Science

British Science Week began by exploring the role of Natural Disasters on the lives of dinosaurs. Linking history, geography and science together, the children designed dinosaurs they felt could withstand the impact of a natural disaster.

The twist? The children didn’t know which disaster would strike!

After much consideration for their dinosaur’s anatomy, the children took their models and placed them strategically, adding various defensive structures we have explored.

There were one or two worried faces when the disaster was named as a tsunami and yet those who designed water-dwelling dinosaurs let out a brief sigh of relief.

Their enthusiasm as the water cascaded was wonderful and the celebrations even more so. Great job, Maple children!

Maple ventured up Lingmoor Fell to identify different species of plants and evidence of animals. We were keen to embody the motto of "leave nothing behind" and so observed what they could see in nature. We documented this by taking photos and rubs of the specimens. From grand oaks to white bracket fungi, lots was to be seen! Although we didn't observe any mammals (beyond the abundance of sheep!), we were able to find lots of evidence of deer and horses from droppings and hoof impressions.

For a charity event, children in Oak explored reactions and measurements through baking. They discovered that different ingredients mixed together much easier than others. From this, discussions around experimenting with different quantities began.

The Circulatory System.

Year 5 and 6 explored the circulatory system by dissecting pig hearts and identifying key features. They concluded that, although more exciting, it was much more challenging to identify features in an actual heart compared to a diagram. Using this learning, we began to discuss how different lifestyles can impact on the health of our bodies.