Science

Grade 1

Over the last few weeks, Grade one students have been discussing the differences in our sky during the day compared to during the night. 

What natural things do we see in the sky during these times. 

We have also touched on the water cycle, and why it rains. 

Our investigation last week was called rain in a Jar, where we filled a jar with coloured water nearly to the top, squirted some shaving cream on top of this (our clouds) and then dripped food dye (the rain) into the shaving cream. As the food dye is heavier than the shaving cream, it gradually ‘soaked’ through and ‘rained’ into the water in the jar! 

When this occurred, there were squeals of delight and excitement in the science room!

Grade 2

Grade two students have continued to discuss the water cycle, and how we use water in our school and in our homes. 

Last week the students were given some ‘homework’ for science – to document 4 different ways they use water at home. We will use this information to make a graph to illustrate the most common uses. 

We have also been reading a series of stories about “Whizzy’s Incredible journey’ (Whizzy the Waterdrop), written by Helen Oxenham, Bill Stephens and Kim Brown and illustrated by Harry Buckingham. 

This was published by the State of Queensland, Dept. of Energy and Water Supplies in 2014 and covers the following information in a fun and friendly series of children’s stories.

Whizzy travels on incredible journeys and each journey, although make believe, is based on what really happens as water travels through the water cycle. 

The following things from each of the journeys actually take place in real life:

Water drops do fall down from the clouds in the sky. These waterdrops are called rain.

• Water that falls to the ground can soak into the soil, be sucked up by tree roots and then evaporate from the leaves of the tree into the air.

• Water can also flow down stormwater drains. These drains usually empty into rivers. Most rivers eventually meet up with the sea.

• Water is also able to soak deep down under the ground. It is possible to get this water out from under the ground via a bore.

Horses can drink this bore water. When the horses get hot they sweat water out of pores in their skin. This sweat can turn into water vapour.

The following processes also occur during the water cycle:

• The sun heats up water, causing it to turn into water vapour.

• This water vapour then rises up into the sky.

• When it reaches a cold layer of the atmosphere, the water vapour changes back into tiny waterdrops

• These waterdrops form together to make clouds.

• When the waterdrops get too big and heavy, they fall from the cloud as rain.

We hope that you will enjoy reading this book, and that you will learn

how water on our planet travels around and around the water cycle.

Grade 3.

Grade three students have continued their discussions about the differences between day and night, and how the earth’s daily rotation and annual revolution of the sun causes this. 

We have learned about shadows, and in the last few weeks of term will be investigating the question “What happens to the length and direction of shadows during the day?”

Grade 4

Grade 4 have recently been incorporating mathematics into our science lessons as they investigate the Solar System in our space. A hypothetical teacher, Miss Celestial, wants her class to her class to make a scale model of the solar system in their classroom. 

This means that the size of the planets and their distances from the sun will be relative to the size of the sun used in the model. Miss Celestial started doing some calculations to find out the sizes and distances required but she is becoming concerned that the model might not be able to fit in the classroom! She needs some help to make the final calculations in order to find out if her dream can become a reality! This has involved using calculators to calculate the diameters of the planets using the provided information and formula and then calculate the relative distances from the sun for the model in the same way. 

With this information, students then had to determine if it was possible to make a scale model of the Solar System in the classroom and using their data, write a statement for Miss Celestial detailing whether or not it is possible to do.

Grade 5

Students in Grade 5 have been investigating the different forms of weathering and how this impacts the environment we live in. We have used sugar cubes in several investigations to represent rocks and recently modelled chemical weathering by pouring vinegar onto the sugar cube and observing the reaction. This provided a model of how, over time, water reacts with the minerals in rocks to create a chemical change affecting the rock. 

My favourite example of chemical weathering making changes to the colour in rocks is Wave Rock in W.A.

To explore freeze/thaw weathering, we investigated how water expands when it freezes and in the case of weathering the rain water can seep into cracks in a rock, which then freezes in extreme cold causing the rock to crack a little more > thaws during the day and seeps further into the crack > freezes again and the process continues until small parts of the rock break off.

Grade 6

To complete their Primary school Science, Grade 6 students have been watching short video clips of different kinds of natural disasters including bushfires, floods, tsunami, cyclones, landslides etc. 

We have then begun a discussion / debate where students have to consider where they would prefer to live – near a volcanic eruption or a flood? A bushfire or tsunami? Earthquake or tropical cyclone? Hurricane or landslide? 

It has been very interesting listening to student reasoning, and the students themselves have been respectful of each other as they debate (not argue!) their thoughts.

I wish all Grade 6 students good luck as this chapter of life (Primary school) closes and a new one begins as they move on to secondary school.