P6 SS

We have been consolidating our understanding of angles in Numeracy, making sure we understand the difference between the properties of various angles. 
 

We didn't realise angels are everywhere! Therefore, we decided to identify angles around us, investigate which types of angles are most common and where we can find them. 

We are currently working in groups to produce dioramas of the four layers of the rainforest; the emergent, layer, canopy layer, the understory, and the forest floor.

We have researched the vegetation, climatic conditions and animals that make up each layer, and now we are putting our knowledge into practise to bring the rainforest to our classroom. 

Stay tuned for updates about our finished masterpieces!

We were very excited to get our hands on the brand new Sphero Robots today. 

The Sphero programmable robots helped us to learn fundamental STEM concepts through play-based learning and group challenges. We had great fun familiarising ourselves with the Sphero app as we developed our spatial awareness and teamwork skills, while linking in with our Numeracy topic Time, to see who could record the fastest times moving the Sphero's around the obstacle courses. 

Our current class novel is Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. In the story Michael's family have decided to leave their home, town, normal lives and everything they know to go on a once in a lifetime trip sailing around the world. This sparked an exciting cause for discussion as we weighed up the pros and cons of such a huge decision. We shared very carefully considered responses and worked together to produce a balanced argument, providing reasons for and against dropping everything and sailing around the world. Some children felt very strongly about their points of view and this inspired us to host a great class debate.

Following on from this, we revisited our debate to reflect on how our thoughts on certain topics can change over time. Unfortunately for Michael's parents, things didn't exactly work out as planned therefore we explored their new thoughts through a hot-seating style interview.

We have been learning that buildings in earthquake zones have to be 'earthquake-proof' in an attempt to withstand the impact of natural disasters and to reduce the devastating destruction that is caused to infrastructure, for example, skyscrapers in Japan. 

This challenge required us to work in groups to design and build solutions to structural problems using a combination of science, technology, engineering and maths skills.  This was a fair test and each group was given 40 cocktail sticks and 20 marshmallows and the aim was to build the tallest structure that could withstand shaking and remain intact for the longest period of time. I think it is fair to say that we have some of the finest engineers, designers and architects of the future in our class.

We are loving our topic 'Natural Disasters' in P6SS, particularly all the practical elements of our learning.

We have been learning about areas in the world where earthquakes happen, and how civilians manage their unpredictable lives by preparing an 'emergency kit' to have on standby should disaster strike!

The boys and girls raided their cupboards at home to gather all the essential items they would need to build an 'earthquake emergency kit' and then they presented their work to their classmates.