| Year 5
Year 5 science lesson this term have focussed on the properties of materials and how to investigate some of these. Initially, the pupils were led through the steps of how to plan, set up, carry out and record their experiments and much discussion ensued about suitable methods of working, how to ensure the testing was fair and how best to present results to others. Everyone tested various powders to see which ones would dissolve in water and results were then compared across groups, looking for patterns and drawing conclusions. Suitably equipped with these developing skills, the children were then challenged to design and carry out their own investigation into factors which might affect the speed of a material dissolving in water. They had to generate a suitable question to investigate and then determine the factors to be changed, measured and maintained as constants.
There was great enthusiasm as each group began the practical work to test their predictions and it was a real pleasure to listen to the groups working collaboratively and identifying the conclusions that they could draw from their work to share with others. The children have begun to think more strategically about how to break down and test an idea scientifically, and the progress that they have made over a few lessons of practical work has been impressive. The next step is to link this work with our ICT lessons and investigate ways to record and present the gathered data effectively.