IT'S ELECTRIFYING! Year Four have worked very hard recently in designing, building and evaluating their electrical torches. We started by thinking about what sort of design casing would benefit our user. Then, we planned and designed the materials that would be needed. Finally, we built our electrical circuit and attached it to the casing to create a torch that switches on and off. At Roebuck, we are electricians!
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Year 4 put their investigative hats on this week as we started our new Geography topic "The River Nile". To guess our new topic, we began with a puzzle that tested our continent knowledge. We explored the 11 countries that The River Nile flowed through as well as finding interesting facts about the purpose of the river and the affects it has on the surrounding land. .
Year Four have been undertaking scientific enquiries this week for their Science topic of Sound. We began by investigating how well materials can allow sound vibrations to travel through them and ranked these in order from least to most effective. After this, we then tested the idea that sound can travel through other mediums than the air and made our very own cup string phones. Once we had built the phones, we tested them and found that different string lengths allow for different volumes. How exciting that our sound vibrations can travel through string!
Year four have been reading a new book called Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp by Philip Pullman. We have been using this for our chunking but this week have also taken part in some drama activities.
We got into role as ‘Aladdin’ after he was betrayed by his ‘so-called Uncle’ and was left abandoned and vulnerable inside the cave. Being alone in the dark, the children imagined and brainstormed what might be lurking in the depths of the cave.
We went under our tables to try to get into character and feel what it would be like to be in a small space. We became Aladdin in the centre of the lonely cave and thought tracked the central character by focusing on the elements form our FANTASTICS – Feeling, Asking, Noticing, Touching, Action, Smelling, Tasting, Imagining or Checking.
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In Year 4 this week, we have started our ‘making a slingshot car’ unit of work.
We began by looking at the history of cars and how cars have developed and changed through time. Once we explored different car models and discussed why each car was designed in that way, we were ready to begin our own construction.
We used lollipop sticks, dowel rods, straws and wheels to construct the bodywork and working axels. We held our structure together using PVA glue. Next we used lolly sticks, a paperclip, masking tape and an elastic band to create a slingshot launch mechanism. In order to make sure our launch mechanism was secure, we used the glue gun to fix this to the chassis, this meant that the paper clip launcher would be firmly fixed to the car.
Next we needed to create all the panels for our car and apply our chosen graphics to them. We began by drawing around the bottom of our chassis to ensure the side panels would be the correct length. Then, we drew our chosen car shape using this base. Once one side panel was complete, it was important to add tabs to the design before it was cut out to enable it to be assembled. The second panel was made by tracing around the shape of the first.
Rowan class have also made the top panel for their cars and started to assembly them (Cedar class will start this stage next week). The top panel was made using the width of the chassis and the length needed to follow the shape of the car panels before graphics could be added.
Once they are all constructed, we will be testing our cars out and seeing whose car travels the furthest and fastest!
This week we had a fantastic start to our new Science topic – Living things and their habitats. Safari Stu brought in a wide range of both vertebrates and invertebrates. We had the opportunity to see and hold lots of animals which belong in different groups based on specific features. We discussed how all animals can be grouped into either vertebrates or invertebrates depending on whether they have a backbone and were even shown and held a hissing cockroach which has an exoskeleton.
In addition, Stu told us how the different creatures have adapted to live in their habitat. For example, the chuckwalla has a sand-coloured tail but a darker body. It hides under the sand but keeps its tail on top of the surface. This means that if an eagle tries to capture it, it can use the strong muscles in its tail to swipe at the eagle and hopefully escape the predator.
We were very impressed with how brave Year 4 were. Both the children (and adults!) held a wide variety of creatures including snakes, a chameleon, a tarantula, a lesser tenrec, and common tenrec. The session was very informative and has given us a great start to our unit which we are looking forward to delving into.
Year 4 have been completing a DT unit called ‘All About Structures’. We began by looking at a range of pavilions and discussed their purpose, including exploring the Milan expo! We then used toothpicks and sweets to explore temporary frame structure. We were tasked with making a frame structure which was both strong and stable. Through our exploration we learnt that triangles were very strong shapes and helped to make a stable structure. We also learnt that the taller the structure the more unstable it can become! Having learnt these valuable lessons, we moved onto designing our own pavilions for a class expo.
Once we had our designs, we got started with the building process. We worked hard to build the frame using lolly pop sticks and glue guns. We also had to make decisions about the base board and where our pavilion would sit on it. Some of us needed to adjust our designs to make it work. Once the structure was complete, it was time to decorate them and make them visually appealing. Some of us had time to add cladding to our pavilions using various paper techniques, including weaving coloured paper, piercing paper to create patterns and concertina folding. We are proud of our finished products!
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Year 4 have been delving into history this week and learning about the Ancient Greeks. We started off the topic by finding out about where the Ancient Greeks lived and used the Chrome books to complete our own research. Our learning moved on and we found out about the gods that the Ancient Greeks believed in. Using this information, we made top trump cards and we are looking forward to playing the game later in the week. Next, we found out everyday life. It was interesting to compare their toys, pets, food, homes, clothing and games with our lives today. We found some similarities and lots of differences. Some interesting facts were that children went to bed with snakes, and they ate locusts and black soup which had pig's blood in it! We also enjoyed finding out about the life of a Spartan solider which was very tough. We can’t wait for our Greek day to find out even more about this interesting time.
What a hooting good day! Year Four had the chance to get up close and personal with a wide variety of birds. The children enjoyed their morning and saw different types of owls, a kingfisher and even a blue winged kookaburra. Their visit involved an exciting talk about anatomy of birds, diet, adaptation and how the birds have evolved over time. To make their visit even more special, the children were visited by a furry four-legged friend at the end.
Year Four have immersed themselves into their new literacy unit 'Float' this week. We began the week by experiencing our characters emotions first-hand by taking part in an origami paper boat building session. The children had a chance to reflect on their emotions and how they changed throughout the process, these emotions included: frustration, relief, pride and much more. Just like our superhero of the week, we tried again and learnt from our mistakes.
Year 4 have had a fantastic week this week. We kicked off with a camouflage day to immerse ourselves in all things Geography. Our focus for our afternoon work was the water cycle and we created weather plates to show the repeated, continuous cycle. If that wasn't already great fun, we had an afternoon camp out on the field where we cosied up with hot chocolates, marshmallows around the campfire and blissful reading time in tents.
Year 4 have started the week with our DT unit all about structures. We began by looking at a range of pavilions and discussed their purpose, including exploring the Milan expo! We then used tooth picks and sweets to explore temporary frame structure. We were tasked with making a frame structure which was both strong and stable. Through our exploration we learnt that triangles were very strong shapes and helped to make a stable structure. We also learnt that the taller the structure the more unstable it can become! Having learnt these valuable lessons we moved onto designing our own pavilions for a class expo all about our new topic peculiar plants.
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