Playtime Fun!

Can you remember how long the chain of cubes measured? 

What did we use to measure the length of the chain? 

Rudolph Challenge

Today we had a challenge - Rudolph's nose had broken and he asked us if we could help him fix it.  

We learned that electricity flows in a loop. This is called a circuit. 

We created a circuit using cables, a bulb and a battery. 

Next, we added a switch to our circuit, so Rudolph could switch his nose off if he needed to! 

Lemon Battery

P2/3 have been learning about electricity. Last week we looked at batteries, and thought about different toys and objects that use batteries.

Today we learned that you can use a lemon to generate a small amount of electricity.

First, we had to shake the lemons to loosen up the lemon juice inside 

Then, Miss Ross and Lynn put a nail into one side of the lemon and a copper wire into the other side. 

We then joined a wire to each of the copper wire and nail. 

Next, we joined the other ends of the wires to the bulb. 

We hoped the bulb would light up......but it didn't. 

Next, we tried joining 4 lemons together to see if they would make the bulb light up. 

But, it still didn't work!

Then, we decided that we would join all 8 lemons together to see if that would work...... 

But it still wouldn't light up! 

Even though it would not make the bulb light up, we found out that we had generated a small amount of electricity. Jim, the janitor gave us a machine which allowed us to test the power of the electricity. We tested 2 batteries and it read 2.7 V. 

We tested our lemon battery and it said we were generating 3.3 V. 

P2/3 had a long discussion about why the lemon battery would not light up the bulb and we came up with a lot of suggestions including: 

* the lemon has lost all of its juice 

* the colour of the cables might affect it 

* the cables might not be working properly 

* the bulb might be broken 

* it is too far for the electricity to go 

Gymnastics

This term P2/3 have been learning to balance in PE with Ms Elson. We have learned to balance on different parts of our bodies. 

Visit to Kirkwall Power Station

This afternoon we went a visit to the Power Station as part of our electricity topic. 

We wore hard hats to keep us safe. 

On our tour of the Power Station we went into the control room. 

We spoke about the different ways electricity can be made - wind turbines, diesel and solar panels. 

One of the pipes was very warm! Can you remember why it was warm?

 They store the diesel in these tanks. The Power Station uses diesel to make electricity. 

Viking Stories

This afternoon, we were treated to a story telling session from P5.  They told us two stories they had written about Vikings.  It was very exciting to go into their tent and the mood was set for the troll stories with some candles flickering in the middle and the children were dressed in Viking clothing.  We all sat round and listened really well.  The P5 children knew their stories off by heart and spoke very clearly.

Thank you to all of the P5 children involved.



Stilt Houses

This week we have been investigating stilt houses. We learned that you can find stilt houses throughout the world in countries such as Thailand, Chile, Norway and USA.

We created stilt houses using sticks and cardboard.

We encountered a number of problems whilst making our stilt houses and had to work together to try and find different solutions.

After we had built our stilt houses we set them 1 meter away from a fan and tested whether they would stand up.

Some houses stayed up, but some fell down.

We discussed the different ways we could improve our models and discussed the different techniques people had used.

Mongolian Ger

We have continued our adventure around the world, and last week we investigated Mongolian gers.

We discovered that they are quite similar to our own homes, as they have beds, walls, toys and some even have electricity!

We were given a class challenge - work in pairs and create a ger.

We were all given the same materials:
cardboard
felt
string
a paper circle

We drew lines on the cardboard to represent the sticks that would be used as a frame to hold up the ger.

We then stuck felt around the cardboard, as a ger is covered in layers of fabric and tied in place with rope.

Next we had to decorate the roof and fold it so it was a cone. 

The task involved a lot of talking to each other and working together.

Below are pictures of all our Mongolian gers.

We learned that it is important to try different ways to solve problems when making models.

We were all very positive about our task and enjoyed the challenge!

Fruit kebabs with honey-yoghurt dip

As part of our literacy topic we are learning to follow and write instructions.

This week we followed a recipe. 

First we had to make our honey-yoghurt dip. We took turns to put the yoghurt and honey in a bowl and mix it together. 

 We discussed the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon.

Next, we had to pick our fruit.

We had a lot of fruit to choose from: banana, strawberry, grape, melon, kiwi, blueberry, raspberry and pineapple.

After we had chosen our fruit, we had to put the fruit on the skewers

Finally, we got to enjoy our fruit kebabs whilst reading our class book, Amelia Jane :)