I am Mr Broadbent, Year 5 teacher and Head of Science at Akeley Wood Junior School. Over the last few weeks, I have had the privilege of spending time in many exciting Science lessons across the Junior School. I particularly enjoyed seeing a wide range of investigative lessons that enthused the children to be more curious about the world around them. During Science lessons, we aim to provide children with a thorough and challenging curriculum that allows all children to develop their own thoughts and theories, as well as learning key skills for being a successful scientist.

I have outlined below the learning that has been taking place during the Autumn term. I also enjoyed speaking to lots of children across the year group and hearing about their highlights of the term in Science.

Year 1:

In Year 1, they have been looking at animals including humans. They went on a hunt around school to see what living things they could find. The children enjoyed sorting animals into different groups such as: carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. Year 1 are currently learning about the different seasons. They have focused on the leaves changing colour and recently discussed the change in temperatures we have felt this week!

I was lucky enough to have a chat to a number of children in Year 1 and here is what they enjoyed the most about Science this term:

Charlie, “I really enjoyed looking at the different seasons. Winter is my favourite because we sometimes get snow.” – how appropriate!

Eleanor, “I really liked sorting the animals into different groups and my favourite animal is the eagle.”

Moriah, “I really liked learning the seasons and learning about Autumn. I think the leaves are lots of pretty colours in Autumn.”

Year 2:

In Year 2, they have been learning about how animals fit into a food chain and the habitats they live in. The children enjoyed learning outside as they completed a habitat walk to look at the range of habitats around school. They also created a pictogram of how many animals they saw whilst exploring the woodland habitat.

Here’s what Year 2 had to say when they were asked about Science lessons:

Toby, “I found it really interesting to learn about what is alive, never alive and once alive. I really like going outside in Science lessons and finding out about different things.”

Arabella, “I really liked learning about food chains because we got to know what animals eat. My favourite animal is a tiger. They are carnivores, which means they eat meat.”

Zachary, “I liked learning about different categories of animals like predators and prey. I like komodo dragons because they are so fascinating with their armoured skin, venom and razor-sharp teeth.”

Year 3:

Year 3 have been learning about rocks and fossils. They enjoyed learning about how fossils were created using the example of the dinosaurs and also how different rocks are formed. Year 3 also completed an experiment to investigate which rocks were permeable and impermeable.

Here is what some of the Year 3 children had to say:

Rohan, “My favourite lesson was when I got to touch all of the rocks – gold, marble, crystal and limestone. I liked looking at them and comparing how some were smooth and some were bumpy.”

Madison, “My favourite lessons was learning how volcanoes and the ocean can form different types of rocks like metamorphic, sedimentary and igneous rocks.”

George, “I really enjoyed being creative and getting to sketch and label different rocks. My favourite rock to draw was marble because it had cool patterns in it.”

Year 4:

Year 4 have been very busy learning about the human body at the start of this term. They have looked at the digestive system, organs and teeth. They completed a fascinating experiment to see the impact coca-cola, orange squash and water can have on an egg-shell and applied these results to their teeth to create discussions around how we can keep our teeth healthy.

Here is what some of the Year 4 children had to say about all the exciting experiments they have completed this term:

Isaac, “I really liked looking at the digestive system as different parts have funny names like the liver, the gall bladder and the pancreas.”

Emily, ”I really enjoyed learning about teeth. I never knew there was so many different types of teeth.”

Sienna, “I found it really interesting learning about vertebrates and invertebrates because I thought all animals had a back-bone.”

Year 5:

In Year 5, we have covered the topics of States of Matter and Space. We started the term by recapping the different states of matter and how solids, liquids and gases can change state. The children also learnt about reversible and irreversible reactions, such as mixing bicarbonate soda and vinegar to create carbon dioxide. Whilst learning about Space, they learnt how the Moon, Earth and Sun all move in relation to one another using key terms like orbit, rotate and axis. The children enjoyed modelling how the moon, earth and sun all move around each other outside on the field.

Here is what some of the Year 5 children had to say:

Alfie, “I liked doing the experiments this term, particularly when we got to test where ice would melt the quickest.”

Payson, “I really liked dissolving different materials into water like cocoa, tea, sugar and coffee.  I was surprised the hot chocolate didn’t dissolve very well.”

Otis, “I like science lessons a lot, mainly because of the experiments and learning about Space. I found it really interesting how the Earth orbits the sun and how the moon orbits the earth at the same time.”

Year 6:

Year 6 have been studying evolution, fossils and classification. From talking to the children, I gathered that a particular highlight was creating a dichotomous key for classification using a range of liquorice all sorts. The children found this really engaging, but were disappointed when they could not eat the sweets afterwards!

Here is what some Year 6 children had to say about their Science lessons:

Carter, “I really liked making a timeline of the Earth’s history in the sports hall using toilet paper to represent the different periods of time like when the Earth was made, the dinosaurs were on Earth.”

Olivia, “I really enjoy Science, it is one of my favourite lessons. I think my favourite lesson was learning how fossils were formed over thousands of years and how the fossils we find aren’t bones.”

Toby, “I really like it when we go off topic in Science with Mrs Eveliegh and she answers all of our questions.”