Category Archives: Interdisciplinary Learning

Busy start to our final term!

P7 has got off to a busy start this term.

In Primary 7 we have been learning about Forensic Careers. These jobs are vital in a crime investigation.

The first thing we did was we learnt about all the possible jobs in Forensic Science. Such as a Toxicologist, a SOC (Scene of crime) officer, a Pathologist and much more. We then discussed the job requirements if you were to apply for one of these jobs; we came up with different answers to what we would need in order to work in the Forensic environment. We thought we needed to have good eyesight, curiosity, imagination, be very good with details, have integrity and have the ability to keep accurate records.

After we chose one of the jobs to research and make an advert.

In Science, we completed an experiment to see whether or not an orange would float or sink in water.  First we had to make a prediction on whether we thought it would float with the peel on and then we had to predict whether it would float once it had been peeled. Here are some of our predictions:

‘It has it’s skin on so it is not going to absorb water so it will float’

‘It will float as the peel will make it lighter’

‘The peel has small holes in it creating air pockets, air will fill these making it float’

We discovered that when the skin was kept on, the orange would float, but as soon as we peeled the orange it sunk, meaning that our predictions were correct.

This term we are looking forward to learning all about STEM (Science, technology, engineering and maths), and learning new skills that will help us in the world of work.

As P7’s we have our transition visits to look forward to, our leavers assembly and our final trip as a year group. We are all looking forward to the journey.

 

Miss Anderson & P7

The Great Desert Island STEM Challenge!

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This week P2 found out about our new exciting interdisciplinary context which is the Great Desert Island Challenge. We started by listening to a story about a group of sea travelers who were exploring the seas when their ship became wrecked on a desert island. There was only one survivor, Sir Harley Houndstooth III. We now have to help him survive on the desert island and get back to the civilized world. We were all very excited and up for a challenge!

Over the next few weeks P2, P2/3 and P3 will be given a series of challenges in which we will have to help Sir Harley Houndstooth III. We will be developing our skills in group work through carrying out different roles and developing our knowledge of the STEM subjects (Science, Technologies Mathematics and Engineering.)

Parents and carers can help by bringing in materials from the list in your child’s homework jotter. We will keep you posted on the challenges we do,

Thank you for your continued support.

Mr Nelson.

Using ICT to enhance learning in Mid Calder

We are living in a constantly evolving digital world and technology has an impact on nearly every aspect of our lives. And, we are very lucky to be able to use this technology in school to develop skills that will help us in the world of work and in our journey as lifelong learners in our ever advancing world.

Here are some of the ways that we use ICT to enhance our teaching and learning in Mid Calder Primary School:

Bring Your Own Device Parent Information

Thank you to all the parents and carers who attended our Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) parent information session. For those who were unable to attend, here is the PowerPoint that some of our Technical Troopers, Pupil Council and House Captains brilliantly presented. Thank you to those pupils for giving up their time to share our BYOD journey so far.

http://www.slideshare.net/midcps/aal-and-byod-parent-information

Anytime Anywhere Learning: Yammer!

This afternoon P4 have been exploring Yammer, one of the services available from Glow. We have created a secure Yammer Group for our P4 Interdisciplinary Context for Learning – Project Planetarium. In this group Miss Burton uploaded photos from of our learning and we had to comment on our learning. We also uploaded our Tim Peake Biography’s and peer assessed them. We are excited about the possibilities of Yammer to help us share our learning and collaborate with each other.

Primary 6 visit Edinburgh Castle

Primary 6 had a very exciting start to the new term, heading off to Edinburgh Castle for our “Redcoats and Rebels” workshop.

After a smooth coach trip to the castle, we left the 21st century behind when we were met by Captain Roberts the Redcoat and Mike the Jacobite.  After splitting into two groups, we each explored the defences, weapons and structure of Edinburgh Castle, learning all about how the Jacobitesimage1 image2 image3 image4 tried on many occasions to seize the castle from Government rule.  We then participated in workshops where we learned all about the daily life of a Redcoat soldier and a captured Jacobite leader.  We handled some objects which were used at the time and even had the chance to become the characters.  This was a jam packed, exhilarating way to spend our first day back of Term 4.  Have a look at our photos!

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What is happening in our Nursery?

Having our scones.
Having our scones.

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This week some of the morning group visited the local cafe in the village.  We wanted to find out what we could serve in our Willow Tea Room in the nursery. We all walked down wearing safety jackets. “On the way we spotted numbers on people’s doors, 15,16,17,18, 19,20″ said Imogen. Carlie said, ” We held hands to cross the road and used good listening ears and looked left and right to cross safely.” “In the cafe we all sat at the tables and looked at the menu,” I had a scone and apple juice,” said Rocco.  Amelia-Jo said, “We paid money.” We had a super time, learning lots on the journey and experiencing a visit to a cafe.

Lights, Camera, Action

Today we turned the upper area into a movie theatre, where only the best actors, directors and cameramen were invited. The children have been working hard to create their own blockbuster movies featuring either, Dizzy, Fluffy or Spike. Each group focused on the three C’s and S’s…….colour, character, camera and sound, story and setting and today was the day where they showcased their talents.  Showing in our cinema was, London Crisis, Spike Bond and Fluffy Dimension, to name but a few, however there could only be 3 winners. Each child voted for the movie they felt demonstrated the skills that we had been learning in class, portrayed a good storyline and also made us laugh.  And the winners were…….

Best movie:

P7:      Caitlin, Laura, Ellis and Charlie J

P7/6: Cameron, Chiaro and Ellis

P6:     Noah, Luca, Callum, Charlie, Grace, Logan F and Logan S

Best Actor :

P7:    Trystan

P7/6:  Jacob

P6:  Harry

Best Actress:

P7:     Neve

P7/6:  Natalia

P6: Keira

Special Effects:

P7:   Jamie K, Neve, Michael, Ben

P7/6: Rosie, Lauren, Jacob, Natalia, Kacper

P6:   Reno, Ayla, Holly, Charlie, Louis, Zach

Well done to everyone on completing their film. It was evident, from the movies, that the children has used a lot of what they had learned throughout their topic and that they thoroughly enjoyed making their own movies. I am sure that we have some budding actors and actresses in our midst.131143142141138139140136135134016130132133

 

 

 

Internet Safety in P1a

Last week as part of Internet Safety Week, P1a spent some time talking about the computers, laptops, tablets etc that we use at school and at home. We discussed how we  use them for different purposes such as research or playing games, and how we sometimes use the Internet to do these things. We also talked about the importance of looking after our devices, and taking care when we handle them. The next day we began exploring different types of Personal Information and we discussed whether or not we would share this with others, especially with people we don’t know. Then, we related this to keeping ourselves safe online by watching and discussing a short cartoon called ‘Hector’s World’.