Science in Year 1

Firstly we want to say well done and thank you for the overwhelmingly positive response we have had so far, to the new homework format Merry Hill are using on Seesaw.  Fantastic!

This term our science topic is Animals, including mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians.

We started by identifying and comparing mammals.  We learnt that mammals are living things that have hair or fur on their bodies, breathe using lungs and give birth to babies. We used this information to identify that we, as humans, are all mammals.  We observed by looking closely and identifying what body parts lots of different mammals have, considering how they are the same and how they are different. As Scientists we have also been questioning, for example: Animals can be kept as pets and animals also live in the wild. Can you think of any animals that can be both? We thought of snakes and ferrets.

Following this, we asked How are birds and mammals different? How are they the same? We did some fabulous drawings adding lots of relevant detail, like birds with wings, laying their eggs in a nest and mammals giving birth to live young. 

In our third lesson our Scientists have been sorting different images of animals. We learnt about different fish and what they have in their bodies. Our word of the day was gills.  The children were asked to think about whether all animals that live underwater are fish. They decided no and listed crocodiles, alligators and whales as animals they know which live underwater and are not fish. Some remembered that animals like frogs can spend time underwater then hop back and on land, too.

The children worked really hard and have applied phonic sounds we have learnt into their own writing. What brilliant scientists we have in Year 1! We will be building on what we have learnt so far by moving onto reptiles and amphibians, soon. Have a look at some of the phase 5 alternatives we have learnt in phonics recently and see if you can incorporate these into your writing at home.

How you can help at home:

  • In English the children have learnt how to write reports.  Write a report at home with facts about your favourite animal.
  • Write some sentences explaining if they are a mammal, bird or fish and how you know. Remember: in Year One we use capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. We can write on a line and present our work neatly.
  • In Art we will be making mixed media collages this half term. Can you make a collage of an animal and use different materials to copy different textures? For example- which material would look the best for making scales, fur or feathers?