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2020/21

Learning Experience 9-
Unbe-LEAF-able Plants!

To start our experience, we will be planting our own plants, experimenting which conditions are the more beneficial to grow healthy plants. We will then look closer at the parts of a plant and flower, labelling them and their function. Next, we use celery to explore how the stem of a plant, helps transport water and nutrients, followed by a closer look at pollination and germination. Our final learning outcome will see us completing a LEAF-let all about plants, explaining their needs and functions.

Learning Experience 8- Blinded by the Lights

Throughout this blinding experience, Chestnuts will explore light and shadows. We will start by looking at different sources of light, exploring whether they are chemical, electrical or burning light sources. After that we will explore darkness and then move on to how light travels. We will then complete experiments on the types of materials that block light, causing a shadow, and how we can change the size of a shadow. Our learning experience will then be finished off and tied together through our final learning outcome, where we will create our own sundial.

For our most recent experiment, we explored whether the distance an object was from a light source affected the size of the shadow it made. We had to work in groups as holding the equipment was a tad tricky!

We have really enjoyed learning about the ways light can be created, using words and phrases such as 'artificial light source' and 'bioluminescence'. We have also really enjoyed completing experiments to see if the transparency of an object affects how much light it lets through. We think you will agree when we say, our books are looking incredible!

We are LOVING the new library spaces and have really been enjoying choosing from a wide range of books. When we are all reading, you can hear a pin drop!

We were fortunate enough to have a partial, annular eclipse occur alongside our learning experience of light. We made pinhole cameras to watch the eclipse but they were not that successful as it was cloudy. However, this did mean that Miss Gibson could get some pretty cool photos of the eclipse. We were amazed at the sight!

Learning Experience 7- Ingenious Innovators

This learning experience will get us in the mind of product creators, investigating, designing and creating our own iPad stands. We will begin this learning experience researching existing products and analysing their use and appeal. This will guide our market research which will take the form of a questionnaire. In order to prepare for our creative process, we will practise a selection of cutting and joining techniques, using a range of materials. We will then look back over our questionnaire results, analysing the data provided by our target audience before using this to inform our final product designs. Once complete, we will review and edit our final outcomes before decorating them.

We did an amazing job creating our final tablet stands for our final outcome!

Our sketch books are looking incredible and we love having the freedom to present them however we choose. Don’t they look fabulous?

The children loved exploring how to cut and join materials using craft knives, saws and hot glue. It was a bit scary but we showed lots of resilience!

The Reading Rooms are OPEN! Chestnuts now love reading EVEN MORE!

Learning Experience 6- Hunters, Gatherers and Woolly Mammoths

We will begin our prehistoric learning experience with an exciting and immersive workshop which will provide a range of hands-on activities such as acting, house making and even STONE AGE POO! We will then explore the Stone Age in more detail, looking at how their ways of living developed throughout the three phases of the Stone Age: the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic eras. This will include a more in depth look at cave paintings, the way animals were used and how tools developed. Then, we will further explore how these ways of life developed following the discovery of metal, throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Amazing writing all about the Stone Age to Iron Age!

We created our own cave paintings from the Palaeolithic Era. We even made our own cave!

We had an amazing time at our Stone Age to Iron Age workshop. In the morning, we acted out the Stone Age- Iron Age timeline, completed a quiz, looked at artefacts and even explored STONE AGE POO! After lunch, we looked at Stone Age housing, creating a dwelling from the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic eras.