What's Been Happening in Year 3

Year 3 Scienceworks Excursion

Our Year 3 students had an exciting day out at Scienceworks on 13th and 20th August. The visit was a great opportunity for students to see their Chemical Science learning come to life through hands-on experiences and exciting demonstrations.

Students enjoyed the Lightning Theatre show, where they explored different types of energy, including light, sound and electricity. They were amazed by the demonstrations and enjoyed seeing how different forms of energy can work together.

One of the highlights was seeing liquid nitrogen in action. Students explored what happens when materials change between solids, liquids and gases. They watched bubbles, balloons and even a rubber duck freeze, helping them understand concepts such as changes of state, expansion and contraction.

Students also had time to explore the many other exhibitions at Scienceworks, where they could investigate, experiment and discover new things for themselves. It was a fun and memorable experience that helped bring our science learning to life!

What's Been Happening in Year 2

Maths: Building Our Addition and Subtraction Skills

Over the past two weeks, our Year 2 students have been developing their understanding of two-digit addition and subtraction using the vertical algorithm with renaming.

In the first week, students focused on two-digit addition. They learnt how to correctly set out the algorithm by placing the two numbers vertically and carefully aligning the digits in the tens and ones columns. To help students understand what happens when we need to rename, we used base-10 blocks and place value mats. This allowed students to physically see that when we have ten ones, we can rename them as one ten. Students then connected this hands-on experience to recording the renaming in their written algorithm.

In the second week, students applied the same place value understanding to two-digit subtraction. Using base-10 blocks, students first built the larger number and then physically subtracted the smaller number. When they did not have enough ones to complete the subtraction, they learnt to rename one ten as ten ones. For example, if they needed to take away five ones but only had two ones, they exchanged one ten for ten ones so they had enough to continue.

Throughout both weeks, students were encouraged to understand why the renaming process works, rather than simply following a set of steps. After building confidence with the base-10 blocks and place value mats, students moved towards completing the vertical algorithms without the physical materials.

It has been wonderful to see students developing both their mathematical understanding and their confidence as they move from hands-on materials to more abstract written strategies.

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