3C

WB 3rd May 2022

Year 3 are learning all about databases this half term in Computing. We are specifically looking at branching databases and exploring how they work. This week, we created our own version on paper before we transfer it over to Purple Mash on the computer. We made sure that each of our questions could be answered with either yes or no to find the correct fruit. We really enjoyed doing this and can’t wait to get it up on the computer to test it out.

WB 25th April 2022

Our new Science topic this half term is Plants. This week, we started by looking at the parts of a flower. We started with a match mine to get to know the different parts, followed by an interactive quiz to test how much we’d remembered. Then, we dissected a tulip and labelled the different parts using the knowledge we’d just learnt. We found this really interesting!

The next part of the lesson we spent planting our sunflower seeds that we will spend observing over the next few weeks. We are so excited to see them grow!

WB 19th April 2022

Our new DT topic this half-term is about ‘Textiles’ and we’re creating cushions! This week we explored cross-stitch and applique as these are what we are going to be using for our cushions.

We looked at how to thread a needle properly as well as tying a knot in it to ensure it stayed. Then we got to work on creating some cross-stitches on our piece of fabric. We found this quite hard to do at first but with a lot of perseverance, we were able to make it work. Then we got another piece of fabric, cut out our desired shape and used a running stich to make an applique on our piece of fabric. We’re so excited to get started on creating our cushions!

WB 28th March

Year 3 spent their last Science lesson about Rocks and Soil, learning about fossils. It was a very exciting lesson all about learning how fossils are made. We looked at the 11 step process of how they are created and found out that fossils are actually sedimentary rocks that have been formed over millions of years. Then we had the chance to create our own fossils using flour, salt, coffee granules and water. This made a dark brown, muddy dough which we could imprint our animals into. If you want to know more about the fossil process, don’t hesitate to ask us!

This week in 3C, we learnt about tectonic plates and the effects that these have all over our planet. First, we looked at where the tectonic plates and plate boundaries were around the world and what countries would be most affected by this. Then, we looked at the three different types of tectonic plate movement: convergent, divergent and transform and discussed how they all had varying effects on the Earth’s landscape. After, we used Oreos to demonstrate these tectonic plate movement to show what effects each of them have. We really enjoyed this activity as it gave us a hands-on understanding. Then we had the chance to look at some of the real life tectonic plate movement effects, for example; the Himalayas, the San Andreas fault line and Mount Fuji volcano.

This week in art, we have been looking at creating volcanoes, using junk materials. First we looked at an example of a finished product and then figured out what materials we would need to create it. We gathered our materials and created a set of instructions that we would need to follow. Then we got to work making it. We taped a 500ml water bottle to a square bit of cardboard, then started wrapping newspaper around the bottle and using masking tape to tape it down. We built the newspaper up to create the volcano shape. As you can see in the picture, our volcanoes are ready to start applying the mudrock.

In science, the children in Year 3 have been learning about rocks and soils. This week, we looked at the different types of soil and their purpose. We looked at three soils in particular – chalk loam, clay soil and sandy soil. The children had to use their detective skills to find out which soil was which from three samples.

Three different tests were conducted:

• The senses test – by looking, smelling and touching the soil.
• The texture test – testing if the soil would roll into a ball or a long sausage when a small amount of moisture was applied to it.
• The water test – testing if water would go through the soil and if so, how quickly and did any of the water stay in the soil.

This was a fun practical activity that allowed us to understand the types of soil that is used throughout the world. We were able to make conclusions about which soil each of the samples were. To conclude their learning of soil types, the children answered questions about where certain soils would be around the world.