Recently in Science, Robins have been learning about food chains. Robins have looked at the vocabulary and processes associated with the food chain including the difference between predator and prey animals, as well as the role that producers or plants play in the food chain.
It’s been a week since Robins initiated their Tooth Decay experiment.
Today, Robins observed the changes to the shell and recorded their observations.
With the cola, it was evident that the toothpaste covered egg stained less than the non toothpaste covered egg.
Many Robins were surprised how the blackcurrant squash had completely stained the egg shell.
Moreover, The vinegar one was really interesting as the vinegar completely dissolved the eggshell, leaving just the membrane behind.Vinegar ( which is acidic) dissolves the calcium carbonate in the shell, leaving just the membrane intact
One final thought… Have you remembered to brush your teeth twice a day?!
Extension Activity: Discuss these questions at home
1. The enamel of your tooth is similar to the egg’s shell. What happened to the egg shells that were soaked liquids that are sugary? Why?
2. What happened to the egg shells that were soaked liquids that are acidic? Why?
3. If you used toothpaste what was the effect? Why?
4. Based on what happened to the eggshells in your experiment, which drinks do you think are BEST for your teeth? Why?
Recently Robins have been researching all about teeth and their functions.
After learning about that.. what better than to carry out our own experiment on how liquids affect our teeth!
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!?
Before we carried out the experiment Robins planned the investigation and discussed the differences between simply doing a practical enquiry experiment and one which considers the variables involved to ensure it’s a fair test.
Discussions about a fair test and conducting a test as a group respectfully included:
It was great fun setting up the experiment and over the next few days we will observe what happens to the egg shell (teeth enamel) and… I wonder what the egg inside will be like?!
We are testing the following
We use our teeth everyday don’t we? so… It’s important to learn about them right?
Did you know?
To begin the lesson, Mr Lo introduced a video about teeth to the class. (Not for the faint hearted!)
Then, (Thanks to Mrs Calbreath) Mr Lo was able to share some teeth with year 4. They had lots of fun identifying all the different kinds of teeth. (well mostly… some found it a little vile! )
Can you remember the different teeth and their functions?
Extension: Click here to find out more about teeth!
This week Mr Lo has handed out an extension Brush Your Teeth monitoring sheet.
How well do you brush yours?
In Science, Robins have been investigating all about the digestive system.
The first activity was to discuss where the organs should be. There were some interesting results!
Here is a recap of where they should be.
We also discussed their functions. Well done to Pippa and Paige for bringing in their Human Body books and sharing them in the class.
Can you remember all the vocabulary?
Finally we had a go at wearing the human body apron!
Today we put two double sided leads on the negative side and the other on the positive side, the negative had a zinc nail on and the other had a copper nail. The zinc nail reacted very well in the solution and we noticed that there was a change in the colour of the metal and gas was released.
Blog written by Callum F and Nashe.
Year 4 were put into 4 groups and were given and apron and a bunch of organs! They were required to place the organs in the correct place on the apron which was acting as the inside of our bodies. Once they had completed the and had all organs in place, they were quizzed on the name of each organ they had stuck on. We also had to check if we had put them in the right places!
Year 4 have learnt the names and a few facts about some of the following organs: liver, small and large intestine, kidney, stomach and more!
Year 4 have been working really hard recently creating their own information text about the Earth’s layers. The children have loved creating these and have put in a lot of effort. Have a look at some of them below:
This afternoon year 4 had a look at a model arm to show them how muscles work in our bodies.
We spoke about which muscles we use when we bend our arm as well as how they contract and then go back to their original size.
See what year 4 can remember and ask them these 2 questions:
How many muscles do we have in our body?
What muscle is only joined at one end?
This afternoon year 4 started an investigation around whether the size of muscles affects movement. To do this they are looking at whether people with longer legs can jump further. The children worked in small groups and went outside to perform the investigation. They were each required to measure their leg and perform 2 jumps.
Tomorrow we will be looking at our data and plotting it into a graph. We will then work on evaluating the investigation that we did to see how valid our results actually are.
