For anyone new to this blog, the idea is simple - each day my boys (Joshua - 9 and Archie - 8) choose a stimulus that drives the learning. We hope that you enjoy the blog and can take some inspiration from what we love doing - making learning as engaging as possible!
Ice
With 10% of the land area on Earth covered in ice, it is essential that we explore the importance of this with children. Ice is such an amazing stimulus. Today, we tuned in with our scientific skills and investigated its properties.
We hope you enjoy.
English / Science
Explanation
Scientific Investigation
Cause and effect
Today's writing is all about explanation. This, in my opinion, is one of the hardest styles of writing, mainly because it is dependent on deep, rich knowledge and understanding. As this was our initial delve into this style of writing, I planned to explore it through a science investigation around ice melting.
To help the boys, we began by revisiting the differences between solids, liquids and gasses and how the water changes state in the water cycle. As they had previously learnt this, this was a recap of knowledge. If your children have not learnt about this, you may like to watch this video:
Having recapped the knowledge, the boys then needed the sentence frames to apply this to. In Talk for Writing, we support children acquire language and text type through internalising texts. This allows them to internalise the sentence patterns that they require in different styles and genres.
Here is the skeleton of a science explanation. These are what we would call the key transferrable skills and language patterns:
I am investigating what happens to ……..when ……
My hypothesis, what I think will happen, is that ……. because ……..
To carry out an investigation, you must compare at least two variables: things which change or vary. For this investigation, I will compare …….and ………
To ensure that this is a fair test, I must ……... It is essential that all the other conditions remain the same because, otherwise, I wouldn’t know if it was the ……… or something else that was making the difference.
In conclusion, I have learnt from my results that…
This is because…
Having read through the model, we then orally tried to fill in the gaps. It is so important that children practise saying what they are intending to write. To hear the words in the sentence helps with understanding and accuracy.
With the knowledge and English under their belts, they then carried out the investigation.
15 minutes later, we looked at our results and wrote up our investigations. For a first attempt, I think they did a pretty good job.
I am investigating what affects the speed ice takes to melt.
My prediction, what I think will happen, is that the hotter the place the faster it will melt. I think this because he speeds up melting.
To carry out an investigation, you must compare at least two variables. I will compare how I smelts in these three places: garage, bedroom, outside in the sun.
In conclusion, I have learnt from my results that the hotter it is the faster it melts.
I am investigating how long it takes ice to melt.
My prediction, what I think will happen, is that ice that is placed in a hot room will melt faster because heat speeds up the melting.
To carry out an investigation, you must compare at least two variables.
I will compare how fast ice melts in an upstairs room, microwave and the fridge.
In conclusion, I have learnt from my results that the hotter the place the quicker the ice melts.
Science
In the afternoon, the boys also had fun exploring this investigation sent to us by their school (our thanks to Mrs Barton for the idea).
Ice Cube Hockey
Take an ice cube, two plastic cups, a surface to play on and something to make two goals.
The aim of the game is to push your ice cube through your opponent's goal.
What do you think would be the best surface for this game to be played on?
Things that are pushed stop moving because of a force called friction. Do smooth surfaces have more or less friction?
If you are enjoying this blog, please do share it and spread the word. Thank you to all of you who have got in touch and shared some of the outcomes from what you have tried - we love to hear from you.
Do tune in tomorrow, where we exploring:
Scary Short Stories
My thanks to Pie Corbett, Julia Strong and the Talk for Writing team for inspiring many of the ideas explored in this blog.
This blog is copyright. All materials herein, texts and supporting resources are copyright to Jamie Thomas & Talk for Writing. They may be used to support children/staff/parents in home-learning ONLY and not for commercial gain or for training or sharing widely, in their original form or any variations. They must also not be shared online or on any social media platforms without prior permission.
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