Science Month - biodiversity and interdependence

March is science month at Renton and we have been busy exploring and experimenting. We are learning about living things, what they need to survive and how they are dependent on other living things [ an introduction to the food chain].

We started the month by welcoming our living eggs to class. The children were very excited to watch the chicks hatch from their eggs.

The birds have a special egg tooth on the end of their beak which they use to break through the shell. This is called pipping. We watched as all 10 of our chicks emerged then had a long rest - hatching is hard work!

We used our chromebook webcam to share the experience so everyone in the school had the opportunity to watch them hatching.

Amelia was very interested to see the chicks on the chromebook screen and to see other classes watching us through a google hangout.

Can you see the little egg tooth on the end of this chicks beak? [below]

 

Cole counts our chicks.

We set up the brooder box, talking about what the chicks would need.  Just like us they need water, food and warmth.  The children were very interested to see the chicks poop too!

The water fountain gives them a supply of fresh water.

We played Amelia's favourite game of head, shoulders knees and toes, talking about our body parts and comparing ourselves with the chicks.  Alfie was curious to find out if the birds have ears so we experimented by using percussion instruments to play sounds and watch the chicks react.

We looked at the food for the chicks and found little bits of corn and oats. Then we measured out the food for the chicks so they had enough but not too much.

We had to be careful not to overfeed the chicks as they would just keep eating if there was food available.

 Each day while the adults cleaned out the brooder the children had an opportunity to hold the chicks and feed them by hand. Cole and Amelia were keen to hold them but Alfie and Callum were happy to just stroke their soft downy feathers.

Amelia was happy to hold and feed the chicks and giggled when they pecked at her fingers.

 Alfie liked their soft bodies but wasn't so keen on their hard sharp claws.

Callum stroked the birds and liked to touch their little beaks.  The birds seemed happy to be held for the first few days but as they got bigger they weren't quite as keen so we observed them through the glass of the brooder box instead.

Alfie, Cole and Amelia have all pretended to be chicks by dressing up and flapping their wings. They were interested to see that the costumes had a tail too.

The birds feathers changed as they grew

We had grown / bought watercress for the chicks to have as a treat.  When the chicks didn't seem interested Cole decided to show them what to do with the beak from his costume!

We took the chicks to Ardardan Farm as we can't look after them as they get bigger.  We visited them with more cress the following week to see how they were getting on.  They had changed a lot in a week and their white wing feathers had grown in.  For now they are in a special brooder with a lamp to keep them warm but they will soon move to the hen coop.  They will be very happy in their hen coop where they are free to roam in the field.

Fairyland

We have been busy for the last few weeks with our Fairyland topic.  We had a visit from a baby dragon who asked us to read more books.  We have loved reading and rereading Jack and the Beanstalk, Goldilocks, The Billy Goats Gruff and Little Red Riding Hood.

Callum has been using magnetic letters to copy book titles.

Clockwise from top- Dragon arrives; painting the castle, using bricks when
 measuring. making our on dragons; self portraits for our diaries; play with puppets.

Our dragon has brought us messages from Fairyland and even Little Red Riding Hood's costume and basket of goodies for Granny.  We used the illustrations from the books to help us as we made pictures of the giants castle.
The children have also been busy learning about 2D shapes, some measuring and making front covers for our new diaries.

The children are all enjoying using our chromebooks to access our google classroom and view favourite stories and songs.  The phonics video below is a current favourite of them all. We are all looking forward to our new smartboard which will make our learning even more fun!

     

Our 'Egg'citing New Topic!

On Monday we take delivery of 10 chicken eggs and an incubator. This is part of our science topic for the month of March where we will be focusing on lifecycles of living things; caring for babies and also beginning to look at  food chains. By the end of the month the children will have had hands on experiences in looking after chicks and finding out about what they eat, how they move and grow and relating this to ourselves and our visiting babies.  We will also be growing some food for our chicks to eat too. 

Merry Christmas!

The children have been VERY busy getting ready for our nativity concert next week.  I will be posting pictures of parties, pantos and rehearsals over the next few days but here is a special ecard from all in Room 5 meantime.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

World of Work - A visit with Gillian, the Park Ranger.

Amelia tries on protective gloves during our visit.

 Last Friday we visited Gillian Neill at her base in Balloch Park.  The children enjoyed finding out about her job and the equipment she uses.  We spied some bird boxes, had a shot in her van and tried on some protective equipment.

Paul wears a protective helmet.

Gillian shows the children some of the birds found in Balloch.

The children had lots of questions about Gillian's job.  They were interested to find out that she sometimes works at night to do surveys of nocturnal creatures.

Gillian shows us a new Owl nesting box.

Walking through the woods. Look out for low branches!

We have our own protective clothing!

Katie in Gillian's van.

The special refuse truck used in the park.

The tractor is also used to help the workers cut the grass.

Finding out about the World of Work

Our Dentist's Surgery

Callum dresses up as a Dentist.

We are learning about what people do in different jobs. Room 2, Room 4 and Room 5 children have their own role play areas so over the course of this block of learning they have the opportunity to try out being an Airport worker, a Post Office worker or a Dentist / Doctor.

          Checking Cole's teeth on our very own dentist chair!

Follow up work on what a dentist needs to do
 their job

Amelia busy at work.

We also joined other classes for a visit from our local community police officer, PC Watson who showed the children the Mountain Rescue Van.

Inside the Mountain Rescue van with PC Watson.

Looking at the rescue equipment.

Cole tries out the seatbelts. We also looked at the rescue radios.

We also took the opportunity to watch a bit of the demolition work that is happening in the centre of the village.  The old shops have been pulled down to make way for a new Cordale Housing Association building.  It was quite noisy so ear defenders will be taken next time! 

 Throughout the topic we are keen to stress how communicating, reading, writing and number are important skills in all the jobs we research.

SINGALONG TIME

This is the song we are singing, all about the world of work. A target for the children will be to add a few more verses about the different jobs we find out about this month.

Song: What do you do?

Hallowe'en Fun

We enjoyed a special Fizzy Gym for Hallowe'en with ghoulish games and eerie exercises! Fizzy Gym is a programme designed by Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists in East Kent NHS.  It has three levels of difficulty in Body Awareness & Co-ordination, Balance and Ball Skills.  Our children move through the levels in each area and also tackle fine motor skills development in Room 5 through activities based on the clever hands programme - also from East Kent. There are normally 5 or 6 stations that they rotate around in groups.  Here is a link to the original leaflets upon which we base our exercises. 

Fizzy's Training Programme

Here are the children enjoying their activities.  As it is a Hallowe'en special we made a few changes to simplify exercises:

Alfie throwing bean bags

  Co-ordination needed 

                                                       for mummy making!

Cole and Peter working together.

A strength building exercise for the arms.

Hand/eye coordination being developed.

As you can see it is a busy exercise class as we have 3 unit classes and half our Primary 1 class taking part each week.  We will take a fresh look at the programme in January so watch this space for further developments.

 The Hallowe'en Party

Our Hallowe'en parade is enjoyed by the whole school and sets us up for an afternoon of party games and food.

Amelia as Anna from Frozen

Paul came as Mario the Plumber.

Cole takes part in the parade as a ninja.

Room 5 and Room 3 children watch the parade.

We also made Hallowe'en Pumpkins with funny faces!