Science

Grade 1

Students in Grade 1 have been busily testing different objects and materials to investigate if and how they can be changed. We began by testing paper – can it be Scrunched? Twisted? Bent? Or Stretched? By cutting a piece of paper in a particular way we were even able to stretch it over one of the children’s heads!

Students were then provided with the opportunity to explore hands-on, shared experiences of how the ability to physically change an object through bending or folding depends on the material it is made of and its initial shape. They identified objects made from different materials that can be bent or folded, discussed how different materials and/or shapes affect whether an object can be bent or folded and will this week investigate how many times sheets of different types of paper can be folded.

Grade 2

Grade 2 Students have been exploring how some foods change when heated. Students have been supported to represent and explain their understanding of how heating and cooling affect everyday materials, and to introduce current scientific views about how the properties of foods change when they are cooked. We have explored how chocolate melts and become a liquid, how small hard corn kernels pop and turn into popcorn and discussed the properties of eggs and how they can be changed. Students then identified problems in pictures about changing eggs and how these changed occurred, and then we fried an egg in the science room to watch what changes occurred.

Grade 3

Grade 3 students have been comparing and grouping materials as liquids or solids. Some solids can be mistaken for liquids because they take on the behaviour of liquids. Groups of some solids can be poured together and take the shape of their containers moving and flowing; however they are still individual solids. (For example, sand. When we have many particles of sand (solids) grouped together we can pour them and they take the shape of the container and flow. These are behaviours or properties of a liquid. However, these solids only appear to being ‘poured’ because the individual particles are small and can move relatively to each other, allowing them to flow and take the shape of the container. However, each individual particle is not changing shape – it is still a solid) We tested this by looking at biscuits. A biscuit is a solid. We crushed the biscuit and made crumbs – each an individual solid. We were able to pour these crumbs when they were grouped together but were not able to pour one individual crumb. Each crumb is a solid and solids have a fixed shape and do not pour.

Grade 4

In the science room, Grade 4 have been exploring and testing the different physical properties of materials and identifying them as being rigid, transparent, magnetic, and absorbent which can make them suitable or unsuitable for particular purposes. Recently we have looked closely at Absorbency as how well a material can soak up liquid. Students have explained what absorbency means and given examples of absorbent and non-absorbent materials; tested different objects for absorbency and identified the materials they were made of and recorded results explaining which materials are most absorbent, and most suitable for particular purposes.

Grade 5

Grade 5 students are exploring particle theory. Particles are tiny pieces that make up everything. You cannot usually see particles because they are very small – smaller than a grain of sand. Particles can move, stick together or spread out and that is how solids, liquids and gasses work. The particles that make up matter are attracted to each other. The particles that make up matter can be arranged regularly or randomly. When matter is a solid, the particles are arranged neatly in a lattice structure. However, they are arranged more randomly in a liquid and a gas. As we heat up matter, we add energy to particles, causing them to move more quickly and spread out. As the particles move more quickly and increase the space between the particles, they can cause matter to change state. As particles lose energy, they slow down and get closer together. This can cause the matter to change state. For example - Particle theory tells us that when we light the solid wax candle, the candle gets hot and the particles in the wax start gaining more and more energy. They begin to vibrate. This means to start moving on the spot. Those vibrating particles eventually get enough energy to move further apart, weaken their bonds, lose their regular structure, and start moving randomly. The wax changes from a solid to a liquid, which we call melting. When the particles in the candle start losing energy, moving closer and closer together, until they’re only just vibrating again and they settle back into a regular structure, each particle vibrating around a fixed point. The wax has then changed from a liquid back to a solid, which we call solidification (or freezing when discussing water and ice).

Grade 6

Grade 6 students have continued exploring reversible and irreversible changes. The easiest way to investigate this is with water – a matter that can be found as a solid, liquid or a gas. Recently we used the example of water, and thinking about the water cycle, introduced changes of state caused by evaporation (the process of a liquid changing into a gas or vapour.) and condensation (a coating of tiny drops of liquid formed on a cold surface by steam or vapour.), considering whether or not the changes of state could be reversed or not. When we think about the water cycle, water is constantly undergoing reversible changes in its states. We rely on the water cycle for survival. Water from rivers and oceans (liquid) evaporates into water gas (or water vapour in the air). The water vapour or gas then undergoes condensation, turning back into liquid water which we see as clouds and then as rain. Ice in the ocean, or the snow on top of mountains will melt. This creates more liquid water in rivers, streams and oceans. If the rain lands on the top of mountains it can freeze, turning back into snow. Or if water in the ocean freezes, it will turn back into ice. Water is constantly undergoing these reversible changes.