Friday 28 February 2014

Fairtrade smoothies!

As it is currently Fairtrade fortnight, the children have all had a go this week at making a Fairtrade banana and strawberry smoothie. Most really enjoyed drinking their smoothies!

The children had to follow the instructions on the recipe.
They chopped up the fruit.





They had to measure out the right amount of orange juice.


They then got to enjoy their healthy smoothie!

Thursday 27 February 2014

Going Fairtrade Bananas!

It's Fairtrade Fortnight at Kings Copse. In maths, we've been looking at averages and trying to find out the average measurements of a Fairtrade banana.










Using equipment, we measured the girth (circumference) of the banana, the length, the distance of the curve and the banana's weight.










We looked at lots of different averages to see how they affect the accuracy of our results. We recorded our results into the computer to make combining all of our data together easier.

After lots of number crunching, we found out that the average Fairtrade banana has....

A mean circumference of 12.9cm.
A mean length of 17cm.
A mean curve of 19.3cm.
We also found out the mean weight is 192.9g.


Finally, after all that hard work, we all had the chance to eat a tasty banana at breaktime!

Friday 14 February 2014

Marvellous Moving Machines!

After lots of measuring, cutting, sawing, drilling and sticking, our machines are complete!

We used different cam mechanisms to make a moving machine. Can you work out which parts move and how they work?

Can you see which machines have a cam attached to a turning handle and those that work by pushing it along on its wheels?









Wednesday 12 February 2014

Musical Machines!


We've been really busy creating our own machine music using Garageband on the iPads. Listen to our loops below. 
Do they sound like a machine? 
What type of machine do you think it is? 
Can you hear the machine doing different things?
Do the different parts work together?


The Leaning Tower of Spaghetti!

In Year Five, we have been working hard to develop our team work skills.

We discussed what working in a team meant, and how we work best with other children. 
We were then set a challenge....

Build the tallest spaghetti tower!

We had to work together in teams and communicate with each other in order to succeed.









Tuesday 11 February 2014

Our Own Cracking Contraptions



We have been inspired by Wallace and Gromit's cracking contraptions to create some machines of our own!

First, we researched how mechanical toys work by exploring some examples on this website: 
http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1482_moving_toys/toys_bband.htm




Then, we looked closer at the cam mechanism, and at which cams created what movement. 



If you are interested, you can explore cam movements on the following website:
http://www.strettonhandley.derbyshire.sch.uk/oldwebsite/cams/camstext.html

Next, we designed our own cracking contraptions, and decided what cam we needed to create the right movement.

After the planning was completed, we started work on our contraptions!



Can you guess what their machines might do?



Journalists in the making!

After the amazing dinosaur bone discovery in the school grounds, Year 4 have been busy writing newspaper reports in Literacy and applying new found Publisher skills in ICT.  Here are a few examples of their work:

Sophie and Scott

Daniel and Lauren
 

Mechanical Movements

In our PE sessions this half term, we have been constructing movement dances to create our own machines. Have a look at some of the positions we have created. Can you work out what the machine is doing?