Conductors and Insulators

14th February 2025Emily Ibbotson

We really enjoyed learning about and investigating conductors and insulators. We discussed how to keep our test fair and what variables were keeping the same and changing. We wrote our own methods ensuring we were using time fronted adverbials. In mini-crews we then carried out the investigation to see which materials were conductors (allowed electricity to pass through) and insulators (did not allow electricity to pass through). We then recorded this in a results table and wrote our conclusion.

We are Scientists – Series Circuits

14th February 2025Ruth Shields

In expedition we have continued to be scientist by starting to learn about electricity. Children were given some equipment in small groups and they had to problem solve together to create a working circuit. This was a chance for children to demonstrate their resilience as they’d only been given the equipment and no further instructions. It was great hearing the children talk through what they’d done already and what they could try next. The majority of the groups managed to construct a working circuit and either make the bulb light up or the buzzer work.

Testing out the energy ball!

10th February 2025Stacey McClare

Today we explored the energy ball a little more, continuing our learning from Friday! We acted as conductors of electricity completing a circuit. We then added other objects to the circuit to see if they were conductors or insulators of electricity.

Exploring circuits lessons 2 and 3

7th February 2025Emily Ibbotson

Firstly, we recapped our learning about appliances and played a game to say whether they were electrical and if they were mains or battery powered. We then discussed what a circuit was and the different components which we use to construct a series circuit. In mini-crews, we made circuits and then drew them using symbols. We had great fun exploring what the different components did.

Next, we investigated what happened in complete and incomplete circuits. Using an energy stick, we explored what happened when we all were connected and the stick lit up. This was amazing!

Finally, we looked at pictures of circuits and then predicted if they would work. We then built them and tested them.

Why do we have a skeleton?

30th January 2025Laura Godley

Today in expedition we have discussed the differences between vertebrates and invertebrates. We used our reading skills to retrieve information, by playing fastest finger first and discussing our findings. Some of the facts really surprised us when reading. We then explored the types of skeletons linking these to vertebrates and invertebrates. We then tested our understanding so far with a quick quiz!

We then worked to sort animals into the two groupings based on what we had discovered – vertebrates and invertebrates. Moving onto the human skeleton, we explored how many bones an adult human skeleton has and looked at what a skeleton does. Did you know that an adult has 206 bones but as a baby, we have 300! We linked our skeleton to the digestive process, thinking about the organs that are protected by our bones. We assessed our understanding with a Kahoot quiz, it was very close with only a point between Mason and Declan!

How do we group animals?

28th January 2025Ruth Shields

In our expedition lesson (science), we have been learning about grouping animals. We learned (through some reading) that the scientific word for this is taxonomy and that the reason we do this is because we like things to be organised and orderly.

We discussed some ways that animals could be grouped and looked at some examples. Children then had an opportunity to group some animals using a Venn diagram. After this, they were given a larger group of animals where they worked in pairs to decide how they could be grouped. Children were able to show a good understanding of how they could be grouped differently and it was great to see them using language such as vertebrate, invertebrate, mammals, warm blooded or cold blooded. We’re now ready to move on to classification.

Expeditionary learning continues in MI…

22nd January 2025Stacey McClare

Our expedition lesson today continued to look at grouping living things. First, we recapped our previous learning on vertebrates and invertebrates, working with our partner to sort a variety of animals.

From here we started to classify vertebrates into 5 groups and watched a video clip to help us build background knowledge. We noted down facts and then shared these with the whole crew. We then explored a variety of texts, building further information on mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. We played fastest finger to further assess our understanding. There were lots of reading opportunities again today, reading with a partner and echo read to name a few.

From here we worked in mini crews to demonstrate our understanding. We read a variety of facts and put these facts in the correct group.

We then took part in a quiz to test our understanding further! We are really enjoying our expeditionary lessons 🙂