Science: experiment
We’re chemists!
In science, we’re learning all about the states of matter – solid, liquid and gas. We’ve also been exploring how temperature can change a material’s state. Today, we conducted an experiment to answer our scientific enquiry question:
Does the temperature of water affect the time it takes for ice to melt in it?
In order for this to be a fair experiment, we had to consider the variables in the experiment.
- independent variable (what we’re changing): the temperature of the water
- dependent variable (what we’re measuring): the time it takes for the ice to melt
- controlled variables (what we’re keeping the same): the volume of water and the size of the ice cube
Your children demonstrated some great scientific skills such as reading thermometers, using a stopwatch, measuring accurately and recording results.
Our conclusion: the hotter the water, the less time it takes for ice to melt in it.
Help at home: try this experiment again at home. Get your child to talk you through the independent, dependent and controlled variables.
Food Technology: soup!
Today, Year 4 made leek and potato soup in Food Technology. We worked in small groups to prepare and cook the ingredients before blending them into a soup.
We thought carefully about safety. We washed our hands and wore aprons for hygiene reasons. When cutting, we used the bridge method to prepare the onion and potatoes into small chunks. We also used the claw cutting method to cut up the leeks after we’d washed them. These methods are the safest way to cut food as they keep us from hurting ourselves!
Once we’d prepared the vegetables, we fried the onion and leeks together and added the potatoes and stock. We finally used a hand blender to purée the soup.
Everyone tried to soup but we had some mixed reviews…
I was really impressed by Year 4’s safety and cooking skills and the soup tasted yummy!
Help at home: when preparing some food, have your child show you the bridge and claw method of cutting.
Year 3/4 sports hall athletics taster session
As part of our involvement in the Leeds Well Schools Partnership, some of our Year 3 and 4 children took part in a sports hall athletics taster session at Roundhay High School.
The event had an emphasis on personal development with the children learning and developing new athletics skills. This included standing long jump, standing triple jump, vertical jump, javelin, chest push, speed bounce and running races.
Well done to all the children for their effort and engagement at this event and for representing school so well.
Thank you to Mrs Boyle for accompanying the children.
We’re artists!
In Art this half-term, Year 4 are learning all about Wassily Kandinsky and Martha McDonald Napaltjarri.
Today, we explored using a wax resist to create our own artwork inspired by Kandinsky and Napaltjarri’s work.
Wax resist: a technique where wax is used to create a pattern which is then covered in water-based paint to create a desired effect.
We began by drawing a series of overlapping shapes with crayon to act as our wax resist. Once we were happy with our design, we used watercolour paint to wash over our crayon and watched the wax resist work it’s magic!
I was really impressed with how these came out!
Help at home: explore some of Kandinsky and Napaltjarri’s artwork online. Can your child identify any visual or tactile elements (shape, pattern, texture, space etc.) included in their work?
Maths: rounding
In Maths, Year 4 are currently rounding. We’ve practised rounding to the nearest thousand, hundred and ten.
We’ve learnt a little rhyme to help us remember when to round up and when to round down….
Zero to four, DOWN to the floor.
Five to nine, climb UP the vine.
When rounding, we must identify the place value column we’re rounding to and check the decider digit to the right to see whether we need to round up or down.
When rounding to the nearest thousand, we must look in the hundreds column…
When rounding to the nearest hundred, we must look in the tens column…
When rounding to the nearest ten, we must look in the ones column.
Help at home: Can you round this 6438 to the nearest thousand, hundred and ten?
We’re skippers!
Today, Year 4 were lucky enough to receive a visit from Leeds Skipping School who ran a brilliant session. This is I’m preparation for our attendance at the Leeds Skipping Festival in the spring. We had such a fun morning!
The skips we learnt were…
- double bounce
- single bounce
- side straddle
- side swing
- cross over
- pretzel
We learnt and practised all of the skips that we’ll be performing in the festival. I was so impressed with the amazing skipping skills Year 4 could already demonstrate and we can’t wait to keep practising even more!
Help at home: if you have a skipping rope, ask your children to show you the six skips we learnt today.
Science: we’re chemists!
In Science this half-term, Year 4 are chemists! Our new topic is all about states of matter.
We began by exploring the properties of solids, liquids and gases.
Solids have a fixed volume and a fixed shape. You can cut them into pieces and they’ll still take up the same amount of volume.
volume: the amount of space a solid, liquid or gas takes up.
A liquid has a non-fixed shape but a fixed volume. They can flow or be poured but are hard to contain. They change shape depending on the container but always keep the same volume.
Gases have a non-fixed shape and a non-fixed volume. They’re very hard to contain. They don’t keep their shape or volume and often we can’t even see them. They fill whatever space they are in.
Help at home: watch this video (https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zsgwwxs). Can you name 5 solids, 5 liquids and 5 gases?
Sporting events
Recently, we’ve had a few sporting events that children have taken part in.
Year 2/3 Cheerdance
Firstly, as part of our association with Leeds Well School Partnership, some of our Year 2 and 3 children took part in a cheer dance session led by Nicola from Leeds Rhinos. The children learnt some cheer arm actions, some jumps and using pom poms, they learnt and performed a great routine.
Basketball festival
Some of our Year 5 and 6 children took part in a basketball festival with other schools practising some basketball skills and drills.
Leeds School Sports Association Saturday morning cross country
The first of the Leeds School Sports Association Saturday morning cross country races took place at Cardinal Heenan. This is one of four events across the year. Well done to the Key Stage 2 children who took part and represented our school.
Key Stage 2 School Games cross country
Finally, this week was the Key Stage 2 School Games cross country event in Otley. We are hopeful a number of our children will qualify for the Leeds final from this event after some great performances. The children were a great team and supported and encouraged each other in very muddy conditions.
Thank you to adults in school and parents who have supported with these events and to the children for being happy and healthy and representing Moortown Primary so well.
Reading: performing Varjak Paw
This week, Year 4 have been reading the start of Varjak Paw by S.F Said. This is a narrative all about a special cat who is locked in a house and dreams of escaping and exploring the outside world.
Today, we became actors and performed the first chapter of the novel. Our R2s (remember tos) for this performance were…
- show clearly who the character is
- showing the events of the extract
- project voice
- voice intonation
Year 4 did a brilliant job! I was so impressed by their acting skills and voice projection.
Help at home: read with your child at home and ask them to summarise the chapter they’ve read. You could even act a little bit out together!
Living and Learning: Hotshots sponsorship event
To finish off our Me and My Money themed week, all the school took part in a Hotshots event, led by PE Partner, to raise money for our school charity, Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
Can I just say how fantastic all the children were in every year group! It was amazing to see them all encouraging each other, no matter their ability. When the children were up for their turn, who maybe football isn’t their forte, the rest of the children were so supportive with their cheering and encouragement. It was fantastic! You should be very proud of them all!