Some of the Year 3 children made some animals out of nature at break time today. They were too wonderful not to share!!

Greek Vases

Year 3 have been super busy over the past couple of months making their paper mache greek vases. It has taken a lot of time and patience, not to mention LOTS of newspaper, PVA glue and paint!! 

I couldn't be prouder of how amazing the vases look and how careful and creative the children have been. 

We put a modern twist on our designs to depict life as we know it now. 

We hope you love them as much as we do!! 

Outdoor Learning with Miss Lawler - Part 2!

Today the children have planned an investigation to take place when the sun appears. This involved lots of discussion, questioning and careful thinking to make sure we were creating a fair test!

We then headed outside to explore the school grounds to make shadow puppets! The children were split into groups and given the task of creating a story that they could show through shadows. This could be shadows using their bodies of from creating shadow puppets. The children had LOTS of fun with this and came up with some very imaginative ideas and creations! 

We can't wait for the sun to re-appear to carry out our experiment and act out our shadow stories. 

Cockermouth School Athletics

Year 3 had lots of fun doing athletics today, courtesy of Cockermouth School.

Outdoor Learning with Miss Lawler

This week, Year 3 have had the privilege of  learning outdoors with Miss Lawler. We spent the whole morning outside exploring and doing different experiments. The topic of our outdoor learning sessions is Light and Shadows, which as you can see below the children had lots of fun with! 

We covered many working scientifically objectives, including asking simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways, using their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions, identifying differences, similarities or changes related to simple scientific ideas and processes and observing closely, using simple equipment.

We started our day with an Aboriginal story of how the world came to be. The children were quick to notice how it reminded them of the Christian story of creation. We then set out to find objects that meant light to us. The children had to explain their reasoning such as, 'I have chosen a stick because you can create fire with it'. The children then observed their objects closely using magnifying glasses. Some children were amazed to see a rainbow (spectrum) when looking through their magnifying glasses!

Next, darkness! The children were blind folded and their partner had to guide them around the field safely. This was to help the children to understand that darkness is the absence of visual light.

We then started to explore our shadows - How do we create shadows? What are shadows? Can you make different shapes with shadows? What happens to our shadows when we face a different direction?

Putting our knowledge to the test

True or False - the children had to sort statements according to whether they were true or false. This was completed in groups and encouraged lots of discussion! The children were reasoning and explaining their ideas behind whether they thought it was true or false. 

Key Vocabulary Hunt-  Our last activity was to go on a hunt for key vocabulary linking to our topic. Once each child had at least one key word we then discussed them as a class. We talked about ones that we knew already and discussed those that we didn't know, which is great preparation for when we do come across these words throughout our topic!

We thoroughly enjoyed our morning and were very thankful that the weather stayed clear for us (it was hail stoning in the afternoon!!)

We cannot wait to see what next week brings!! 

We started our new science topic today - Light and Shadows. We conducted an experiment to see if light travels in straight lines. We placed objects inside a box then poked holes through the box. We looked through the holes whilst shining the torch through a separate hole. The children soon realised that they could only see the objects directly below where the torch was shining and that light does in fact travel in straight lines!

This term, Year 3 have been lucky enough to have Jon in to teach them cricket!

Today the children worked as a team to place themselves in the correct order whilst counting in tenths. This helped when completing our number line work! The children who had a tenth bigger than a whole also converted their fractions. For example, 28/10 = 2 wholes and 8/10.

Planting Apple Trees 

Some of the Year 3 children helped Miss Lawler to plant some apple trees in our field. They worked very hard and were slightly muddy but they had the loveliest afternoon! They will now be our apple tree monitors, making sure the trees are treated nicely by everyone else in school. 

Today the children have been measuring the perimeter of biscuits. This allowed them to put their measuring skills to the test and enjoy a yummy treat at the end!

British Science Week in Year 3

The children took part in a presentation made by past Paddle pupils where they shared: why they like Science, which scientists inspired them and their favourite experiments. The children also learned about Raye Montague - an engineer who conquered many obstacles to pursue her dream career. 

The focus for our science week was forces and magnets. The children explored the meaning of forces and how forces act when completing different activities. We then looked at magnets - why they are used, how they are used, the strengths of different magnets, how they repel and attract and what made an object magnetic. The children made predictions about which objects they thought may be magnetic. They then carried out a test to see which objects would be magnetic by going on a hunt with their magnets. We  experimented with bar magnets to see how they can attract and repel. The children recorded these findings, showing what happened when they had the poles facing different ways. Many children were able to make their bar magnets spin! 

We really enjoyed our science day. There was lots of discussion and questioning and plenty of fun! We loved seeing how magnets and forces work and how they can be used around the world.

DT - Castles 

Some of the fabulous castles that the Year 3 children have made whilst learning at home!

Our Skeletons

Year 3 have been learning about human skeletons in Science and identifying the different bones in our body. Today we have been building our own skeletons talking about its function and learning scientific names for our bones.

Outdoor Learning with The National Trust

Year 3 have been involved in a National Trust Guardianship Programme. We have looked at habitats and how to encourage wildlife into our gardens throughout the year. The children built hedgehog homes and other habitats. We had an amazing day thinking about our outdoor areas at school and at home. Hope you enjoy our photo's that really celebrate our learning and such an exciting day.