Science Week and Maths Day in Primary and CB

The annual celebration of British Science Week and Maths Day got the whole of Primary abuzz with the celebration of scientific knowledge applied to practical investigations.

We invite you to take a look at some of the exciting science activities that took place in each year group:

Reception

The children in reception have enjoyed investigating the different colours in skittles. The children noticed that when placed in water, the different skittles colours made a beautiful pattern.

Year 1

As part of their plant topic Year 1 children have investigated different types of flowering plants, looking at specific parts and comparing the size of petals and leaves.

Year 2

Year 2 have had great fun creating their own volcanic eruption by mixing an acid, alkaline and red food colouring to recreate a pyroclastic flow!

Year 3

Our Year 3 students have investigated how shadow sizes can change by changing the distance between their puppets and the light source. By measuring accurately, the children have concluded that the closer the puppet is to the light source, the larger the shadow. This information will be useful when practising their shadow puppet performance of ‘The legend of Osiris and Isis in the last week of term.

Year 4

As part of the ‘teeth’ topic Year 4 has been investigating how different drinks affect the enamel on our teeth by submerging an egg inside the drinks to see how the shell is affected by the drinks. This information has helped the children learn how important it is to make healthy choices when choosing soft drinks.

Year 5

As part of their learning about forces, Year 5 children have been investigating air resistance when designing a parachute for an egg drop. The children tested their designs by dropping their eggs from the terrace, hoping for a safe landing. The children created some egg-cellent designs with different sizes, shapes and materials to reduce the effects of gravity.

Year 6

Year 6 children have been investigating how some insects and even lizards can float and move on water. Year 6 tested this theory using a paperclip on water, and although it seemed to defy the laws of physics, a paper clip made of steel can indeed float on the water surface. The high surface tension helped the paper clip with a much higher density float on the water.

Celebrating Maths Day in Primary

On Tuesday, 14th March, we celebrated Pi  (3/14) Day by holding a Primary Maths Day. This consisted of an off-timetable day full of fun maths-themed activities for the children. It was a delight to see the great efforts that our younger children had gone to in creating a range of very thoughtful maths outfits. Instead of the usual green uniform, a swarm of calculators, dice, famous scientists, maths rockstars and homemade outfits entered the school gates. All efforts were greatly noticed, and these were celebrated and shared during the Foundation and KS1 parades.

From Year 3 upwards, children decorated an old t-shirt with their favourite equations or maths-themed designs.

Flickr album: Primary Maths Day | Height: auto | Theme: Default | Skin: Default Skin

Each year level ran a series of exciting, hands-on maths challenges for the children. Most of the activities were collaborative, showcasing many more skills than just those from their maths lessons. Additionally, they all attended an outdoor carousel of activities, where each child was able to choose from a wide selection of games - all involving maths! This was helped greatly by a glorious sunny day.

To link Maths Day with Science Week, in addition to drawing the children’s attention to the natural link and interconnectedness of the two subjects, all classes did an activity relating to STEM.

The day consisted of a very exciting menu of activities, but the conversations overheard amongst the children - from Nursery through to Year 6 - were undoubtedly the most exciting part for the members of staff. A buzz of enthusiasm for mathematics circulated on the school grounds throughout the day; maths really is for everyone! 

Mr Alexander Marlor and Ms Alice Campbell, Primary Teachers