Year 4 Spring 2023-24
What is Sound?
For this half term, our unit in Science is all about sound! Today we spent some time investigating what sound is and looking at the visible vibrations objects make as they make a noise. We had lots of fun making different observations.
Investigating Soundproof Materials
Within our Science lessons, we have set up an investigation to test which materials are the best for soundproofing. To do this, we filled plastic cups with different materials and placed them against a speaker and compared how well we could hear the sound through them. As a class, we agreed that towel was the best material for soundproofing out of those we tested.
How far can sound travel?
As part of our last lesson on sound, Year 4 have been thinking about how far a sound travels before we stop hearing it. We set up a mini investigation outside where we all started near a drum and moved further away until we stopped hearing it. We repeated the same activity with a speaker. Although we didn’t stop hearing the sound at the same time, we all stopped hearing the sound at some point. We thought about why this happened and considered how sound waves were like ripples when you drop a stone into a pond; the further they go, the weaker they become until they have no energy at all.
Tectonic Oreos
This term in Geography, Year 4 have been learning all about volcanoes. As part of this, we have been investigating how tectonic plates can cause volcanoes to form or to erupt. To help us understand how tectonic plates move, we used Oreos! The biscuit acted as the Earth's crust and the cream inside acted as the Earth's mantle. We practised moving the 'crust' in different ways to mimic tectonic plates.
Peter's Denial
In RE, Year 4 have been learning about the Easter Story and have been re-enacting Peter's Denial. We considered how Peter felt after betraying Jesus and made links with how Christians feel about expressing their beliefs today.
Recorders
Throughout the term we will be building on our skills from last year to play the recorder. We've had lots of fun revisiting the first two notes 'b' and 'a'. Once we had had a few practices, we were able to read some music notes and play some simple tunes!
Gymnastics
Year 4 have been having lots of fun developing their balance and coordination in their gymnastics lessons. They've been practising take offs and landings when jumping, focusing on developing control with rotation jumps and have began to build sequences using apparatus.
Mary Had a Little Lamb
To conclude our music unit this term, Year 4 practised their performance skills by playing Mary Had a Little Lamb to Year 3 on the recorders. They all played confidently and the tune was instantly recognisable.
World Book Day
Year 4 have had a fantastic day celebrating World Book Day! With this year's theme being 'Read Your Way', we have loved comparing how our reading preferences differ from each other and creating our own mini autobiographies to showcase what makes us unique. We also enjoyed guessing which member of staff was which from their autobiographies in the hall and designing a National Book Token gift card. Towards the end of the day, we even found some time to listen to some famous authors and hear their suggestions of different books we could read.
Well-Being Wednesday!
Year 4 have had such a lovely ‘Well-being Wednesday’! We had so much fun taking part in our dance marathon with Gemma from Little Movers which put us all in great spirits for the rest of the day. Our afternoon was spent practising mindfulness through a range of activities to help us relax and destress. Some of our favourite activities were karaoke, playing simple games with our friends and doing some meditation .
Who was buried at Sutton Hoo?
To kickstart our History unit about the Anglo Saxons, Year 4 became archaeologists and investigated a range of sources which were uncovered at Sutton Hoo. We used the sources to learn about who we thought had been buried there and what life was like for the Anglo-Saxons. We determined that they were keen fighters as well as being skilled in metal work and they also enjoyed items which were decorative as well as practical.
Safer Internet Day
The theme of Safer Internet Day 2024 is 'Inspiring change? Making a difference, managing influence and navigating change online'. To explore this message, Year 4 discussed how much technology had changed in the last 50 years and the impact it has had on the way in which we live our lives today. We focussed on how technology had changed within education, gaming, communication and music and made suggestions of how technology within these areas could improve in the next 20 years too. As well as this, we considered how features of technology could influence our decisions and how events that occur online can have a positive or negative influence on our thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
Dream Sequences
Within our Art unit this term, Year 4 have been exploring the Surrealist Movement and how the art from this period of time was very dreamlike. We used digital media to explore different viewpoints and have concluded the unit by creating a sequence of images to tell the story of a dream using Purple Mash. We have captured images and added these to a background and then used the software on Purple Mash to make the images more dreamlike similar to the art we have studied.
British Science Week
Pendulum Timers
With the theme of this year's British Science Week being 'Time', Year 4 have made pendulum timers and explored how different factors can affect the length of time pendulums swing for. The first factor we investigated was the length of the string. We concluded that the longer the string, the longer it took to stop swinging. Then we added card to the pendulum to see the effect of air resistance. We observed that the pendulum stopped quicker when the air resistance was greater.
Changing State
In Science, Year 4 have been investigating how solids, liquids and gases can change state. We've investigated the best temperature to melt wax using thermometers to measure the temperature and stopwatches to measure how long it took to melt (if at all). As well as this, we set up some mini experiments to explore how water can change to/from ice or water vapour. We were surprised to discover how much water is lost from a kettle as water vapour when it boils and how quickly ice melted when salt was added.
