Happy Science Week! This week we have been celebrating Science, started by an assembly lead by Miss Honnor our Science lead, which got us excited about our scientific learning! This year the focus is on Science and the passing of time, which ties in well with our Year 2 topic of plants and growing.
For more information about British Science week please see the following link.
At the beginning of the new half term we started by thinking about what we already know about plants and also what we would like to know. The children remembered lots of knowledge from their prior learning in Reception and Year 1! They also thought about great questions they could ask as we work through the topic:
- “How does a plant move?”
- “How many days does a seed take to grow?”
- Which plant can grow to a grown up, the fastest?”
- “Can plants grow with electric light?” The children went onto compare seeds and bulbs, using magnifying glasses. They drew what they could see and wrote about the similarities and differences.
Together the children learnt about what is inside a seed or bulb and our new Word Aware word was GERMINATION, The children watched a video all about germination; when a plant starts to grow, and they studied the changes that take place.
The children then planted their own lettuce seeds and we have been watching their progress carefully everyday as we go past them in the courtyard!
Last week the children made predictions about what seeds need to germinate. They brainstormed in teams and discussed ideas such as sunlight, soil, water and air. They then decided to test this by removing one of these elements. They learnt about the importance of having a control group as a comparison.
This week the children have focused on writing down their findings in a conclusion.
The children found this experiment fascinating. What brilliant scientists we have in Year 2!
How you can help at home:
Encourage your child to get out into the garden or go out for a walk- what plants can they see?
Dissect some seeds (ie apple/orange pips) by pulling them apart- can your child remember the names of the different parts?
Choose plants to grow together from a seed or a bulb. Watch their progress!
Encourage your child to use the associated language with growing:
ie germination, seed, bulb, soil, sunlight, air, water, predict, conclusion.
Can they remember all the different parts of a plant?