Tag Archives: Science

Nature’s Calendar

Next term we are diving into our conservation topic. We have been exploring and observing the signs of spring in our woodlands and surrounding areas so we will be participating in the Woodland Trust Nature’s Survey to record things we see around us. Phenology is the study of the times of recurring natural events like the flowering of snowdrops, leaves appearing on trees and hearing certain birds. Through adding data to Nature’s Survey we will help scientists gather data on how climate change is affecting nature.

Although our woodlands are small we can help make a difference!

If you would like to get involved at home here is the link and you can see the Phenology guide PDF here!

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Meet Chris Marf Shields

This week we had another visitor in our school! We found a frog or toad near our door! Meet ‘Chris’!

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We had a ‘who am I?’ internet research challenge to find out what species we had visiting us and some interesting facts about her/him.

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We found out he was a… common tree frog! We named him Chris. Here are some of the facts we found.

Facts about Chris the common tree frog:
Full name: Chris Marf Shields
‘Ranidae’
Britain’s most common frog, also found in Europe. They are often found in garden ponds
Males grow to 9cm and females 13cm
Average weight: 22.7g
They eat algae, insects, snails, slugs and worms
They vary in colour from grey, brown, yellow and olive green. Limbs and backs have dark blotches
They breed at age of 2-3 years old
They are found in February to October
Common frogs hibernate through the winter, either at the bottom of ponds (breathing through their skin) or on land under refuges such as compost heaps

Chris did not like the noise in the playground so we carefully captured him and released him back into the wild!

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Low Port Residential – Cycling and Loch Exploration

We cycled around the loch to look at some animals and plants living in the area. Some of us cycled, stopping along the way to look closer at what we found and others walked.

We used fungus and bird identification guides to find out about the different species we could see.  We learned how the loch was formed by a huge glacier and some stories about the loch from the past. We looked at different types of lichen and discussed what it meant to find certain types of lichen around the loch because some like pollution and some don’t. We observed loads of different birds… We even saw a heron!

P5M found a terrapin that had been left there and discussed why it would be bad for the terrapin and the loch for him to stay. The SSPCA came to rescue him! P5M also found a pike jaw!

Some of us took a closer look at the loch by going pond dipping and looking closer with magnifying glasses.

‘Cycling was fun because I gained confidence on my bike.’ – Tom

‘I was scared that I would fall in the loch.’ – Kaya

‘We looked at fungus.’- Ellie

‘I loved when we learned new things around the loch.’ – Owen

‘I got mud on me and my bike.’

‘We found a turtle on our cycle.’

‘I got mud in my ear.’ – Emily

‘I enjoyed the view of Linlothgow Palace and we found pike fish jaws. I learned that car’s petrol is pollution and makes fungus grow.’ – Joseph

‘I saw pollution lichen.’ – Olivia

‘I learned that cycling can be fast and I liked changing to different gears.’ – Amina

‘I fell off my bike two times.’ – Nicola

‘We stopped every so often to learn.’ – Elle

‘Rebecca and Nia found a terrapin.’ – Rebecca

‘I had a great walk with Mrs Dwane.’ – Chloe

‘I learned that the Ice Age was in Linlithgow.’ – Katie

‘We saw some geese, swans, ducks and many other creatures that like to live in the loch! We found a pike fish jaw in the woods.’ – Lucy H

‘It was quiet and peaceful.’

‘I got mud in my mouth.’ – Amy

‘Going fast was not a good idea because there was sharp turns!’

‘I loved the cycling because our friends were there and keeping us cheerful. The loch was beautiful, the view was amazing and the animals and birds were beautiful.’ – Molly

We had a great time!

Low Port Residential – Forest Day

Primary 5 went wild for a whole day while we were at Low Port. We were walking, exploring, climbing, building shelters, singing, hiding, lighting fires, listening, cooking marshmallows and hot chocolate, playing and learning in the woods.

Some of us got to stamp around in a big frozen puddle! We made an ice sculpture with the pieces. We decided to make John Muir! We saw a HUGE flock of geese fly by!

We stopped by a stream to listen and be still for a while.

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On our walk we looked at different things living in the forest like different trees, witches broom and bracket fungi, different trees and animal poo! Some of us even drank rain water from moss. We learned it was clean because of the iodine in it which could also be used to treat cuts!

We found the cave William Wallace hid in from the English and explored around it.

We built shelters and played in them.

We really learned why fire building is important when we were almost too cold to hold onto our sandwiches at lunch time! We learned how to collect kindling and fuel, light and stay safe around our fire. Once we made our fire we felt so much better! We sang around the fire, toasted marshmallows and made hot chocolate!

Nicholas and Lleyton found a beautiful violet beetle in a rotten log.

Billie collected a huge amount of birch bark for the fire and Chloe was a candy witch with a big broom and bendy wand!

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Katie and Amina filled their boots by accident in the river!

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We had an amazing day. Here is what we thought!

‘I learned how to light a fire. I liked when we played hide and seek.’ – Owen

‘We left the woods to go to the William Wallace cave.’

‘I liked the forest because we sang songs and toasted marshmallows.’- Tom

‘I got to the top of the tree. We made sushi from leaves and bark in our den.’ – Nicola

‘I paddled my feet in the river. I loved collecting all the wood for our den and fire. I made a big log sofa.’- Niamh

‘My group won hide and seek.’ – Richelle

‘We had hot chocolate by the fire.’

‘I loved being round my friends because my friends are awesome.’ – Molly

‘We made big dens. I played hide and seek. It was exciting.’ – Faheema

‘In the forest we made a fire at our base.’ – Ethan

‘I climbed a tree to sit in it. I needed a bit of help but I managed.’ – Olivia

‘I liked it because we had girl chat in our den.’ – Amy

‘I made a seesaw and a swing.’ – Nia

‘Me, Elle and Amy made a good den with lots of leaves and green stuff.’ – Amina

‘I learned that use use fuel (sticks) to light a fire.’ – Katie

‘I enjoyed building a den called ‘Dan Woody’ made by me, Logan and Charlie.’ – Joseph

‘We made a den all together.’

‘My groups den had a mascot called ‘Cookie Dough’.’

‘Charlie found a hole in a tree.’ – Kaya

‘In the forest we toasted marshmallows and made hot chocolate by the fire.’ – Elle

‘I was the first on in or group to get a mini fire!’ – Ellie

‘It was kind that Mrs Dwane came with us to camp. If she didn’t we wouldn’t have gone on the awesome forest day!’ – Billie

‘In the forest we played hide and seek like William Wallace did to hide from the English!’- Joshua

‘We had to pick up different sized sticks and snap them. If they snapped loudly they were dry and good for the fire!’ – Emily

‘We learned that if sticks are wet you can’t snap them but if they are dry you can snap them. The wet sticks can’t be burned by the fire.’

‘ I was the one who saw William Wallace’s cave.’ – Daniel

‘I loved the hot chocolate and marshmallows.’ – Ryan

Low Port Residential – Water Challenge!

P5 took part in a water challenge while we were at Low Port. Because our new topic is Conservation we have been talking about precious resources like water. We learned about how difficult it is to get water in other countries and we were really sad to learn that many children in  other places to not have access to clean water like we do. We learned that many children need to walk for miles and miles to collect water and this can mean that they do not get to go to school for as long, or at all!

We were given different materials and containers to try to solve the problem of transferring water without wasting it! We thought it was very, very challenging. Most of the people got wet but it was great!

Here is what we thought:

‘Everybody was really wet.I didn’t like taking the water from one bucket to the other because it was very tiring.’ – Nicola

‘We had to cooperate to make it work, also we had to make plans. It tested our strengths. I liked the pipe challenge because we got wet and I like getting wet.’- Arsh

‘It was really cold and fun.’ – Owen

‘I thought it was challenging lifting the water.’ – Kieran

‘I liked it because we had fun’ – Richelle

‘We were freezing. I liked it because we got to have fun and be with our friends.’ – Amy

‘We had to get lots of water up the hill. We used pipes to get the water from the top of the hill to the bottom.’ – Elle

‘I loved being blindfolded and seeing how other people live. I liked trying to get the water to different places and I found getting the water down the pipe very difficult.’ – Joseph

‘It was cold and freezing but I still liked the water challenge.’ – Amina

‘My hands were numb, very numb’ – Olivia

‘I was soaked.’ – Tom

‘It was fun but SOOOOOOOO COLD! When we were doing the pipes we worked as a really good team to get water into the bucket.’ – Billie

‘It was very hard because we had broken equipment and one of the buckets we had to put the water in had holes in it. It tested our knowledge. Water is VERY precious.’ – Nia

‘We had to take 20L to the top.’ – Joshua

‘I learned that my group can work as a team’ – Katie

‘It was sooooooo cold.’ -Chloe

At the end we thought about the water that was wasted and considered ways to conserve this precious resource. Some of us did not like the challenge because of all the water that was wasted by our team but some teams did not waste much at all!

We will definitely remember how lucky we are to get lots of water in Scotland and try to conserve as much water as possible. Miss Solomon does not think the tap in the classroom will be left running  ever again!

Low Port Residential – Night Walking

P5 went for a marvelous night walk at Low Port around the whole loch! The moon was luminous and bright. We went on our night walk to see nature in the dark, study the stars and light pollution. We lay on our backs beside the loch and looked quietly at the stars above us. Some of us saw the space station, a satellite and shooting stars. We even got to wave at Pete on the space station! We noticed different stars and combinations of stars. We saw bright, shiny planets, the big dipper, little dipper, Orion’s belt, his sword and the great bear. We learned the North star could help us find our way back home!

On our walk we noticed it was much quieter and we could hear noises from the swans, dogs, ducks, cars in the distance and little pigeons. Charlie heard a siren. P5S were lucky enough to see a super moon! Some of us felt sad and scared but most of us felt relaxed, calm, safe, peaceful, free and happy!

When we lay down close to town we couldn’t see as many stars because of all the light pollution. We felt shocked, annoyed, uncomfortable and exposed.

John Muir used to go on long walks in the daytime and nighttime when he camped in the wild. We think he would have heard more animals and less people noise.

The night walk was unforgettable because we had never done something like that before and it was insane.

By P5

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