Buoyancy

In P5 we are covering SCN 2-08B looking at buoyancy.

We started by looking at how weight effects buoyancy and did so by using a large tub of water and a small tub to float inside.
The students were tasked with getting their tubs to float, hover and sink.

We then discussed how the weight effected the buoyancy and therefore allowed them to achieve the challenge. We didn't manage to find anything in the classroom that was heavy enough to fit in the tubs so we headed out into the playground to find some stones to help us achieve our goal.

The students then completed some reflective questions about the learning covered in their activities.

Shadow Puppet Edu

Last week we had a staff training session on the iPads and were introduced to the app called Shadow Puppet Edu.

Since the training session I have used the app a couple of times during my biology classes. After a quick training session the children were quick to pick up how to use the app and worked away at their tasks eagerly.

In P4 I asked the students to find an image of the arm bones and then to use this in their shadow puppet to label the clavicle, scapula, humerus, ulna and radius.

This required a few different skills from the students as although I had given them the names of the bones I wanted them to label I hadn't told them which one was which. After a little bit of discussion time in their groups the children realised they had to use safari on the iPads to identify which bone was which. They then drew a quick sketch to label as a reference point before completing their videos.

The only setback was setting up the iPads to allow the app to use the camera and microphone as often the children would just click don't allow when the request came up and then wouldn't be able to use the features they needed. Once all the iPads have been used for the app this won't be a problem anymore, and it is easy enough to fix.

The next time I used the app I used airdrop to send out the picture I wanted the children to use for their shadow puppets instead of letting them look online for a picture. This was because I wasn't comfortable with some of the images they were discovering when trying to find anatomical images on google.

Here are a couple of the shadow puppets created by the students during the week.