Science Week 2015

Last week the children had a great time learning about space, carrying out investigations and solving problems.

 

Crash Landing

The week began with the children arriving in school to see a strange smoking structure on the playing field, the area was cordoned off and ‘scientists’ were examining the area.

 

Once the children were in school and registered, an emergency assembly was called and the children were shown a clip of news footage and video of the crash landing. The children had lots of ideas about what it could be, ranging from asteroids to spaceships and even dragons. It was explained that because of the strange occurrence it had been decided that the week would be declared a Science Week.

 

Each class took part in their own investigations.

 

Ducklings

The Ducklings were planning on sending a cuddly bear in to space but knew he was afraid of the dark. They decided the best thig to do to make him feel happy was to build a light for him to take in to space. Using crocodile clips, batteries and bulbs the Ducklings created a circuit that made a bulb light up. Some even added switches to help turn the light on and off.

 

Robins

The Robins spent the week looking at rockets. They spent time learning about the different forces involved in pushing rockets up in the air. They designed and fired bottle rockets using air and water to propel them. They also used t-bags to create propulsion in another way. 

 

Eagles

Eagles looked at one of the most dangerous parts of space travel, re-entry. The children learnt that space crafts can get very hot when travelling back through the atmosphere. Eagles’ task was to decide which materials would be the best to protect a ‘Chocolate Santa’ from the heat of a hair drier for 5 minutes. After conducting a whole class experiment and analysing the results the children designed their own protective coatings and tested them. There were a variety of results and lots of melted chocolate.

 

Owls

 Owls’ class looked at an animation clip about a space delivery astronaut, Johnny Express.  They discovered that Johnny had a shipment of rocket fuel and needed to keep it cool. The Owls designed their own experiment to discover what material would keep the liquid the coolest. They created tables and recorded temperatures at regular intervals over a period of time. Following their investigations the children joined together in an assembly to share what they had learnt with the rest of the school.

 

Astrodome

On Friday an inflatable Astrodome was set up in the hall. Each class entered the dome and experienced an amazing and informative show. The children learnt about the moon, sun, gravity and constellations, amongst many other topics.

 

It was great to see the children engaged and enthusiastic about learning. They clearly enjoyed the week and learnt lots about a variety of topics, including key scientific methods and skills.