Science Week 24

Science week arrived at Flash Ley 11th March. 

Each year we recognise the importance of Science as it is celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). 

Mrs How started off the week with a number of fascinating experiments from making elephant toothpaste (yes really!) to exploding bottles. 

In Nursery, we looked at forces which helped us with our traditional tale 'The Enormous Turnip.' We talked about forces we can feel and found lots of everyday items that we can push and pull. 

Science week for Reception involved lots of predicting and experimenting. We began with a science lab where we mixed textures, colours and smells to find out how matter can change. 

We also took part in a 'guess the smell' experiment writing down our predictions and the real answers. Our last experiment involved floating and sinking! 

Year 2 - Beat the flood 

Our challenge was to consider the global impact of flooding caused by climate change. We designed and built a model of a home on the fictitious island of Watu. We discovered how STEM can help solve global issues and achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We developed problem solving, team working and presentation skills. We gained practical experience which reinforced our learning on testing materials for tensile strengths and absorbency. 

Year 3 - Ditch the Dirt

Year 3 learned that not all people in the world are fortunate enough to have access to clean water - in fact 2.4 billion don't! They discovered that in many parts of the world, some people (especially women and girls) have to walk miles every day to collect water that is not even clean. 

The children played a game where they had to collect as much water as they could from one of the wells that we had made - the water was very dirty indeed and they only had a tiny cup to collect it in. Then, they used different materials to make filters to see whether they could make the water any cleaner. The children found that they could filter large objects easily, but it was impossible to make the water clear. They realised just how lucky we are to have access to as much clean water as we need.  

Year 5 - Squashed Tomatoes

In Year 5, we discussed how difficult it is for people, who live in mountainous places, such as Nepal to transport their produce from a mountain to the floor.  Children were very innovative and creative with their thinking and designing.

The challenge was to make a pulley system that would transport tomatoes safely at least one metre.  Children used lots of skills linking D+T, Geography and Maths to Science such as measuring, cutting, using a saw and glue gun correctly and assembling.  Children also learnt about the Sustainable Development Goals for the region of Nepal which were 'Decent Work and Economic Growth' and 'Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure'.  

Children thoroughly got on board with this and enjoyed the challenge

Year 6: Time

We looked at how long it would take to bring nature back to a barren place. We explored our own school site looking at barren places. We took pictures of them and researched what we could put there to bring nature back, but most importantly, how long it would take. We were surprised with some things we wanted at how quick it would be.