Category Archives: STEM

Primary 7, Sciences, STEM 2017, Uncategorized

STEM P7/6

Leave a comment

This week we had our STEM open afternoon and P7/6 enjoyed showing friends and family a few of the experiments that we have been doing in class. All of our experiments have their own unique qualities but they were all chemical reactions. This week we made more slime, more elephant toothpaste (our water was the correct temperature), blobs in a bottle and a fizz inflator. When we made our we mixed together glue and washing detergent, we had to be careful though because if we mixed too much detergent with the glue, the mixture became too gloopy and lumpy and wasn’t the correct consistency for slime, we seem to have now perfected our slime and it really is now taking over P7/6!!!! Blobs in a bottle and the fizz inflator were new experiments, so were excited to find out what the results would be. Blobs in the bottle was a bit like a lamp lamp and The Fizz Inflator was a bit like a balloon pump. With our Blobs in a Bottle experiment we mixed together sunflower oil, and water but they did not mix together and the oil sat on top of the water, we then added some food colouring and this mixed with the water, once we had all the materials in the bottle we added an alka seltzer. The results were amazing…..the alka seltzer fizzed and pushed the water up into the sunflower oil and made blobs, it was really amazing. The Fizz Inflator consisted of bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, a balloon and a bottle. We had to put the vinegar in the bottle and then carefully put some bicarbonate of soda into the balloon. Once we had all the materials in place we had to very carefully try and put the balloon on top of the bottle, this allowed the bicarbonate of soda to fall into the vinegar, the two chemicals worked together to create an acid base reaction and the two chemicals work together to create carbon dioxide and this blew up the balloon, it really was exciting to watch. I think all of the family and friends were impressed by our experiments. Hopefully they might be able to try this at home!!!

I hope you all have a good weekend.

Miss Anderson and P7/6

Interdisciplinary Learning, Learning Stories, Maths & Numeracy, Primary 5, STEM 2017

Kidnapped! Mission 8: Tyre Track

Leave a comment

L.I. We are learning to use line symmetry to complete an image

S.C.- I understand the terms symmetry and symmetrical and can use a mirror to help me complete a symmetrical pattern

-I can use my completed symmetrical pattern to match to an identical pattern

Primary 5 received communication from Police HQ telling us about the discovery of a partial tyre track which was found close to the home of Alan Green. Unfortunately the track found was too incomplete to be able to match it to a vehicle so we were given the task of trying to complete the image.

We inspected the track and found that half the tread was missing so we were able to use our knowledge of line symmetry to complete the whole tyre track.

We used a mirror to give us an impression of what the complete pattern would look like and then used the squares on the grid to ensure our mirror image was absolutely accurate. It took us a long time and quite a few attempts to get our symmetrical patterns right , but we eventually managed to produce the completed image. This allowed us to match it against the tyre tracks on Police HQ’s database and narrow down the make of vehicle which had left it.

We were able to demonstrate our knowledge about line symmetry during our STEM open day when parents and carers came into school to find out about our topic.

Expressive Arts, Outside of School, Sciences

Crystal Grotto at Jupiter Artland P2/3

Leave a comment

P2/3 visited the artwork entitled The Light Pours Out of Me at Jupiter Artland. They were using their senses to describe the artwork and they talked about the artist and the other senses she uses in her art such as the taste of her chocolate room!

Back in class they solved a design challenge to create an amethyst grotto as a class display. They made artworks with salt crystals and shades of purple acrylic paint. They also used triangles to make a geometric design. They used paint but also an Art app called Art Set. This can be downloaded free.

We learnt new words for purple such as mauve, periwinkle and magenta.

We also saw a smooth shiny material called obsidian. Can you find out more about this glass-like rock? can you find out more about the artist who made the huge grotto. What is her name? What other sculptures has she made?

English & Literacy, Interdisciplinary Learning, Primary 5, STEM 2017

MISSING!

Leave a comment

L.I. We are learning to select key information from a description.

As part of our STEM topic, ‘KIDNAPPED’, Primary 5 have been helping the police in their search for the missing Green children who have been kidnapped from their home. This week we decided to create some Missing Persons posters to help with the investigation. We revised all the information we already had about the children and the circumstances of their disappearance.

In our investigation groups we discussed the information we had and selected the key points to include in our posters. We agreed that they had to:

  • be eyecatching, to hook people in
  • provide as much accurate information about the children as possible
  • give details of the date and time of the disappearance
  • give an accurate representation of how the children look
  • provide details of who to contact with information

Once we had planned our posters, we got to work in our teams and managed to produce some really eye-catching posters. We are hoping to get permission to display some around the school – look out for them!

Learning Letters, Primary 7, STEM 2017

Primary 6, 7/6 and 7 Cool Chemistry

Leave a comment

The Upper block are really looking forward to beginning our STEM topic for Term 3!

Have a look at our key questions which we will be aiming to answer during this five week topic.

  1. How do we ensure a fair and accurate test that has proved or disproved a hypothesis?
  2. What changes occur to different materials when introduced to another substance?
  3. What can affect the rate and how well substances dissolve?
  4. How are soluble and insoluble materials separated in water?
  5. Are there changes to substances which can be reversed?

Keep an eye out for photos and videos of our up and coming experiments on our blog page!

chemistry

Primary 2, Primary 3

Build-a-Bike Art Sculptures P2 and 3

Leave a comment

P2/3 have started their design product challenge as part of STEM term. We will be looking at the stages in the design process – from recognising a need, developing a design brief, creating a design and product and then evaluating it – phew!

To start us off we are looking at bicycle wheel through Art – looking at spokes, tyres and their circular shape. We made 3-D wheel tiles using rolling, cutting, imprinting and next time we will look at decorative techniques in claywork. Not quite the Great Pottery throwdown but nearly – catch it on BBC2.

We will be looking at bike accessories and trying to make some of these following the design process. Take a close look at bikes around you.

Primary 7, Sciences, STEM 2016, Technologies, Uncategorized

Busy start to our final term!

Leave a comment

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