Year 5

We are Mayans

Our first role was to think about a time line and place all of the different events that we knew had happened in history onto the time line.

We developed our enquiry skills in relation to two Mayan statues and used our knowledge of the past to predict which civilisations they were from and which time period.

Throughout he weeks, we looked at the time line of the Mayan civilisation, how they lived, their interest in the Mayan calendar using the sun and moon and what happened at the end of their civilisation.

Experiments galore!

The children have had great fun with experiments this term. We have been investigating properties and changes of materials.

Some investigations included – what is a solid, liquid and a gas? the experiment with raisins in lemonade really made us think about our scientific language and understanding of what is happening. the bubbles in the lemonade (gas) are lighter than the lemonade (liquid) and rise to the surface. The bubbles get caught on the raisin’s wrinkles and makes the raisin (solid) rise the the surface. When the bubble pops, the raisin sinks because it is more dense than the water it displaces.

Irreversible changes

Bread toasted, scrunching up a post it note and bicarbonate of soda in vinegar are all irreversible changes.

The children dissolved sugar in water by stirring it. The sugar seemed to disappear. However, we know that the sugar has dissolved in to small particles that we cannot see any more. We know the sugar is still in the water because we could taste it. we could not change it back to the same sugar granules.

Reversible changes

We explored reversible changes by adding sand to water. We tried to figure out how to get all of the particle of sand out of the water. Spoons, colanders and sieves were used but we could not get all of the sand out. Then, the children thought of using a filter – which we just so happened to have! The children explained that the filter allowed the water to go through the micro pores but the sand could not get through so it the water and sand was separated. we discussed how to dry out the sand and figured out that if we let the sand dry in a warm environment that the water would evaporate.

The children also explored dissolving salt in water and understood that if we left if in the sun on the windowsill that the water would evaporate and would leave the salt in the petre dish. There were salt crystals left as a result!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

What fun we have had learning about how to write a magazine article!. The children were tasked with writing their own magazine article to teach the class something new, something that they find interesting.

There were articles about Basics, football, nail art, gymnastics and even how to survive in the wild.

SO much effort was put into the work. We even had extremely sensible editors to put the magazine together in a great order plus children to design the front cover.

Easter time

Beautiful Easter poetry in our very own Easter cards.

We are volcanologists!

Our wow starter for this half term was investigating an erupting volcano.

The children were very excited to see the volcano erupt and expected to see it shoot out of the top and hit the ceiling. although this did not happen, the volcano still erupted like a real on would. Smoke seemed to come out of the top first and then the eruption of the red/orange lava flowing down the terrain of the volcano.

It sparked a lot of questions such as: Why does a volcano erupt? What is lava and why is it hot? Which is the tallest Volcano?

Over the weeks, the children will find out about the earth’s tectonic plates, how volcanoes are formed, the new vocabulary linked to it and the reason for volcanic eruptions.

Volcano chatterboxes

We made our own chatterboxes to help us understand the structure of a volcano. On the outside, we drew the terrain and lava. Inside, we drew the different layers of the volcano, the magma chamber, the vent and the side vent.

Watch this space for more volcano fun!

Presenting….Volcanoes!

What a fabulous time Year 5 have had learning about volcanoes! We made our own volcanoes using bottles, newspaper and plenty of glue and paint (a big thank you to parents for supplying the paper and bottles). The children spent the next day making posters and putting together presentations telling everyone what they knew about volcanoes. At the end of each presentation, we set off the volcano using red food colouring, vinegar (acid) and bicarbonate of soda (alkaline). The children loved the explosive power of their volcano (Mrs O’Brien might have put a little too much of the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda in each volcano!). The language, the knowledge and the presentation skills were amazing from everyone in class. We are SO proud of Year 5 for their enthusiasm, self motivation and dedication to their work. They smashed it!

Viking introduction

What an amazing start to our Year 5 topic! The children had some historical inquiry work to carry out when presented with the image of, what we now know to be, a Viking chess piece. They thought of great questions, likened historical facts they already knew to the piece and discussed in detail what they though it would be used for. The children were fascinated to find out what it was made from, where it was found, who made it, how old it was and what it was used for.

The children then had their chance to be archaeologists and dig out their own chess pieces using tools. What fun they had! It has even started a new craze in class with chess…

Vikings

Wow! What a treat Year 5 had with the amazing visit from a viking who brought lots of viking artifacts for us to look at, touch and even wear. The children had the best time and learned so much. Thank you for your contributions for this fantastic day.

Robin Hood

Acting out the part where Robin breaks his father out of the dungeon and has to parade him around the market square before they have the chance to escape from the guards. 

Lazy guards. Robin’s father blind on horse back. Robin parading his father around on horseback. Market people shouting and throwing rotten fruit at Robin’s father. 

The children thought carefully how each character would feel, what they might say and how they might act.

I am a Mountaineer!

Building on our enquiry skills, items were brought into our classroom and we had to ask questions about what the items were for.

We figured out they could be used for exploring and climbing mountainous ranges.

Our investigations took us into exploring the features of mountains, which are the worlds highest mountains and the adventures of Sir Edmund Hillary who climbed the tallest mountain in the world; Mount Everest.

Our Classroom Environment

We have different areas in our classroom which still develop the children’s independence and imagination. Children in Year 5 still love to play and explore so we have provided opportunities for this. Here are our reading and construction area.