Category Archives: Science

Planting Strawberries

Science

Kestrels have looked at asexual reproduction. They looked at reproducing more strawberry plants by taking cuttings, dipping the ends into rooting gel and then planting them.

Once they are watered and looked after we should see them grow and thrive.

Let’s see how they grow….

Changes in Materials

Science

Our new topic in year 5 is ‘Changes in Materials’. The children were given a mixture of materials and asked to separate them using sieving and filtering. The group worked extremely well together and discussed lots of scientific approaches to separating the mixture (and some not so scientific!).

Eventually all the groups were able, through excellent questioning skills, to separate their mixture of sand, sugar, counters and paper clips. It was a lot of fun and it gave them an excellent understanding of sieving and filtering. Take a look at the pictures!

Experimenting with Materials

Science
Today Year 5 have been thinking about investigating properties of materials again.
The class needed to think about ensuring a fair test while investigating the properties kitchen towels (three types).
They decided to look for absorbency (how absorbent the towel is, which is how much water it soaks up).
It was not easy making sure they accounted for all the variables and ensuring the experiment was fair.
How can you put all three strips of kitchen towel into water at the SAME time?
They eventually realised that the kitchen towel could be put onto one cane, so that they can be placed into the water at exactly the same time.
Also, that there had to be a timer to ensure the amount of time was the same.
Well done Year 5.
We are doing the experiment this week, so let’s see how it goes.

Properties of Materials

Science
Year 5 investigated different materials by carrying out a number of tests on them to see if they would be suitable in different situations.
Have a look at what they did:
They checked if each material stood up to these tests:
Hardness
Transparency
Thermal conductor
Electrical conductor
Magnetic
Soluble in water
They realised that because they had certain properties that made them better for certain jobs. For example: wood being used for a hook is not always suitable because metal can be moulded easier and can be made into smaller, intricate shapes.

Air Resistance Experiment

Science
Today Year 5 tested their parachutes. They had previously designed and made their parachutes with a view to testing their hypotheses out.
They were varying sizes and shapes but they all held a toy soldier at the bottom.
The class then dropped their parachute from the same height and timed how long it took to reach the floor. After doing three drops they worked out the average of the three. Do you know how to work out the average of three times?
They added the three times up and then divided the answer by 3 (because there were three times). This gave them an average drop time.
They found that parachute Number 5 had the slowest drop time, over 2 seconds. This meant that it had caught more air coming down, this slowed its fall down, because there was more air resistance.
Having watched each other dropping the parachutes it gave the class an idea of how best to keep tests fair. Being precise on the height, the angle, how you hold the parachute to drop it and accuracy in calling to drop and stop recording were all important.
Well done Year 5, you worked hard on the experiment.

 

Investigating Gravity

Science
Year 5 began their exploration of gravity and air resistance this week.
They were all given a plastic bag, wool, Sellotape and a small plastic figure.
They worked out what type of parachute they wanted to make and then constructed it.
Have a look at how they did with their designs. Do you think they will be effective? Why?
There were a number of different designs and ways of attaching their plastic figure.
They will test them to find out how effective they were and if they needed modifications.
The children all predicted which of the class’s designs they thought would fall the slowest, which would mean the parachute created more air resistance.

Earth and Space

Class Work, Science, Uncategorized
Year 5 have begun their science topic of Earth And Space. The children had lots of facts to share with each other and over the topic we will be able to clarify some of these ideas.
The children have some rocket words which are key topic words – these will be reviewed each lesson.
Our rocket words for this topic are:
Heliocentric
Geocentric
Nicolous Copernicus
Ptolemy
Orbit
Ask Kestrels if they can explain them to you. We are trying to remember them and their definitions.
We also looked at the planets in the Solar System. We have learnt a mnemonic to help remember the order of the planets. It is:
My Very Energetic Mother Just Served Us Noodles
Have a look at Jessica’s super neat work.

Investigating Materials

Science

Year 5 have continued with their science investigations into materials and their properties. This week, they have been testing materials such as salt, sugar and gravy to establish whether a material is soluble or not. They then had to carry out a series of investigations to establish whether a different temperature of water would affect their results. Tomorrow they will analyse their results and draw a bar chart to represent their findings.

Electricity

Science, Uncategorized

Continuing with the topic of Materials and their properties, year 5 have planned and carried out an investigation into which materials would be suitable for use in football floodlights. They set up their circuits and chose various materials to test. They studied the brightness of the bulb to see which material was the best at conducting electricity. They then discussed their findings and offered their recommendations. Super team work year

Investigating materials

Class Work, Science

Year 5 have been busy learning about materials and their properties. Last  week, they were testing materials to see which was the best lining for a lunch box.

In groups, the children worked together to carry out a fair test of materials such as: sponge, cotton wool and bubble wrap. They tested each item for magnetism, transparency and permeability as well as flexibility and hardness. Ice cubes were placed into glass jars and each jar was wrapped in 1 particular material. They then timed each ice cube to see which material offered the best insulation. This week the children recorded their results and decided which insulator they would choose to use for their football floodlights.