In July 2019, we worked for a half day each with Foundation 1 and 2. We had great fun helping the children make electric circuits with our Cambridge 'Brain Box kits'. The children then used their knowledge about electricity to make some 'squishy circuits'. Parent and carers were invited to join in with the children.
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Our Science Week event was called ‘Aspiring Engineers’ and we had a grant from the British Association to support this. All children from Year 1 to Year 6 will had the opportunity to work as engineers for a day and use the engineering design process; ask, imagine, plan, create, improve, to work on projects associated with investigating power generation. All classes will had a half-day workshop led by us. KS1 will made and tested anemometers, Lower KS2 will made air powered buggies and Upper KS2 used KNEX to build wind turbines and tested how much electricity they produce. Parents will be invited to assist with the Foundation Stage session. All children worked in teams for the event. We had a STEM Ambassador, Libby Rush, working with us all day and had an afternoon Science Fair where parents could see all the work the children had done during the sessions.
We were invited by Jo Cartmell, the Headteacher at Holy Spirit Primary School, Leasowe, to showcase the science work we are doing with Years 1 to 6.
In Summer 2019 Holy Spirit Primary School was awarded a Royal Society Partnership Grant with Farm Urban in the Baltic Quarter, Liverpool. Aquaponics involves fish and plants living together- the ammonia in the waste from the fish is converted to nitrates by bacteria in the filters. The plants need the nitrates to grow and so remove the unwanted chemicals from the water to keep the fish healthy. We launched the project in early September with a whole school assembly led by our STEM partner Dr Myers from Farm Urban. We set up a lunchtime aquaponics group with 18 Year 5 and 6 children. During September the children assembled two produce pods. At the beginning of October we started our first propagation cycle- the children decided to grow kale, spinach and basil. We then acclimatised 2 goldfish into each produce pod and when the seedlings were big enough we transferred them to the pod growing areas. The children organised themselves into 2 groups to over-see the regular maintenance of the pods and feeding of the fish. After half term we started running the group as an after-school club as there was much more to do than we first thought! In December 2019 the children had a video conference with Laurence, a PhD student from Farm Urban, who answered many questions the children had generated themselves. We will be using this information to decide on our next investigations, now we have learnt so much about how the pods work.
The children have taken growth measurements of the plants, looked at the leaves and roots with easi-scopes and measured the water pH and ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, levels in the pod water. We have learnt how to propagate seeds for aquaponics and how the produce pods work including what needs to be done to maintain them. We have grown kale, spinach and basil, with varying degrees of success and the children have sampled our produce! We organised an ASE Primary Science Teachmeet at Ness Botanic Gardens, Wirral on Thursday 20th May after school with Rose Froud, the Education Officer at Ness We started off in the Coach House which is also a meeting room and classroom for school trips at the Gardens. The main focus of the Teachmeet was how to use the Gardens in the teaching of topics such as ‘Living Things and their habitats’ and ‘Evolution and Inheritance’. Anne and Kim gave a presentation about how they have used information gathered during school trips in their lessons. Nicky Bolton from Heswall Primary gave a talk called ‘The Last Words’, discussing how nature words are slipping from common usage and making suggestions to halt the ‘nature deficit disorder’ in some of today’s pupils! The teachers then went on a tour of the Gardens and Rose pointed out different areas that could be visited on a trip and how activities there could fit into the primary science curriculum. About 17 teachers attended the event and we had a raffle with prizes provided by Twinkl, Augmentify It, Curiscope, Bloomsbury Books and goody bags from Ness Botanic Gardens.
There was a full house for our STEM Learning Halton Network science knowledge CPD a couple of weeks ago. The focus was 'Hooks, Wow, Awe and Wonder' and we concentrated on different ways to 'hook' children into science lessons and get them curious.
Snots and Sneezes Workshop- Emmaus Catholic and CofE Primary School, Liverpool- October 20184/12/2018 It was lovely to be back at Emmaus Catholic and CofE Primary School in Liverpool working with Year 2 all day on how germs spread. in the afternoon we made 'snot' and some model germs.
How fantastic to be asked to judge this primary science investigation competition again this year! Such a range of projects including magnetic force through different liquids, the effect of different drinks on hard boiled eggs, invisible inks and more. Congratulations to the winning teams and well done to everyone who took part!
We facilitated another session of the Halton Primary Science Leaders' Network at St Gerard's Primary in Widnes last week. It was a busy session focussing on assessment and moderation. We also worked on progression in working scientifically.
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