St George's Science Week!

Super scientists embarked on St George's Science Week!

This week has been special at St George's. As a whole school, we delved into the world of awe and wonder to explore extra science. St George's Science Week has become a great part of the year when children get to extend their love of science. This year didn't disappoint! We paired our classes as we did last year for great collaboration.

Now it's spring, Reception and Nursery have been plantings seeds inside and outside. We have been examining different parts of plants and producing observational drawings and paintings.

As part of our topic 'Mini beasts', the children have been investigating the creepy crawlies in our outside area! We have been observing carefully and identifying the different types of bugs. We have also been thinking about the needs of different mini beasts, and creating them homes.

The children have also been investigating and exploring seasonal changes. We went on a hunt around the school, looking for signs of spring!

In year 1 and 2, we collaborated to be engineers and forensic scientists! We had a lot of fun, made new friends and learnt a lot about some exciting areas of science.

Bridge Blunder:

We were investigating how to make the strongest bridge using only paper! First, we got some ideas of ways to fold, bend and curl the paper to improve its strength, so it will hold more weight. The children were in small groups and worked together to create strong bridges and test them by adding weights to find the maximum! We compared findings to conclude that the 'zigzag' or fan bridge was the strongest as it held the greatest amount of weight.

Fantastic Fingerprints:

Key Stage 1 were fascinated by what we learnt about our unique fingerprints. We each have a pattern; either a loop, whorl or arch that is individual - no one else has a pattern like you! We investigated how to get the best and clearest fingerprints: white baby powder on black paper or graphite pencil dust on white paper. The children worked together, helping each other follow the instructions and record their prints. We concluded that graphite on white paper was best.

In Year 3 and 4, we looked at the journey from where vegetables grow to how they end up on our plates. We focused on broccoli, where we learnt about how they start from a seed in a greenhouse, then transported to a farm to finish growing. We discussed the packaging used and whether it is the best packaging for our environment. In groups, we were given one aspect: growing, harvesting and shopping. We created a poster to represent what we have learnt about the journey of broccoli. We planted some broccoli seeds and look forward to watching the seeds grow over time, as spring is the best time of year for broccoli crowns to grow.

Secondly, we investigated which temperature yeast would work the best at. We learnt that yeast acts as a rising agent, especially in breads, and that the ‘bubble’ structure we see in breads is from the gas that yeast produces.

To begin, we measured the yeast and sugar, then mixed together then added to a bottle. Each group was given a different temperature that we had to measure using a thermometer: 15°C, 30 °C or 45°C. The water was then added to the mix. After shaking the bottle with the mixture, we then added a balloon and left for 10 minutes. The results showed that the bottle with the 45°C water created the biggest balloon. We learnt that this was because more gas was being produced from the yeast!

In Year 5 and 6, we looked into the world of sound. We explored how sound vibrations travel and related these to other waves that we know such as water and light. Our session was based around 'Noisy Neighbours'. We all have trouble now and again with noise, and we investigated to find out why do we hear neighbours more and less depending on where we are. We looked at how sound travels through objects and related this to living next to or below someone.

We found that sound travels through dense materials as the molecules are close together. Enjoy our pictures!

We will be completing our Science Week on Monday with an Electro-dough activity, look out for this in next week's news article.