Making endangered animal board game

Yesterday, we did lots of research using books and the iPads to find out as much as we could about our endangered animal. We knew we were going to design our own board game so we know we needed to be mindful of this as we researched.

We then thought about different games we like to play and discussed ways we could adapt them to make them about an endangered species. We had some amazing ideas! We then split into small groups and designed and made our own games. Some of us made instructions too. We are going to keep the games and play them on Wednesday afternoon.

Making a 3D model of a Rainforest

Today, we made a rainforest in a shoe box showing everything we’ve learnt about Rainforests so far. We thought about the laters of the trees and which animals live where. We spent ages making our models, as you will see from the photographs below. Then, over lunch, our naughty teachers destroyed our models. This was actually not them being unkind but them teaching us a powerful lesson about the destruction of the Rainforests around the world.

Composing our own rainforest music

We have been learning to play the keyboards in Listen 2 Me this term. We have had many lessons learning tunes but this week we had the chance to make up our own. We had to use what we had learnt to make up our own repeating tune in small groups.

What is inside a Rainforest?

Today, we explored what it is like inside a rainforest. We watched a video about the four layers of a rainforest and made notes. Then we supplemented our notes by reading information around the room and adding to them. We had to do this in teams, supporting each other to gain the information needed. All this information is going to inform us how to build our own Rainforests next week.

Where are the Rainforests?

Today, we explored many different maps of the world and found the Rainforests on each. We discussed which continent they are in, what patterns we noticed, how they are positioned near the Equator, why they may be located there in terms of the climate and conditions.

We then made our own maps of the Rainforests and put all the information we’d learnt onto it.

Introducing our new topic- The Rainforests

Today we started learning about Rainforests. We started off listening to sounds of the rainforest, trying to guess where in the world we might be. We then had to explain our reasoning.

Then we went on a virtual tour of a Rainforest. It seems a bit tricky to go on a school trip to one! We compared the plants and animals to those we find in the forests around Chandler’s Ford or the New Forest.

After that, we found out as much information as we could so that we could define a Rainforest.

Electricity Investigations

It was Electricity Day today in Year 4! We spent the whole day investigating how electricity travels around a circuit, what a circuit needs to work, how to make a switch and what materials conduct electricity. We learnt so much but had incredible fun at the same time. We had to use our scientific enquiry and investigational skills all day as we were not told any of this information - today was all about learning and discovering for ourselves. Some of us shone as true scientists!