Science
Science is a way of life. Science is a perspective. Science is the process that takes us from confusion to understanding in a manner that’s precise, predictive and reliable – a transformation, for those lucky enough to experience it, that is empowering and emotional - Brian Greene
The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, it's the one who asks the right questions - Claude Levi-Strauss
Science is magic that works - Kurt Vonnegut
The important thing is to never stop questioning (or learning) - Albert Einstein
As Scientists at Shipton Bellinger, we strive to provide the opportunity for creative, practical experiences that allow children to apply their knowledge, skills and understanding. With a greater emphasis on STEM, we can ensure that children are finding exciting ways to explore their thoughts and ideas. With a clear learning journey throughout a pupils life at Shipton, they will be able to nurture the six key skills that are imperative to any budding scientist. Such as; asking questions, making predictions, setting up tests, observing and measuring, recording data and evaluating. We also provide extra-curricular clubs which include the well attended Science club run by Mrs. Macleod, their most recent project being 'how to make your very own bird feeder'.
Meet our Shipton Science mascots!
Curious Cow Enquiring Iguana Eureka Seeker
Y1-2 Y3-4 Y5-6
Information about our Science Curriculum
International Science Day
Introduced by the school's science lead, Mrs. Cheshire lead the morning assembly to launch the core theme of International Science Day. The children were shown inventions that are already being used to help sustain our planets resources and what it actually means to have a World that can be sustained by our growing population. The 17 development goals set up by the United Nations was discussed amongst the pupils and the importance of the every-growing threat to our planet was pointed out as a key priority amongst most.
The aim of the rest of the day was for the children to be inspired by science and all its many wonders that can be explored. Throughout the entire afternoon, every year group was able to get their hands on a practical experiment and make plausible predictions and evaluations as to what could and did happen during the investigations. It truly was a fantastic event as the pupils faces lit up amongst the classrooms as they watched the experiments unfold. Words such as "science is so much fun!" and "I never knew science could be this cool!" put a smile on all our faces.
Year 3
Year 3 had an absolutely fantastic time celebrating International Science Day! With a variety of practical experiments to choose from, the fun just kept on coming. First off, we started with the skittle experiment and used scientific vocabulary such as 'dissolve' and 'disperse' as we watched in amazement as all the colours interspersed with one another, following the movement of the water. We also predicted that if we used warmer water, the outcome would happen quicker. We then watched as Mrs. Cheshire attempted to use a teabag as a hot air balloon as we discussed how an open flame causes hot air to rise and thus inflate the balloon. The children were just as excited to see Mrs. Cheshire light a match in the classroom as much as the teabag floating up in the air (safety precautions were of course followed!).
After that, we then moved on to the milk, food dye and washing up liquid experiment and witnessed the chemical reaction take place when the dishwashing liquid made contact with the food dye. Magnets, magnets and more magnets were brought out for the children to explore and try and figure out how they can make a paperclip float in the air. We are sure many parents will start to see the children perform this magic trick at home!
Finally, we performed a whole class observational experiment as we set up the walking water trick and predicted what the outcome would be. Words such as 'absorb' and 'saturate' were used (we also loved Mrs. Pope's physical presentation of acting as a kitchen towel mopping up a mess!) and we wondered whether the water would transport itself from one cup to the other. We would have to wait until the following day though, as it was a slow process. Nonetheless, the children were so excited to see that the water had in fact "walked" from cup to cup and could not stop staring at it!
Year 4
Year 4 had an exciting day celebrating International Science Day. We worked in small groups, made predictions, set up experiments and observed what happened.
Our first experiment was making Lava lamps. We used water, oil and food colouring and then placed a vitamin tablet in and watched what happened. We were surprised to see that the oil and water did not mix. The oil sat at the top because it is less dense than water. The vitamin tablet reacted with the water to make bubbles of carbon dioxide. The bubbles float up, attaching themselves to the top.
Our second experiment was making a cloud in a jar rain. Using shaving foam on top of water to act as the rain cloud, we then placed food colouring into the 'cloud'. Eventually the cloud 'rained' coloured water. We even mixed the colours which was super cool!
Year 5
We had the best Science experience ever! It was messy (but we cleared it up after!)
On Science Day we really enjoyed doing the science experiment with the skittles. We used the skittles to make colourful water by separating them into colours and putting them in hot water. The colour of the water changed because of the outside coating melting off. The coloured outer coating was made of sugar and the sugar had food dye in it so when the hot water came in contact with the food colouring, the food dye particles moved apart and mixed with the water. by Amelia, Aiva, Tiana, Maiya, Matthew, Issa and Kelsey
We had a challenge to make the dirty soil-filled water clear! We had to use cups, paper bags, tissue and paper towels. It was a big challenge to make the water clear! We had to put the dirty water in a paper bag filled with tissue and quickly and carefully squeeze the water out. The dirt particles separated from the water and it made the water look clear. The dirt particles couldn't go through the filter because it was too solid. After we did the soil we had a challenge to make the skittle-dyed water go clear. by Jessica, Sophie, Quinn and Fynndlay, Max
Year 6
International science day gave us the opportunity to extend our understanding of our current science topic, evolution and adaptation, by carrying out a mini study in to Carl Linnaeus, the father of taxonomy (the branch of science concerned with the classification of organisms). It also gave us the chance to work with our buddies as we ventured down to the forest school area to discover what organisms live on our school property and start to think about how we could classify and organise these.
Science visitors or special events
Year 2
In science we are learning all about animals including humans. We will learn all about what a human body needs to stay healthy, we will learn all about food chains and different types of animals. To start our learning journey, we were thinking about how all animals have offspring and that humans have babies. Many of us wanted to know how to look after babies and what a baby needs in order to grow and be healthy. We were very lucky to have two of our parents (who are very experienced in the world of babies) come into the class to answer a great range of questions. Thank you very much to you both, you really helped the children to understand the needs of babies at different stages of development. A wonderful first week back, it was great to see all the children again after our Christmas break.
Year 3 trip to Paultons Park
Wow, what an absolutely fantastic day Year 3 had at Paulton's Park! The children thoroughly enjoyed the workshop at the 'Learning Lab' where Natasha taught us all about the forces that are at play on a rollercoaster. Later, they were set on a task to decide how much money the park would need to spend on a rollercoaster in order for it to use gravity alone to take it around a loop. It was a shock for us all to hear the expense of how adding just a bit more railing and height to a rollercoaster, as ours would need to have cost an additional 5.5 million!
We also learned about the importance of friction and how the park creators use different materials to help slow us down at the end of the ride. The need for 'pull' and 'gravity' was also discussed and how both are needed in order to get a coaster to the top of a large height and then the need for gravity to pull us down and through the ride. Having passed around the original wheels of a rollercoaster, it was also interesting to see the important role that they play due to different weather conditions.
The children had a wonderful time challenging themselves to go on the more thrilling rides and we were able to have many scientific discussions as we observed the rollercoasters. Psssst - if you don't want to go too fast, put your hands in the air as it creates more air resistance!
Science in the classroom - Spring term
Year R
Our Story of the week was Jack and Flumflum Tree, the children enjoyed the exploring and joining in when telling the story. As we were focusing on boats this week it gave us the opportunity to look at capacity, we explored this using water, pasta and lentils.
Year 1
In Science, we worked in groups to label human body outlines to show simple body parts, then we focused on our senses and the parts of our body that let us see, smell, taste, feel and hear. We enjoyed the cold and frosty weather giving us the opportunity to experience 'Winter' with our senses. We have also learned about different sorts of animal (including humans) diets, grouping animals as to whether they were 'herbivores' 'omnivores' or 'carnivores'.
We then found out the names of some of the main animal groups (mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles) and worked as a team to organise photos of lots of different creatures into the correct categories. We looked at answering the enquiry question 'Why can't penguins fly?' by writing using information we had found out from our science and Geography work on Antarctica to look at the way penguins had adapted to a need to swim rather than fly.
