Melting chocolate

This week we have been investigating the melting rates of chocolate. The children were given three pieces of chocolate; milk, white and dark. They made predictions on how long it would take for each piece to melt and then investigated this using hot water and timers. 

Nearynógs Chocolate Makers

Primary 5 enjoyed a trip to Nearynógs Chocolate Makers as part of their World Around Us topic; The Journey of Chocolate. It was an interesting and informative trip, where they learnt about how cacao pods make their way through a range of steps to eventually became the tasty chocolate treats we love. The children loved seeing the range of machines used to make chocolate and tasting some yummy treats. 

Ancient Egypt Power Projects

 Primary 5 have been working on making Power Projects as part of our Ancient Egypt topic. They made a range of projects, such as pyramids, Egyptian jewellery, fact files, timelines, etc. We are so impressed by all the effort they put in!

Science week: Mummifying an apple!

This week we celebrated Science week with an interesting experiment. We wanted to find out how the Egyptians were able to preserve dead bodies for the afterlife. At the start of the week we cut an applie, placing one slice in a cup and lathering different solutions of baking soda and salt on another. We left the apple slices for a few days, before checking them at the end of the week for the results. It was interesting to see how one slice had stayed more in tact than the other. This helped us to understand the mummification process.

Coding a fairy tale

This term Primary 5 have been working on the World Around Us topic ‘Fairytales’. Today they finished the topic with an interesting activity. They worked on Scratch Jr to code a fairy tale story. This involved creating a setting and different characters, and using the technology to code what we would like them to do, such as move around or speak. The final pieces were brilliant!

Exploring fairy tale settings with a range of textures

We have been exploring different fairy tale settings this week, thinking about how the settings help to convey a different mood in each story. The children thought of different settings, such as castles, forests, cottages, etc. and discussed the importance of these in the stories. Then they began to create their artwork, exploring use of a range of different textures to bring their pieces to life. The final pieces were brilliant and we are looking forward to seeing them on display!

Christmas Crafts

The pupils have combined their learning and sharing of the Christmas Story with their creative, artistic skills to create various Christmas cards and decorations to share at home.

Minecraft Landmarks

The pupils used select appropriate materials to create a famous landmark of their choice using their computing and digital art skills to recreate different architectural styles.

Landmark Building

We have used natural materials around the school to create our own Landmarks from around the world. The children used their STEAM knowledge and considered how best to create the structure, how to make it stable and which materials would be most suitable.

Natural and Manmade Landmarks

We explored different landmarks around the world and considered the different materials they were made from. We then used a Venn diagram to sort these landmarks into the categories of manmade and natural. We found that there were no landmarks that fitted into both sections.

Famous Landmarks

P5A have exploring some of the famous landmarks around the world. The pupils matched up pictures, names and key facts about some of the key landmarks.

Locating Countries in Europe

We have started our new topic all about famous Landmarks in Europe. The pupils used their atlas skills to correctly label the countries in Europe. Some pupils had a further challenge of finding the capital cities of these countries.

Science Investigation- How do Plants Grow

Linking with our work on rainforest plants, the pupils have been conducting a scientific investigation into what a plant needs to grow. We conducted a fair test by ensuing the same type of plant is used and the same amount of water/ sunlight is given to the plants. We placed one plant in a dark cupboard- with no sunlight, one plant is placed in sunlight with no water, and one plant was given both sunlight and water. The pupils made predictions about what would happen to the plants over time.

Minecraft Treehouse Shelter

We have been exploring the rainforest biome world on Minecraft to learn about the features, plants and animals that make up the rainforest. The pupils then used their creativity and ICT skills to develop a treehouse shelter in the rainforest using appropriate materials.

The lifecycle of a flowering plant

We have been learning about the lifecycle of a flowering plant this week. P5A focused on the different ways in which seeds can be dispersed. Each group used drama to act out the different methods of seed dispersal. 

Classifying Rainforest Animals

We have been looking at Venn and Carroll diagrams as a way to classify Rainforest animals during our outdoor learning this week. We considered whether the animals are mammals, birds, fish, amphibians or reptiles. We also used the diagrams to sort which layer of the rainforest these animals live in.
The rainforest layers are:

• forest floor
• understorey
• canopy
• emergent

Rainforest animals 
 

P5 have been researching animals that live in the rainforest this week. They then were inspired by artist Oenone Hammersley to create their own pieces of art work. They followed Hammersley’s style of a watercolour background with a vibrant pastel animal in the foreground.