Y4 have been looking at classification and how animals can be sorted into different groups such as fur and no fur or cold blooded and warm blooded.
Here they sorted their favourite cuddly toys into different groups.
Trade is the buying and selling of goods and services we want and need.
When we think about trade as geographers, we consider the scale of trade and think about how trade links places and people.
Everything we want and need cannot be sourced within the national borders of the United Kingdom. We therefore import items such as food products from other countries. We import some goods into our country for sale and we export other goods which means we send goods to other countries for sale.
The physical geography of the UK prevents us from growing certain foods here.
This week in geography, we have been looking at the packaging of different food to see where it was produced. We discussed the country of origin and the continent, using an atlas to make sure we located different countries correctly.
In Art, Year 5 have been learning about the abstract painting of Wassily Kandinsky. He was believed to have synaesthesia which means that when he heard music he saw colours.
We have been learning to mix powder paint with the texture of creamy yoghurt. We listened to different styles of music to see how it inspired our paintings.
Next week, we will be studying his paintings and trying out different painting techniques.
This week, Reception have been learning about length in maths. They have read Superworm and used the specific vocabulary of ‘longer than’ and ‘shorter than’ to describe objects.
The yellow superworm is shorter than the pink superworm.
All the children enjoyed the different activities to practice their new learning.
Today, Year 5 were lucky enough to have a Norse visitor who shared his knowledge of the Anglo Saxons and the Vikings who raided, traded and settled in Britain from AD 786.
We thought about the role of archaeology and studied artefacts. We looked at them closely and tried to decide what they were made of and how they would have been used.
We tried on clothes and helmets and held swords.
We looked at runes and used them to make a leather key ring.
Fieldwork is when you go outside the classroom and find things out for yourself.
Today, Year 5 started our geography fieldwork by trying to answer the question- How busy is Morthen Road?
We counted the different vehicles and made a tally chart to collect our results. Everyone took part in the time sampling. We will create a line graph to show the information we have collected.
In Year 5, we have started our science work by looking back at what we already know about plants. We have looked at the plants in our local environment and the fruit and seeds they have produced.
Dispersal is the spreading of things over a wide area. Dispersal of seeds is very important for the survival of plant species. If plants grow too closely together, they have to compete for light, water and nutrients from the soil. Seed dispersal allows plants to spread out from a wide area and avoid competing with one another for the same resources.
We then created paper seeds and observed how they moved.
This will link with our work on forces.
Last week, Year 5 made salt and sugar solutions by dissolving salt or sugar in water.
After that, we left the solution in a container and observed it over time.
Here are some of our results.
Dissolving is a reversible change.
Below is the salt we recovered from the salt solution.
If you were an Ancient Egyptian, would you want to be re-joined with your body in the afterlife when you die?
Today, Year 5 found out more about the process of becoming a mummified person.
The first step is to wash the body. This can be done with wine, Nile water, or both.
Next is the removal of your brain. The brain was thought to be useless, as ancient Egyptians believed that we thought with our hearts, not our heads.
Getting the brain out is tricky, and quite disgusting. To do it, a long hook is inserted up the nose and swivelled around to blend the brain, which is then poured into a bowl.
Then a cut is made on the left side of your body, so that the liver, lungs, intestines, stomach can be removed.
Your heart might be removed too, but only to be dried and put back in later. Ancient Egyptians believed that the heart was the most important organ in the human body, and that you needed it in order to enter the afterlife.
All of these organs need to be cleaned. The liver, lungs, intestines and stomach get put into special containers called canopic jars, which allow the organs to be rejoined with your body in the afterlife.
Each of the jars have a different Egyptian god’s head on them:
- Qebehsenuef (pronounced kay-beh-sinoo-uf) has a falcon head and holds the intestines
- Hapy has the head of a baboon and holds the lungs
- Duamutef has the head of a jackal and holds the stomach
- Imset has a human head and holds the liver
Your body is now filled and covered with special Egyptian salt called natron – which gets rid of moisture and prevents decay – and you’re left for around 40 days, depending on how long it takes to dry you out. The natron will be changed on a daily basis.
Next your body is dressed in linen binds.
Finally, a mask is put over your face, you’re placed into a casket, and lastly put into a sarcophagus ensuring you’re ready for the afterlife.
