’t wait to hear about your research next week, in Calderwood!
In Ness we were imaginary intrepid explorers in the Amazon Rainforest this week. Last week we managed to conceal ourselves well enough to go unnoticed on the Amazon Rainforest’s floor; as we lay in hiding we watched Capybaras grazing, Caimans lurking in the water nearby and Goliath Tarantulas hiding in their burrows until nightfall. This week we fashioned camouflage from cocoa tree leaves and, when satisfied with our disguises, steeled ourselves to venture out of our hiding spot into the Understorey. Our first encounter was with a Praying Mantis, hunting prey with deadly precision. We had a few too many close calls with a jaguar so decided to make a speedy getaway into the Canopy Layer ready to explore further in Calderwood, next week!
In Rannoch we donned our imaginary rock pooling gear and waterproof jackets (to make sure we didn’t get splashed in the spray zone!) to explore the intertidal zone. We clambered to high ground as tide rushed in and the wave action caused conditions like a washing machine and as the tide rushed out we watched as crabs burrowed into soft sand and hid in small holes in the rocks. Through this imaginary exploration we were able to understand the specialist adaptions afforded to animals and plants which reside in this extreme environment. We used this newly-acquired understanding to put our sorting skills to the test – deciding which animals and plants would live in the high, mid and low tide zones. At home could you explore the types of food webs and chains which can be found in these environments and share all your great ideas with your adults in school next week, in Calderwood!
In Tay we built bridges to round off our amazing research into types of bridge and bridges in the world around us. You can find some great shots of us with our bridges in the gallery. We have had great fun exploring shapes which make a bridge stronger and the sorts of problems civil engineers need to overcome to build structurally sound bridges. We think the smiles on our faces definitely show how proud we were when applying our research!
In Ben Lomond and Ben Lawers we explored the concept of Algorithms. We learned that algorithms are sets of precise instructions used with digital technology. We then extended our understanding, and put our coding skills to the test, by creating our own written algorithms for different tasks. We had great fun acting out these instructions to check how precise they really were. You could explore this further at home by using free online coding games – we can’t wait to see how you get on next week, in Calderwood!
Writing: Where would you take your invisible string?
In Tay clan, we have been learning to use conjunctions to join our sentences together. We learned how to use the conjunctions: and, because, but, so. We also learned alternative conjunctions and tried to challenge our learning by using these in our sentences.
Last week, we played conjunctions corners where Miss Redmond read out two sentences and we had to decide what conjunction we would use to join the sentences together. We had to dance and then go to the corner with the correct conjunction.
We then practised using conjunctions in our own writing. We had to think of a place that we would want to take our string to. Some of the places we decided to write about were: Australia, the jungle, the ocean, fidget land, Fortnite land, space and America. We had to describe what our place would look like and explain what we would do there.
We read our writing to Miss Redmond and others, and we noticed that we all tried really hard to use the four different conjunctions in our writing. We have discussed as a clan that we need to work on reading over our writing, making sure that we are using full stops and not writing too many conjunctions in one sentence.
To help us continue learning about conjunctions at home, Tay have come up with some ideas. We could spot conjunctions when we are reading at home. When travelling in the car, we could go on hunt for conjunctions around us. We could also write postcards to our friends and family.
Champion Conversations: Tay Clan
First Week in Clan Tay
Clan Tay have had a fantastic first week at Calderwood Primary School. We spent Friday morning reflecting on our week and realised that we have been very busy! We have demonstrated creativity this week through the artwork we have produced. Clan Tay enjoyed creating an ‘all about me stag’ to show that everyone is unique. We learned how to use different colours and a shading technique to create our stags. We have displayed our stags in our classroom for everyone to see.
This week, everyone in Clan Tay created a time capsule. We had to write down information about ourselves, our favourite things and think of hopes for the year. We measured ourselves using ribbon to see how tall we are. Our time capsules will get put away and we won’t open them until the end of the year. Clan Tay are excited to see how we will grow, what we will achieve and the progress we will make in the next year.
Miss Redmond has been so impressed by the confidence and enthusiasm of everyone in Clan Tay this week. They have worked hard, been respectful and made sure everyone feels included. Have a lovely weekend!
