We’ve had such a fantastic morning, we chose one of our favourite books and read for pleasure.
”This is the best day ever, can we have a nap and read!?” – I don’t think that’s possible!
Check us out below, reading in our pyjamas.
World Book Day
Inside the cave…
This afternoon, we put our art skills to the test.
We replicated a cave-like feel within our classroom so we could get a sense of what it was like drawing cave art in the Stone Age.
Some of us complained of stiff backs and necks, and even complained that we couldn’t see what we were doing. Maybe we should have had a fire torch in the classroom!
Stone Age Cave Art
We have started our new topic in class this week. The Stone Age!
Our hook for the topic was Cave Art, we had a look at Cave Art and replicated the skills cavemen/ women would have used back in the Stone Age.
Keep your eyes peeled for us working in a cave-like, dark classroom.
Computing
This afternoon, we became IT experts!
For our computer session we learned about how computers worked. We looked at the different symbols in a flow chart and how they are used.
- Start/end – An oval represents a start or end point.
- Arrows – a line is a connector that shows relationships between the shapes.
- Decision – a diamond indicates a decision.
- Process – a rectangle represents a process.
We used our knowledge to put together a flow chart for making a cup of tea… safe to say I will be avoiding some of them in class!
Science experiment
This afternoon, we were under a spell from the White Witch.
She sneakily, gave us enchanted hot chocolate. Our job was to get as much enchanted hot chocolate out of the water as possible.
We worked scientifically and used some of the following pieces of equipment:
- Sieve
- Filter paper
- Measuring cylinders
- Funnels
- Pipette
We found that the filter paper worked best but it was a very slow process and it didn’t even remove ALL of the enchanted hot chocolate!
At the end, Mr Mathieson showed us that by boiling the hot chocolate it would evaporate and once cooled down turn into condensation and then back to a liquid of purified water!
Maths challenge – STEM
This afternoon, for our STEM challenge we were set with a task of ‘breaking the code’.
To break the code, we had to work in teams and answer the questions that were hidden around the classroom.
Check us out, we had so much fun!
A very special visitor!
We’ve had a very special visitor in our class today!
Factor pairs
This week, in maths, we have been learning about factor pairs.
Factors are often given as pairs of numbers, which multiply together to give the original number. These are called factor pairs.
We have used counters to make different groups with the original amount – we even drew on the tables! (Mr Swallow caught us doing this… he was not impressed!)
STEM Challenge
This afternoon, we started our STEM learning.
STEM learning, simply means educating in four specific areas – science, technology, engineering and maths.
Our challenge this afternoon was specifc to maths.
We researched sports stars and had a look at their annual earnings, we were then able to workout their monthly breakdown and even daily earnings!
Homework – Spring 1 Homework 2
Hi Year 4’s, apologies about the delayed handing out of your homework sheets. I’m going to blame it all on you guys for keeping me extra busy throughout the day!
You are all aware of your spellings, you will be tested on these on Friday. Just a reminder, you are spelling homophones and near-homophones. These are words that sound the same but have different meanings and are spelt differently. Please see the list below for your spelling list.
- through & threw
- weather / whether
- here / hear
- there / their / they’re
- rain / rein / reign
SHELDON homework!!!
Now, as you are all aware, we have a new school mascot in the name of Sheldon and what a brilliant addition he is! However, I have a funny feeling that Mrs Swift is not 100% sure for what she has get herself in to…
So, what I would like you to do is put together a fact file, all about the horsefield tortoise. Mrs Swift should be able to read your fact file and become very informed, as that is the purpose of the fact file.
Can you include different subheadings? Making it easier for Mrs Swift to find key information about Sheldon.
You could include subheadings such as: dietary requirements, expected life, friendliness of the animal, fun facts, history and anything else you can think of!
I’m really looking forward to reading these.
Banksy stencils
This afternoon, we produced our very own stencil artwork in the style of Banksy, this is the emulate stage of art.
We had a look at some of Banksy’s most famous pieces and the messages behind them, we focused in on certain aspects of the images that we like. The heart balloon, from ”There is always hope” was a popular one amongst the class.
Next, we’re going to innovate Banksy’s work – this is where we will come up with our own inspiration for a piece of artwork that portrays a message in our own style but using the same skills as Banksy.
Banksy’s use of stencils!
We’ve figured out that Banksy is so fast and mysterious with his work that there must be something he uses to help him!
We recognised that he uses graffiti stencils, this afternoon, we had a go at crafting our own stencils using VERY sharp knives so we had to be extremely careful with our cutting skills.
Tomorrow, we’re going to have a go at painting with our stencils and see if we can produce our very own Banksy style artwork with slogans.
Reading about Banksy
This week, we have started our art week!
We’ve had a brilliant start to learning about Banksy and come across a lot of vocabulary that we haven’t heard of before. Such as:
- political activist
- anonymous
- conceal
- speculation
- identity
- slogans
- imitate
We’ve used our VIPERS vocabulary skills to match the words to their definitions. Why don’t you ask us at home what the words mean?
Welcome back – ART WEEK BANKSY!!!
Welcome back, Year 4!
I hope you have all had a wonderful break and charged those batteries! They’re going to be worked extremely hard over the next few weeks with the start of our second term as Year 4’s.
First up this half term, is ART WEEK!!! Our chosen artist is… BANKSY! Who is Banksy? Does anybody know?
Rudolph Run – sponsored event!
We had so much fun taking part in our sponsored event, The Rudolph Run, today!
We even saw Mr Crouch with a HUGE smile on his face!
The Summarising reading VIPER
This week, we have had another look at the Summarise VIPER. In class, we are reading Oliver Twist and we noticed that the book does not have any chapters. So, being the reading experts that we are, we decided to use our summarising skills to come up with our own chapters.
We identified the main idea using a range of pages, AND then acted the chapters out!
Welcome to France
We have studied our local area and got a good sense of WHERE we are in the world. We’ve also looked at our local culture and history to better understand WHO we are and HOW Barnsley was shaped.
We’re now going to compare all of this to a contrasting location, France. Our closest European neighbours.
We always start our topic studies with WHEN and WHERE so we have made a map of France. BUT! We’re Year 4! You didn’t think it would be as simple as that did you?
Mr Swallow gave us a blank map of France and lots of places to look for IN FRENCH!!!!
Thats right! We had to read the locations and find them on maps written in English. It’s a good job we are clever! We soon figured out that some of the places were cities, some rivers, seas or oceans and even some mountain ranges.
All of the places were not on 1 map. We had to use a POLITICAL map to find anything made by humans and a PHYSICAL map to find the natural locations!!! Wow.
What would we have looked like “Darn’t Pit?”
Daisy brought in her grandads Davey lamp as well as the more modern safety helmet and lamp.
we couldn’t believe how HEAVY everything was! The kids struggled to keep them on for a photo never mind work a 12 hr manual job in them!!!
The finished product
Check out our completed Miners’ Strike inspired art…it looks amazing on the classroom wall! Lewis even called it the ‘Wall of Doom!’ because of the gloomy and somber atmosphere we had created!
Nearly there…
We got a little more done on our Miners’ Strike inspired artwork today. looking good…
Art inspired by the scenes from the Miners’ Strike
As our Unit on local history and mining draws to a close, we have been looking at photographs of the scenes that took place during the ’84 Miners’ Strike.
In literacy, we were trying to imagine what those men would have been thinking about or saying in those photos. We have decided to try and capture those feelings with a piece of artwork. It will take several stages for us to get to the finished piece.
Step 1-
Mr Swallow brought in lots of photographs of people who are angry! Some of them were actors, pretending to be angry and some of them were real photos of how people behaved in riots or strikes. We were looking at the poses that showed their feelings and the posture in which they were holding their body. A lot of them were remarkably similar!
Step 2-
Next, we chose a partner and Mr. Swallow gave us a huge piece of art paper. We could either trace the person from the photograph and then edit the tracing to look like the character we wanted, or just use the pose of the person in the photo to inspire and inform our own drawing. We scribbled on the back of the tracing paper so that we could then print our tracing onto the huge art paper. Together, we built up a selection of scenes showing the angry protests of the miners on our big paper.
Step 3-
The final step was to frame the scenes. We chose charcoal because of the obvious tonal links to coal and the miners. Framing the scenes in a black, dusty cloud gave the pictures a foreboding sense of anger and darkness. The charcoal even reminded us of the clouds of smoke we saw in the riot pictures or ‘clouds of anger’ as Tilly eloquently put it! We want our pictures to represent the scary, upsetting and even dangerous situation that those miners found themselves caught up in in the dark days of 1984.
Reading VIPERS challenge
This week, we are looking at the Summarise VIPER. Our first Summary activity is a game of charades! The children were brilliant and WE COULD TELL WHAT EVERY SINGLE SCENE from the book was, when they acted it out! Year 4 are true drama queens!!!
Circuits Challenge
As you know, we did not get the chance to work practically when we learned about circuits at the end of Year 3. So, we took the opportunity this afternoon to refresh our know about circuit diagrams, insulators and conductors as well as get our hands on the lovely circuits equipment that Mr Swallow bought.
Nora Batty and Compo Yorkshire Pudding Recipes
Well! I asked for it! I did!
I asked my pupils to pretend to be Nora Batty or Compo and write a recipe for making Yorkshire puddings ‘in character.’ AND…they did!
We had some creative suggestions from our Compos! Such as “spitting in the pan” if you have no oil or “nicking the eggs from under a chicken!”
As for the Nora Battys, they were constantly recommending “Whacking Compo with their broom” and keeping an eye out for him trying to “snog” you!!!
They were great fun and (as well as staying in character) did actually manage to write a recipe that used the features they had identified.
Well done Year 4, that was a VERY independent piece of writing.
Yorkshire Pudding Recipe Challenge
We have written plenty of recipes with Mr Swallow before (Egyptian Saboob bread, Spaghetti Carbonara and our amazing Regional pizzas!) So, Mr Swallow decided that we were ready for a recipe writing challenge! He gave us this Yorkshire Pudding Recipe:
- Get 2 eggs, 80g of flour & 100ml of milk
- Mix it together
Cook it in the oven for around 20 mins
That was it! It was a rubbish recipe! He didn’t use time order words, bossy words, adjectives or adverbs! Terrible. He gave us just 1 lesson where he reminded us what features a recipe should have and then told us we would be writing our own with no help.
We know what you’re thinking, that is tricky but not that hard. Well, that’s not all! Meet Compo and Nora Batty…
They are the stars of an old Yorkshire TV show and Mr Swallow let us see them in action. He then challenged us to become either Compo or Nora and, write the recipe AS IF WE ARE THEM!
The Nora Battys would have to make sure that the house was kept clean whilst they worked and also to keep an eye out for Compo sneaking in to pinch ingredients or even a kiss!!!!
The Compos had to be a little creative in the ingredients they used and were, obviously, not too bothered about hygiene standards!
Yorkshire Pudding making
We have followed a VERY SIMPLE Yorkshire pudding recipe and, of course, we weighed our own ingredients and followed the recipe with our team. We just needed Mr Swallow and Miss Housley to use the oven and handle the hot trays.
As you can see, the results were amazing! They tasted fantastic too!
Timeline
Today’s challenge was really tricky.
We are making our own timeline that covers the history of mining in Barnsley. This means it starts before Victorian times and runs all the way to now.
Mining has really shaped and defined our local identity so we couldn’t map the history of mining without including the changes in culture too.
We had to use LOTS of different sources of information to create our timelines:
Mr Swallow had written some important events down but they were all jumbled up so we had to get them into CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER and choose which ones we wanted to use.
We had dozens of books about mining and local history to gather our own information from to add to our timeline.
We had a set of existing timelines covering everything from pop culture to politics, again we could choose the information we wanted to use and add it to our own timeline in the correct place.
We have been looking at the art of Sheffield-born artist, Pete McKee
We love his pictures so we wanted to analyse his style. That means we want to figure out what makes a typical McKee painting, a McKee painting.
We spotted that he uses:
- Bold, cartooney colours. The colours have shadow details too.
- Simple style, don’t use too much detail
- You hardly ever see peoples eyes or mouths
We soon realised that there was much more to a McKee than the type of drawing though…we noticed quite a bit about the subjects he paints:
- They are typical Yorkshire people doing things we all like to do…visiting the coast, watching footy, eating chips
- They wear typical Yorkshire clothing, like flat caps and football shirts (unfortunately of Sheffield teams rather than Barnsley!)
- There are often typical Yorkshire landmarks or scenery in the background (we spotted the rainy weather in the cafe scene Mr McKee!)
We decided to use all these elements to create our own Pete McKee-style artwork. So, Mr. Swallow sketched out a few ideas about things that mattered to him (his brother helping him on his house, his father-in-law blowing on his cup of tea and even a Yorkshire pudding!)
We then looked at how to import the sketches into the computer and reformat them so that we had a digital copy of the sketch. We then used the program, Paint, to colour in the pictures digitally…re-creating that distinctive, Pete McKee look. Here is our progress so far…
Read our recommendations for the businesses you can find in Birdwell…
We have been fining out about different types of dwellings and settlements
What do we love about life in Birdwell?
Place Value challenge:
We had to use the Base 10 equipment to create some models…but there was a twist:
Can you make a model of a robot in Base 10, that is symmetrical?
What is the total value of your model? Does the fact that it is symmetrical influence its value?
Can you design an animal that has an odd value?
What will determine if the number is odd or even? Which is the most crucial type of Base 10 block in the model? Why?
Can you create a house, using Base 10, that has a total value as close to 500 as possible?
What happens when Mr. Swallow comes along and pinches some of your equipment? Is it more important to get to 500 or to make it look like a house?
Birdwell Explorers
We took our overhead maps of Birdwell and set off on foot to see what we could add. There are so many businesses and special locations in our village that it’s quite surprising when you note them all down!
We also had some areas of our map that were incomplete so we had to ‘fill in the blanks.’
Check out the new vinyls around school!
We’ve had a lot of vinyls fitted around school.
Can you spot any of the classics or your favourites? Are you going to walk along the galaxy corridor? Or take a journey into Narnia?
Archery time!
Today, we have had a belter of a time! We have been practising our archery skills, we even used a real bow to shoot the arrows!
Check out the images below to see us in action.
New Term, new Topic!
This Topic is called, “Where am I from?”
We are going to explore the geography and culture of our region, it’s history and roots, it’s place in Europe and the World. We hope you all enjoy it and get a better sense of who and where we are in the World.
[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2021/09/WHERE-AM-I-FROM-Topic-Map.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]
A Monday morning treat!
Elise, from Barnsley Music Services, came to see us this morning. She demonstrated some of the instruments that she teaches children how to play and told us about how they work. SHE WAS AMAZING!!!!
If you would like to sign up for lessons, let us know.
It’s Arcade Time!!!!
Our machines are built, we’ve wired up the buttons, the paint is dry (almost)…it#s time to open the arcade to the public.
Work in progress…
Check out how our arcade machines are coming together…
Welcome To Year 4!!!
Welcome back to school everyone! Mr. Mathieson and I are very excited to be your teachers for this year. We have lots of fun in store and know that you guys are going to work really hard for us. Our first 2 days back are our transition days (these are normally the days you spend getting used to a new teacher and a new classroom). However, because you already know Mr. Mathieson and me so well and know what we expect of you then we thought it would be a good opportunity instead to finish those arcade game projects we started at the end of Year 3!
Our bubble closures at the end of the school year meant that we have already designed and coded our own scratch games, as well as planned you our arcade machines could look. Basically, we have completed a full topic, EXCEPT FOR THE BEST PART!!!! Let’s put that right…our 2-day challenge is to have completed arcade machines READY to use, by TOMORROW AFTERNOON!!!!!
Here is one I did with Syd, in the holiday as a test run…
Dojo winners!
Well done to these two children who won the most Dojos of the week.
National Anthem!
Working from home
It looks as though we’ve got an electrician in Year 4!
Year 4 last TT Rockstars Superstars certificates of the year.
Week 6
Week 5
TT Rockstars Superstars
COME ON ENGLAND!!!
England supporters are out in full force for the Euros!
TT Rockstars Superstars
TT Rockstars Superstars
TT Rockstars Superstars
End of Topic Roman day!
We had such a brilliant end of topic day celebration, thank you to all of the parents that helped make this happen!
We really enjoyed dressing up in our Roman attire and heading down to the field to hunt the Celt (thanks, kids!!)
In the afternoon, we were split into small groups and sampled some famous pizzas from around Italy, we even got to wash them down with some delicious dessert, tiramisu (yum!)
Behave… or be punished!
This morning, the dregs of society were placed in prison to work.
We found out that the ceilings in prison were extremely low and there wasn’t much room to move around.
One child, not mentioning names (Heidi), wasn’t impressed by the working conditions and asked, ”How do we escape this punishment?”
TT Rockstars Superstars
TT Rockstars Superstars
TT Rockstars Superstars
Improper fractions to mixed numbers
We didn’t quite get away with writing on the tables in our maths session. I wonder what Mr Bailey would have to say about this!?
TT ROCKSTARS!!
Today’s maths consisted of times tables battles! We know the importance of being able to quickly recall all of our times tables – lets keep practising at home too!
TT Rockstars Superstars
Roman buildings
This week, we have brought Ancient Rome to life in our classroom!
Doesn’t the spring water look inviting in the baths?
Roman portraits
Our art skills have come on such a long way!
The children should be very proud of themselves for the amazing work they have produced, they look like actual photos!
Year 4, can you spot yours?
Welcome back!
Check out what is coming up in our new topic, we can’t wait to get this started!
[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2021/04/Ancient-Rome-topic-map.pdf” download=”all” text=”Topic map” viewer=”google” ]
The SHINING STAR of the Half Term
Well, today wraps up the first half term and here is out shining star of the half term!
Well done – 7 children were nominated out of 204, what an achievement Mr! This is something to be proud of 
Testing our ships
Floaters or sinkers!?
Easter Egg hunt
WE FOUND THE EGGS!!!
Building our ships
We had so much fun building our ships.
There was a lot of work involved. We used hot glue guns, pva glue, card, art straws, frog tape, tin foil and cardboard… the list goes on.
I can’ wait to see the finished products!
World Book Day – READING DENS!
Check out some of the dens that have been submitted today!
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- Code name, banana!
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- This looks like a comfy spot!
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- The name is a winner.
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- Thumbs up if you’re sleeping in your den tonight!
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- How much sleep will I get tonight?
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- Not much!
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- Someone managed to get a shot through the curtains of the den!
Francis’s model car
Check out Francis’ car model! What a superb job you have done, Mr! Now, does it move!?
Our car manufacturing is well underway, will they be spotted cruising up and down Sheffield Road!?
Antonia’s Lambo
Antonia has designed a bubble pink Lambo! Hopefully it can be brought to life 🙂
Mathletics Superstars
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- Francis
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- Olivia L
Smooooooooooooth criminal
Check out this super smooth, handsome chap on Valentine’s Day!
Pancake day!! Or is it Miss Housley day!?
We had some weird and wonderful creations of Miss Housley inspired pancakes over the holidays, check them out!
NEW TOPIC!!!
By land, air and sea!
A look at transport, how it works and how it has changed over time.
Friday ZoomZoom!
Here is the link to our final zoom Friday Fun meeting of the half-term!!!
Meeting ID: 963 7219 3526
Passcode: zoomzoom
You will need your whiteboard and pens…
A post card from Mr Twiggy
Twiggy the alien is off to Aldi!
[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2021/02/lh.jpg” download=”all” text=”Download – Post card” viewer=”google” ]
Check out some of the portraits and even SIMS characters of the teachers we received!
Isabel’s science experiement
Isabel has sent in a wonderful write up of her science experiment.
I particularly like how Isabel has included labelled diagrams to give the reader a clear image of what the different stages of her experiment looked like.
I think I might start to wrap my tea in tin foil after reading your conclusion!
[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2021/02/my-seince-experten-IH.pdf” download=”all” text=”Download – Science write up” viewer=”google” ]
An Alien post card!?
I DEFINITELTY THINK YOU SHOULD COME TO EARTH!
[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2021/02/heeley-postcard.pdf” download=”all” text=”Isabel’s ALIEN post card” viewer=”google” ]
Working scientifically
Demi did a great job of investigating insulators and conductors of heat.
She made sure it was a fair test by using the same size mug for each cup of tea and allowing each mug to stand for 5 minutes.
I can’t wait to read the scientific write up – especially the conclusion as it will give me a good idea of how to keep my tea warm!
DC the chief inspector!
Another formal fire inspection in Birdwell!
This inspector really went to town. Ensuring that she was wearing PPE around the home to keep safe, very professional and formal.
The inspector conducted a thorough check and gave some great advice on fire safety around the home.
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There’s another inspector doing the rounds!
We have another fire inspector in Birdwell. Microwave, fire place and smoke alarms all passed the test!
This was a very thorough inspection of the house!
Well, Birdwell’s chief fire inspector turned up at this house and put the grown ups through a very thorough, formal inspection.
Fortunately, the grown ups have done a superb job and passed the inspection. The inspector sent a report in the post to let the grown ups know the outcome.
flashmul
The inspection begins
We’ve had a couple of floor designs sent in today, these are going to be perfect for the fire inspection at the end of the week.
FUNDAY FRIDAY!!
It’s FRIDAY again kids and that means our FUN-DAY FRI-YAY!!
This afternoon we have something really fun planned for you, make sure you join un on ZOOM
Time: 1:30pm
Meeting ID: 965 1275 7815
Password: funday
Spooky portraits
This is Clarke’s portrait, he’s been telling his family all about different expressions!
flashmul
This sounds like a serious inspection!
This fire inspector is going to BARGE through the doors!
A fire inspector who means business!
This inspector is going to close the school down if it isn’t up to the high standards required!
A very formal introduction!
Mr Bower sounds as though he is going to do a really thorough check!
Miss Healey really went to town on her introduction!
Wow!
Snow DAY TWO!!!
Check out the pictures I received on snow day! I have added a caption to each one, make sure you read them.
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- Chloe decided to send in a picture of… her garden? Can anyone spot a snowman!?
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- Here’s DC chilling with her fella!
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- PLB decided to cause havoc in the Town centre as nobody was there to stop her!
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- A snow volcano has appeared by LD’s house!
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- Check out the SMILES
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- Is this a snowman based on Mr Swallow?
Newspapers
Japan GOODBYE!
Check out the newspapers that have been written – these children have done a great job, well done guys.
Mathletics Superstar
Shay
WHAT SHOULD I TAKE WITH ME!!?
CS was deep in thought wondering what to take with him when a tsunami hits!
Erupting volcanoes
Check out the videos of the erupting volcanoes this week!
Apologies for any destruction caused within your house!
Mathletics Superstar!
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- Shay
Some bits from the week commencing 18.01.21
Check out the learning that has gone on this week!
Mr Swallow’s PICTIONARY BONANZAAAAA!!!
Hello guys!!
This FRI-YAYYYYY is going to be all about drawing!
You will need:
- A pencil or a pen to draw with
- Something to draw on (whiteboard or paper!)
2:00pm START! On Zoom.
Meeting ID: 203 518 4740
Password: drawing
We can’t wait to see you guys!
Earthquake proof building challenge
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- Poppy built a Lego village by the looks of it! Her mum said she cheated because she built it on a Lego base, who agrees!?
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- It standed the mobile phone test, the dancing around it test but it lasted 13 seconds when it was shook very hard!!!!
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- Bobby Snape put this together for his FIRST building but it collapsed…
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- This was Bobby’s SECOND design and it withstood all of the tests!
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- Demi’s structure would withstand an Earthquake, apparently!? But we aren’t sure about the person and furniture on top!
Some pieces of work from the week commencing 11.01.21
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- Poppy has written an excellent diary entry – she has included all of the features, well done Poppy!
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- Imogen has designed an informative poster regarding and earthquake that hit Chile!
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- Check out JG modelling her DISASTER ZONE poster!
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- CS has put together his own radio, this might be useful in a situation stranded in snow!?
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- CS’s disaster zone poster – very informative!
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- Demi has mapped the World’s tectonic plates!
Snow-day FUN-day!
Check out our snow day fun!
Some pieces of work from the week commencing 4.01.21
Here are some snaps of the work that has been completed this week.
We are so proud of you guys, keep it up!
Mr Mathieson and Miss Housley
