Asexual vs Sexual Reproduction

Today in science, Year 5 have learnt about the difference between asexual and sexual reproduction. We discussed how some animals and plants are able to produce offspring with only one parent. Mr Langley had done some research about stick insects and discovered that some species of stick insect can reproduce asexually. A female stick insect can lay eggs, which hatch into offspring, without a male stick insect. Interesting fact: some species of stick insect have no males left because asexually produced offspring of stick insects are always female!

We also learnt that sexual reproduction requires two parents to create offspring. For instance, a strawberry flower can be pollinated by its own pollen (asexual) or by the pollen of another strawberry flower (sexual).

What a fantastic discussion!

Jane Goodall

Today, in Year 5, we have been learning about Jane Goodall. We learnt that she is a lover of chimpanzees. At a young age, her father gave her a chimpanzee toy. She travelled to Africa to learn more about these marvellous animals. After a while, Goodall gained the chimpanzee's trust. Jane created an institute to help the locals so that they did not have to cut down so many of the chimpanzee's precious trees. During her visit, she created a company called Roots and Shoots. She discovered that chimpanzees are similar to humans as they care for each other and even wage wars. Unlike other scientists, Goodall even named her chimpanzees!

Mallory Class have had a great discussion this afternoon about Jane Goodall and her chimpanzees, discussing why they are endangered and how the institute is trying to improve their wellbeing.

In Hargreaves class, we have created posters to advertise Jane Goodall's amazing conservation work.

Mummification!

Today, we learnt about mummification in Ancient Egypt. We discussed the process and many of us felt slightly sick when we heard that a hook was used to pull the brain of the deceased out through the nostrils.

We discussed the way the dead were treated in Ancient Egyptian times compared to how the dead are treated in modern day Britain. When someone suggested that the Egyptians sounded insane for placing organs in canopic jars; wrapping them in linens and putting resin on them, we considered that the Egyptians might find our customs equally strange. We considered what happens to a body when it is buried and thought about why the Egyptians put so much effort into preserving their dead.

What a fascinating lesson!

Earth and Space

In Year 5 we have been learning about our solar system. We learnt the names of the planets and that all the planets orbit the sun. Venus is the hottest! Mercury is the smallest! We discussed the way Uranus spins on its side and that the planets closer to the sun have a shorter orbit. We discussed why the planets closer to the sun don't block all the sunlight from the other planets further away.

We also focussed on the movement of the moon around the Earth. It was interesting to discuss the lunar cycle and the different shapes of the moon. After our discussion, we made our own model of the sun, the Earth and the moon, using split pins so that the Earth orbited the sun and the moon orbited the Earth.

Scratch Evidence

Today we created folders to save our scratch evidence in. Here is an  example-

Lola           Wednesday 1^st March 2017

First I drew the sand and then I filled it in. Next I did the sea the same and drew wavy lines on it. Also I drew a palm tree.

Wednesday 1^st March 2017

WALT: use our knowledge of scratch to create a program that controls the movement and costume of a sprite.

Ruby: I have created a beach background for my project. I used different types of paint and different size brushes. I clicked on the picture labeled ‘stage’ and pressed ‘draw background’

to draw my background.

James: I had to do a background on scratch. We used different colours and different sized brushes. We also drew a palm trees although we had a few attempts to get it right!

Daisy: I drew a beach scene on scratch and I thought about the colours and scenery.

SID (Safer Internet Day)

For Safer Internet Day we learned about how to use photos and images on the internet.

We thought about what photos can reveal about us, about how we respond to messages online and how important it is to be aware that not all photos are real (some have been photoshopped).

Would you speak to a stranger online? Have you ever 'added' someone on an internet site without knowing who they are?

These were the questions we discussed together.

Later, we responded to some questions using post-it notes and discussed our thoughts:

Mr Langley and Mrs Belcher were both impressed by how much Earth and Neptune class engaged with these issues.