Spring 1
King Edwards Science Trip
This week we visited King Edwards Upper School where we took part in activities learning about chemical and physical changes. It was a great experience to be able to visit the secondary school, use their science labs and be taught by their specialist science teachers.
Science - does all life start as an egg..? Hmmm...
To begin our new science topic, we reviewed our knowledge from waaaay back in Year 3. Luckily, most of us could remember something about plant lifecycles and structures! We then extended our vocabulary and dissected a tulip flower, identifying, organising and naming the parts that we could see, including the stigma, style and ovary (the female parts of the flower), the pollen, anthers and filaments (the male parts of the flower), along with the petals and sepals. Here are some photographs of our botanists at work...
Monday 22nd January
Sheffield Manor Lodge Tudor Trip
We had a fabulous trip to Sheffield Manor Lodge this week where we learnt about the history of the site and life in Tudor England. The day was packed full of different activities which included:
- A visit to the Turret House: The Turret House is the oldest surviving part of Manor Lodge. We explored a banquet fit for royalty, discovered how the captive Mary Queen of Scots spent her time and learnt about the different clothes people wore during Tudor times.
- A tour of the ruins: We explored the site and found out how it would have looked during the Tudor period when it was owned by George Talbot and Bess of Hardwick .
- Tudor doctors: Children dressed up as an apothecary, plague doctor and barber surgeon and we learnt about their roles in Tudor society.
- Ailments and cures activity: We discovered weird and wonderful Tudor medicines that were prescribed for different illnesses.
- Making a pomander: We learnt about how the Tudors protected themselves from illness and made our own herb bag.
Wednesday 17th January 2024
Forest School
This week, we have braved the freezing temperatures and headed up to the Forest School for some of our learning. This afternoon, as part of our science learning on materials, we attempted to construct a filter to clean some contaminated water. The filters were constructed in funnels and used pebbles, soil, twigs, grass and moss together as filter agents. The results were 'mixed' - most groups managed to filter out the larger contaminants, but a lot of smaller particles made it through! We discussed ways of making the water safe to drink, despite still being discoloured, including boiling to kill bacteria and parasites in the eater.
Sketching the View
We made the most of the amazing views we have of the city this week in our outdoor art lesson. Using inspiration from Lowry's paintings, we sketched the landscape and views from different locations around school.
L.S. Lowry
In art this term we are learning about the artist L.S. Lowry. We've started by completing a fact file about his life and work.
Forest School Freeze Frames
We had lots of fun in Forest School completing freeze frames which explored the story we are currently using in English. Later in the week we will be rewriting the Just So story, 'How the Elephant Got His Trunk'. The freeze frames explored key moments in the story during the interaction between the elephant and the crocodile.
