In geography this week, Year 5 have been learning all about water. Did you know only 3% of water on Earth is fresh water? We began the week by quizzing the children on their new knowledge (they aced it!) and then we moved onto learning about the Water Cycle. We got creative with our work and the children were given one of 6 stages in the water cycle to act out for the class. We then watched each group and guessed which part of the cycle each group acted out. They did a great job and really thought out of the box to show solids, liquids and gases!

Year 5 have thrown themselves into learning all about forces this week. We began our week with several investigations: finding the centre of gravity on a hockey stick, investigating if we could overcome the friction created by interweaving two books, learning about air resistance by immersing a cup into a jug full of water and seeing if the paper towel inside it stayed dry, observing what happened when you add soda water to raisins and seeing if you really can hold a bottle of rice just by a pencil inserted into the top! We then moved onto carrying out investigations all about gravity, we concluded the centuries old debate between Galileo and Aristotle and found out that heavier items do not in fact fall at a different speed to lighter items – well done Galileo! 

This week Year 5 have been continuing with their topic about plastic pollution as part of Geography week. They have been busy writing a persuasive pitch to try to convince Ms Young that we should be a ‘single use plastic’ free school. There are some very strong arguments, so we feel she will be convinced!  

During the afternoons, we have been delving deeper into the topic. We carried out experiments with elastic bands to see how difficult it is for wildlife to remove plastic from the beaks and necks if they get caught up in plastic that has made its way into the environment. The children then made use of the facts they had researched in literacy as well as their findings from the experiment to produce posters to encourage people to not use single use plastic and be more careful when disposing of it.  In addition to this, Year 5 have learnt about the recycling process and produced flow diagrams to explain what happens. They have learnt that although recycling is great it is not the best option and refusing to accept and use the ‘big 4’ (plastic drinking straws, plastic cups, take away hot drinks cups and lids and single use plastic bottles) has a bigger impact on helping the environment and making our world a better place for the future. 

On Wednesday afternoon, Year 5 explored the camp on the field. They spent time chilling in the tents and then toasted marshmallows over the fire and drank hot chocolate. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed the experience. 

Miral and Moaz have been fasting during the month of Ramadan. They produced a presentation, which they shared with Juniper class, to explain why they have done this and how they celebrate the end of Ramadan with Eid. In addition, they brought in some items to help our understanding further. These included lanterns, wooden toothbrushes (they use these to do their teeth as using toothpaste would break their fasting) and their Qur'an. They explained how this is not read as we read books and showed the class the letters which are very different to the English alphabet. Miral even read a section of the book and wowed us with her fluency in a different language. Juniper loved finding out more about their religion and the celebrations they have. We are very proud of the commitment they have shown to their beliefs.

Year 5 have continued to be immersed in their learning about the Victorian era and have started reading the book – Street Child by Berlie Doherty. Both classes loved taking part in an experience day where they had to act out the first chapter of the story. They explored the different ideas and feelings in the scene and thought about how they could use expression in their voices and face. Acting out the scene really helped the children to understand the scene and get a better grasp of how the characters were feeling at this point in the story. We can’t wait to find out what happens to the main character Jim and his family next.  In groups, we acted out the first chapter called ‘Shilling Pie. We focused on the main events:

- Jim arriving to the shop   

- Shopkeeper attitude towards Jim           

- Buying the pie       

-The reactions of the family     

We shared our performances to the class and analysed with two stars, one wish.   

Today we also took part in a paper engineering challenge. It required us to have a lot of patience and perseverance - but we did it and we produced some great insects! We also learned a lot about different ways to join paper together.

The Challenge from STEM:

• To ‘Create’ an Insect using 4 sheets of plain or coloured A4 paper only (from your recycling bin/crate)
• Only use scissors and engineering skills to create the insects.
• No glue, sticky tape, staples or paper clips to be used
• Take no longer than one hour, including practising techniques

At Roebuck, we are scientists and engineers!