Science

Welcome to Term 4!

What a wonderful and exciting year it’s been! The terms have quickly flown by, and we can’t believe that we’re already into the final term for this year! It promises to be another fabulous one.

Foundation - Changes

Years 1 & 2 -  Everyday Materials

Years 3 & 4 -  States of Matter

Years 5 & 6 -  Electricity

Foundation: Changes

Last term, Foundation students experimented with making bubbles. They investigated different ways to make bubbles and evaluated which were more effective. They used and compared a variety of wands, such as commercial wands, household items and creating their own. The students also learnt about the concept of a ‘fair test’, where only one variable changed. Different types of straws were used with the same bubble mixture in one experiment, then the same type of straw was used with different bubble mixtures in another.

During Term 4, students will be examining what causes changes in a variety of everyday food items and why they occur, such as adding hot (not boiling) water to them and observing any changes. They will look at the effect of such experiments and note if items melted, partly changed or stayed the same. Students will also revise the ‘fair test’ concept by observing the effect of different liquids within experiments.

Years 1 & 2: Everyday Materials

In Term 3, students learnt how the brain and eye interacted to create optical illusions. Through experimentation, they recorded their experience of a variety of illusions and explained why they occurred. Students also used this knowledge to create their own optical illusions.

This term, students will be analysing and experimenting with a diverse range of materials. They will be observing the properties of various materials, such the elasticity, strength, absorbency and texture. Students will also manipulate some materials to change the integrity of them. Exposure to the ‘fair test’ concept will continue throughout the term.

Years 3 & 4: States of Matter

Last term, students learnt about the optimum conditions that help seeds to survive, grow and thrive into a mature plant. They studied the structure of plants in detail, noting how plants can cross pollinate, as well as the different ways its seed can be dispersed. 

In Term 4, students will learn what matter is, as well as the basic three states of matter (solid, liquid and gas). They will be involved in experiments that manipulate them to show how they transfer from one state to another, such as the melting and cooling of chocolate. Students will make predictions about how matter interacts with other matter, such as two liquids, or a solid with a liquid. Students will also explore how saturation can force changes in states of matter.

Years 5 & 6: Electricity

During our study of microorganisms in Term 3, students learnt about the effects of yeast and mould on bread, and the role they played to develop or decompose bread. Students also delved into the properties of yeast, and observed how it reacted with other substances. They also learnt how mould can be useful through food production, fermentation and medicinal production.

This term, the Yr, 5/6s will learn about energy. They will be introduced to the different forms it can take and how it can be transferred, with the focus being on electricity. Students will learn about and create both, series and parallel circuits, and how they are used in the world we live in. They will experiment with how circuits work, by creating and using switches to show how circuits are open or closed. Students will be taught how to draw a circuit using standardised symbols such as light bulbs, power cells, wires and switches.