Today in science we discussed facts we now know about Electric circuits.

For example:

• They use batteries with wires connected to both the positive and negative terminals.
• A battery is needed because it gives the force that makes the electrons move. When these electrons reach the light bulb, they give it the necessary power to work.
• A basic circuit will have a battery (a cell), a lamp and a switch. For the electric current to pass, these components must be connected to the metal connecting wires.
• When the switch is closed (on), the current can pass through and the lightbulb is switched on. When the switch is open (off), the current can no longer pass through the components successfully and thus the light remains switched off. This is because, there is no continuous path for the current to follow. There is a gap which means that the electricity cannot flow though.

We also learnt how electricity can be made from renewable and non-renewable sources.

Finally, we created our own doorbell circuit using a buzzer, switch, cables and battery.

Don’t forget you can login to Developing Experts to review the lesson!

We have started our Science topic. Electricity

Have a read below! ( add that you read this into your reading diary)

Circuits need power sources such as batteries. Wires are connected to both the positive and negative ends of the battery (or cell). Circuits contain other electrical components such as bulbs and motors, which allow the electricity to pass through them. Electricity will only flow and travel around a circuit that is complete. They cannot have any gaps or else the electricity cannot pass through and there must be no short circuits. 

The basic parts of a circuit include: the battery, the wire(s), the bulb(s), buzzer(s), motor(s) and switches (on and off). When the switch is open, there is a gap in the circuit. This means that the switch is off, and that electricity cannot pass around the circuit. When the switch is closed, the electricity can travel around the circuit and the light bulb is switched on.  

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(Robins creating their own series circuit and testing whether it is an open or closed circuit)

Click here to log onto Developing Experts to review Rocket Words and the lesson.   (If you have forgotten your login, ask Mr Lo for it!) 

Today, Robins investigated how sound travels through solids, liquids and gasses.

Carrying out our comparative test.

Did you know that sound is a vibration that travels through different materials? Sound is made when an object vibrates.

When an object vibrates, the air around it begins to vibrate, and these vibrations enter your ear as sound. These vibrations create sound waves that then travel through solids, liquids and gases.

Sound travels four times faster in water than it does in air. It travels as a longitudinal wave and requires a medium to travel through. The denser the medium is, the faster sound can travel through it. It travels at around 1,230 kilometres per hour.

Don’t forget to log onto developing experts to watch the lesson again

or click here to watch an oak academy lesson on sound. 

As keen scientists, Robins have been discovering what causes sound.  They carried out several investigations including

• analysing musical instruments
• testing if you can hum with your nose pinched
• listening carefully to sounds around the school.

By the end of the lesson they decided when an object vibrates, a sound wave is formed. A sound wave is literally a transfer of energy. It is a form of energy. They are formed when an object is vibrating and causes its surrounding medium to vibrate too. A medium may be a gas, liquid or a solid. Waves travel through mediums like these and as they do, the particles vibrate both forwards and backwards.

The sound that we here (the volume) depends on the sound wave itself. For example, the more energy that the sound wave has, the louder it will be. The nearer that we are to the sound, the louder it will be to us too.

Extension

Click here to complete an Oak Academy lesson on sound. 

In Science we have recapped our learning on Food Chains.

We also started our new topic on Sound! We talked about how sound travels and also carried out an experiment to find out whether tools can make us hear sound better.

We recorded our findings.

Can you remember our Rocket Word Vocabulary?

Extension:

Read the summary below or log onto Developing Exports to view the lesson again!

Sound is made when an object vibrates. When an object vibrates, the air around it begins to vibrate, and these vibrations enter your ear as sound.  Once they’ve entered your ear, they are carried down the ear canal and processes by the brain.  Did you know that it usually gets harder to hear a sound, the further away you are from the source?

For example, let’s say that we strum a guitar string. When you pluck the guitar string, sound waves are created by the vibrating string. These vibrations are then carried out with a certain amount of initial energy. These begin to spread in all possible directions from the initial source. If you are super close to the guitar (source of sound), your ear will capture a very large wave with a lot more energy. If you have your ear near the string, the noise might be uncomfortably loud. If you are at the opposite end of the room, a smaller part of the wave will reach your ear. This means that less of the wave’s energy will reach your ears and the sound is a lot softer. As the wave travels out from the source, the same amount of initial energy is split and covering a much bigger area. This will ultimately result in less energy and thus a fainter sound.

In Science, Robins have been learning about food chains.

Robins have been learning all about nutrition.  As humans, we require minerals and vitamins so that our bodies work properly.
They are important because they boost the immune system, aid in growth and development and assist in organ and cell function. Minerals and vitamins come from the food that we eat.

Vitamins are organic substances that are either fat soluble (A, D, E and K) or water soluble (C, B, riboflavin, niacin and folate). Fat soluble vitamins are stored in the body whilst water soluble vitamins need to dissolve in water before they can enter the body. One really important vitamin is vitamin K. Vitamin K is found in green and leafy vegetables such as broccoli and kale. It is important in blood clotting. Vitamin B12 is important in the manufacturing of red blood cells. This type of vitamin is found mainly in red meats, eggs, milk and other dairy foods.

Minerals are inorganic elements that are found in soil and water. These are absorbed by plants and later eaten by animals.

In Science we have been learning all about teeth.

We learnt about the different types of teeth in a human’s mouth and what they are used for.   Can you remember what are your incisors, canines and molars?

Next we discussed what would happen if we didn’t brush our teeth. We also setup a science experiment to test how different liquids can stain / damage our teeth. We have used: Cola, juice, salt water, tap water and vinegar. 

Of course.. we couldn’t really use our own teeth as we want to protect them so we’ve used an egg as a substitute. Did you know that the shell of an egg is made of a similar substance to tooth enamel!?

We will observe our teeth (eggs) every day and see what happens!

By the way,

Did you know?

• The average person spends 38.5 total days brushing their teeth over a lifetime.
• People who drink 3 or more glasses of fizzy pop each day have 62% more tooth decay, fillings and tooth loss than others. Put down the pop and sports drinks and pick up some nice fresh water instead.
• If you’re right handed, you will chew your food on your right side. If you’re left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side.
• The most valuable tooth belonged to Sir Isaac Newton. In 1816 one of his teeth was sold in London for $3,633, or in today’s terms $35,700. The tooth was set in a ring! (source: Guinness World Records 2002).

  Click here to read more about teeth!