Gravity and Mass

Today the children have been investigating the link between gravity and mass.  They worked well to measure a variety of items using scales and force meters.

Finding Friction?

On Tuesday morning, children in Years 3 and 4 continued their investigations into friction.  They had a competition to see how many sugar cubes they could move from one tray to another, using chopsticks!  Afterwards, they repeated the same experiment using ice cubes and were able to discuss whether they thought this would be easier or harder, using their scientific understanding to help with their explanations.

They went on to consider what we do to help stay safe when walking and driving around in winter months, when there is ice on the floor and thought about whether or not adding salt to ice cubes would make them have more friction.  They were very interested to find that the ice cubes became even more slippery, meaning less friction - because the salt was melting the ice more quickly!

Feel the Force!

In their new topic 'Feel the Force', children have been finding out all about friction and how it can be useful, for example in playing a game of marbles.  The children were tasked with designing and carrying out their own experiment to find out which surface around school would be best for playing a game of marbles. 

There was lots of discussion about what was meant by 'the best surface' but most children agreed that a surface where the marble would roll approximately 1m would be best.

They tested a variety of surfaces around school and measured them carefully.  This may come in handy later in our topic, when they design and make their own marble runs!

Egyptian flat bread - delicious!

Years 3 and 4 have had a wonderful time in the Food and Nutrition to complete their Exit point for

'Temples, Tombs and Treasures'.  They carefully followed teacher direction and a set recipe to make their flatbread - half of the children made a traditional Egyptian recipe and the other half made a more modern north African recipe containing coriander seeds, cumin seeds and chick peas.

They worked together using lots of skills, including measuring ingredients, to complete the task and baked their delicious bread!