5, 4, 3, 2, 1... We have blast off!

Year 6 had a fantastic time setting off their water rockets today in science - many thanks to those parental contirbutions of plastic bottles!

Although getting soaked, they had a thrilling time pumping the air into the bottle rockets and watching them whizz away.

Each set of children worked with a different volume of water in their bottle so as to establish which volume of water would project the rocket the furthest length.

We are still crunching the number, however, in these early stages we realised that the rockets with the lesser water travelled the furthest. This is because those with more water are heavier and so found it a struggle to take off. Also, these bottles have less space for air inside; the air being pumped into the bottle causes a build up of pressure, when there is no space left for air, the bottles are projected forward with the release of pressure in the bottle.

Athletics... The big throw.

Coconut and Palm have joined forces. In their PE lesson this week, they started practicing their arm strokes with the athletic throwing equipment.

There were javelins: 

The discus: 

And shot putt (did you know those balls are actually rather heavy!) modelled well by Mrs Johnston:

Well done Year 6, everyone else... Watch out for Sports Day! We are coming for you...

Weight, length and height.

Today some of Coconut maths set stepped outside the classroom to allow them time to get some hands on experience with weighing, measuring and volume.

The children estimated and guessed items that they might weight in ml, l, kg, mg, g, kg and mm, cm, m and km.

They then applied what they learnt to some SATs style questions.

Good work today!

Parachute Investigation in Palm

This afternoon, Palm class were investigating the independent variable of 'surface area'. The children made their predictions and then worked in pairs to create their parachutes. Testing the parachutes out on the activity trail on top of the slide climbing frame. The children launched their parachutes from the top of the slide and recorded the time it took for the parachute to hit the floor (in some instances smashing the eggs).

Palm class learnt that air resistance is a force caused by air particles colliding with any object that moves through it. Our results showed  that the larger the surface area of the parachute the longer it took to fall to the ground. This is because more air particles collide with the parachute when there is more surface area as opposed to a smaller surface area. Even though there is more gravity acting on the larger parachutes the smaller ones are more streamlined and also have less air resistance. These two factors therefore meant that the parachutes with a smaller surface area fell to the ground in a shorter time.

Balderdash and Fabulous Phrases

To develop their knowledge and use of rare words, Palm class played a Word Power game. The. Children had to write down what they thought was the definition of a word and use it in a sentence. They then checked their definitions using the answer cards and dictionaries. We can't wait to see the powerful words and phrases used in their writing.

Next we played a game of Balderdash. Balderdash is a game of bluffing and trivia. The children were given a rare word and its definitinion. Using a dictionary and their own knowledge, the children then had to write three bluff meanings of their chosen word. Each correct answer earned their team house points.

The Five Kingdoms

Do you know what the main characteristics of the five kingdoms are? In Palm, the children researched the main characteristics of living things in each kingdom. All living things are divided into the five kingdoms which are: Animals (Animalia), Plants (Plantae), Fungi (Fungus), Protoctista (Protista) and Monera (Bacteria)

Classification of Living Things

Carl Linnaeus had a classification system which was Kingdom, Class, Order, Genus and Species. However this classification system has been developed by scientists ( who are called taxonomists) and now uses seven levels of classification. These seven levels are: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species. The purpose for the levels of classification is so that each sub level helps to identify a living thing further.

Theatre of Law Project

Year 6 were excited to welcome Evie from the Theatre of Law project this morning. The Theatre of Law project has been designed for primary aged school children to understand how the justice system works, as well as increase understanding of jobs within the law and raise aspirations to pursue a career in the law.

Year 6 have been challenged to write a mock-trial script. From the development of the story to the final script, we will be exploring crime, taking interviews, investigating the different jobs within the law which will ensure we complete our script and set a court scene.

Afterwards, we will be visiting the Royal Courts of Justice where we will play out the trial in a real courtroom, taking the roles of the people in the trial. Working with a legal professional and having the opportunity to ask questions about the jobs within the law.

The children were astonished to learn that all of the above were crimes: criminal damage and vandalism, assault and joint enterprise.

We examined a teenager named Johnny, who had committed a robbery. We discussed the roles of the people involved in a court case.