Category Archives: Sciences

Primary 7, Sciences, STEM 2017, Uncategorized

Cool Chemistry in P7/6

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LI: We are learning to identify the features of a fair test

LI: We are learning to classify materials

SC: I can identify that a material/substance has changed through decay, cooking, burning, rusting, melting and dissolving.

I can investigate what causes this change.

This week we kicked off our new topic ‘Cool Chemistry’ and we have been very busy discovery what chemistry is and what processes we have to go through when conducting an experiment.We are all excited that we are going to be learning about chemistry and what this involves. At the beginning of the week we looked how materials can changed through different processes. We were all given a small piece of clay which we examined and we had to describe its properties. Some of the words that we came up with were: flexible, moist, dusty, strong smell, squishy, gritty and soft. We then watched a film to see what happens to clay when it gets fired in a kiln. Once the clay had gone through the heating process the properties of it were very different. Some of the words that we used to describe the properties of the fired clay were: smooth, hard, fragile, rigid, breakable. We discussed how clay would not be able to go back to its original form and came up with other materials that this would happen to when they have gone through a change, we discussed that  bread and eggs could not go back to their original form.

We also learned about fair testing, what this involves and why it is necessary. Once we had learned about fair testing we then conducted our own investigation into what melts faster, butter or chocolate. We discussed how we could make this a fair test and decided that we had to keep the water at the same temperature when melting the butter and chocolate, the water had to be the same amount and the butter and chocolate had to be the same amount otherwise this would not be fair and our results might vary. We made predictions and were surprised at some of the results. We are looking forward to learning more about chemistry over the coming weeks.

 

Keep your eyes peeled for more experiments.

 

Miss Anderson

 

Primary 5, Sciences, STEM 2017, Technologies, Uncategorized

Mission 6: Fingerprint Discovered

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Learning Intention: We are learning what a fingerprint is
– I understand that everyone has a unique fingerprint
– I can identify the key features of my own fingerprint
– I know how and why the police use fingerprints to help them solve crimes

As part of our STEM IDL context, Kidnapped, P5B have been receiving missions from Police Chief Anderson to help Police HQ to find Jack and Sarah Green. This week, we discovered that a fingerprint was found on the strap of a watch belonging to Jack. Chief Anderson sent our investigation teams a fingerprinting kit so that we could find out more about our own fingerprints. 

We learned there are 3 main characteristics to look for; loop, whorl and arch. We put our fingerprints onto a balloon first and inflated it so that we could see our print pattern more clearly. We used magnifying glasses to get an even closer look.

We then took prints of all ten of our fingers and analysed them to find the specific characteristics of each one. It was interesting to compare all ten fingers and see which was the most common characteristic. We recorded out findings and added this to our growing case files.

We also discussed how difficult it must have been for the police to match fingerprints in the days before technology. We used our own and the school devices to find out when the first crime was solved using fingerprint evidence- all the way back in 1892!

Learning Letters, Maths & Numeracy, Sciences, STEM 2017, Technologies

Primary 4 STEM Context: Project Planetarium

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P4 are focusing on Project Planetarium for our STEM topic.
Here are our key questions…
1. How do the sun and moon affect the length of the day, month, year and seasons?
2. What does the solar system look like?
3. What are the features of the different planets?
4. How and why do people become astronauts?
5. How have spacecrafts changed over time and what are their features?

Our context will develop our knowledge and skills in the key curricular areas of:
Science: Safely observing and recording the sun and moon and describe their patterns of movement/changes, observing and researching features of the solar system.
Maths: Collation of data, displaying data and scale.
Technologies: Technological advances over time and using and accessing information.

Ms Richmond, Primary 4 and I are excited to discover more about our solar system!

Learning Letters, Maths & Numeracy, Primary 1, Primary 2, Sciences, STEM 2017, Technologies

Primary 1 and Primary 2/1: Building Our Nursery

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For our STEM context for learning we are going to be helping the builders to build our nursery!

Our learning will focus on:

  • Science: Materials
  • Technologies: Design
  • Maths: Measure

The questions we decided we wanted to explore are:

  1. What materials will we use to build our nursery and why?
  2. What machines will we need and how do they work?
  3. Which tools will we use to build our nursery and why?
  4. Who will help us build our nursery?
  5. How will we design the inside of our nursery and what will we need?
  6. When will we open our new nursery and how will we open it?
Learning Letters, Maths & Numeracy, Primary 2, Primary 3, Sciences, STEM 2017, Technologies

Primary 3/2 STEM Context: Brompton Bike Challenge

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For our STEM context for learning we are going to be learning about the Brompton Bike Challenge!

Our learning will focus on:

  • Science: Senses and Materials
  • Technologies: Design
  • Maths: Measure

The questions we decided we wanted to explore are:

  1. What is a safe bike? Who uses bikes? RESEARCH and NOTE TAKING ON MIND MAP
  2. What senses are used with a bike accessory? SENSES
  3. What materials are used to make a bike accessory? RESEARCH and MATERIALS
  4. How do you design a bike accessory.? DESIGN and PROBLEM SOLVING (design brief)
  5. How do you build a bike accessory? MEASURE and CONSTRUCTION
Sciences, Uncategorized

Primary 4A – Science

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LI : We are learning to write a report based on the findings of our experiment.

SC:

  • I can describe the experiment in order.
  • I can write a conclusion of what happened to my plant and why.
  • I can highlight what plants need to survive.

As part of  learning about the rainforest in our topic of Crazy Climates, we researched what makes plants grow well. In an experiment with three plants, we put one plant in a dark cupboard, we put a plant in a cold place and we didn’t give a plant any water for a week. During the week, we observed how the plant changed in all three places. We reported back on how all of the plants had changed in a presentation, in which included other top tips for helping plants grow. The plant in the dark had still grown because it had water, however the flowers had become darker. The leaves of the plant beside the window had started to shrivel up and the plant in a cold place was beginning to smell and die off.

We concluded that the basic ingredients of sunlight, soil and enough water keeps most plants alive. We have also heard that plants like classic music….this experiment is still to be tried and tested.

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Interdisciplinary Learning, Primary 2, Sciences, STEM 2016, Technologies

The Great Deserted Island STEM Challenge Four

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LI. We are learning to apply and develop our skills and knowledge of linear measurement, force and motion, simple levers and scientific processes

SC. We can plan, design and create to device that can launch an item at least 30 centimetres.

SC. We can chunk the challenge independently and describe the problem.

SC. We will identify and plan how to achieve 3 points for the planning and design aspect of the rubic.

SC. We can share our ideas and identify the best ones and say why.

SC. We will test and discuss what happened, what worked and what we would do differently next time.

Last week P2 Sir Harley Houndstooth III asked us to make a catapult to protect him from pirates who are trying to land on the island. We used lolly pop sticks, elastic bands and bottle tops to make our own catapults. We used marshmallows to fire from the catapults and some went really far! We measured the length our catapults could fire the marshmallows using metre sticks. We all worked really well on this challenge Ben said that he felt he had achieved something because he had worked well with others to design and build the catapult independently.

Our next challenge is our final challenge. Will Sir Harley escape from the island?

We will keep you posted on how we get on in the next challenge!

P2.

Primary 1, Sciences, Uncategorized

P1 Outing

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This week, Primary 1 visited the The Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.

They had been invited there by Edward Bear, who wanted to show them what creatures like him need to survive in the wild.

When we first arrived at the Yurt that was our base for the day, there was no sign of Edward Bear at all!

After a quick snack we set off on a walk through the garden in search of him. Luckily, he had left a trail for us, so all we had to do was follow the clues! By following the clues we began to understand that Edward needed SWAF to survive.

We learnt that this stands for SHELTER, WATER, AIR and FOOD.

Soon we were playing a game to help us remember SWAF.

The ‘bears’ were very good at knowing what they needed!

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DSCN1228 DSCN1229DSCN1235 Next, we tried using our ears to listen to the sounds around us. We didn’t hear Edward Bear, but we did hear lots of birds!

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Here we are finding and reading the clues. This one told us that some animals enjoy eating berries. They are a source of food. We also saw a bush that the bees like to visit. Bees make honey and we knew that some bears love eating honey. We still couldn’t find Edward Bear though.

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We could feel and hear the air around us as we walked through the trees and past the tall plants.

We also found evidence of  insects.

The trees also provided us with shelter.

Keep looking! There’s a bear around here somewhere.

DSCN1241 We found water, but still no bear.

DSCN1243 DSCN1250 DSCN1251 A badger has been scraping here to find food, not a bear! We found a really big badger hole too, and we had to walk carefully round the edge of it.

DSCN1252 Sadly, we couldn’t find Edward Bear anywhere, so we decided to walk back to the Yurt for lunch. On the way back we listened to a story about a rainbow in the garden. Then we were each given a little coloured card, and we had to find as many things as we could to match the colour we had. We searched all around us as we walked, and soon we had found things to match all the colours of the rainbow.

At last we arrived back at the Yurt. What a surprise! Edward Bear was waiting there to meet us. We were delighted to meet him at last.

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After lunch it was time for another game. Can you see lots of bears sheltering under the trees?

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At the end of the afternoon we worked together in small groups to create an island that provided SWAF for the creatures living on it. We shared ideas, tried out different things and eventually agreed on what was needed. Great teamwork!

 

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What fantastic islands we made. They clearly demonstrated all the things we had learned throughout the day.

We enjoyed going around looking at what the other groups had made, and checking they had included SWAF too!

Primary 1 really enjoyed their day at the Royal Botanic Gardens, and they represented the school so well on their very first outing. Well done boys and girls! We must also say a special thank you to our parent helpers who helped to make the trip possible, and who joined in so enthusiastically with all the fun.