Year 2 Summer 2023-24
DT - Mechanisms - Ferris Wheels.
Last term we were set the task of designing and creating a functional Ferris Wheel. Today we added the pods to the frame to complete our structures. First we designed and labelled a Ferris Wheel. Next we discussed how different components could be joined together, why a wheel needs an axle (to be able to move) and what shape the wheel needs to be in order for it to rotate. We selected materials that we thought were suitable for each part of our structure and explained why? We shared thoughts and ideas based on our own designs to create a functional Ferris wheel as a team. We decorated lolly sticks and attached them to the wheel using glue. We then added more lolly sticks to create the outer frame. We chose a selection of appropriate materials such as: egg boxes and yoghurt pots for the pods and used glue, pipe cleaners, sellotape and cocktail sticks to attach them. We adapted our structures throughout the process, strengthening the frame to support the weight of the wheel and chose different size pods to fit inside the frame as some were too big. Finally we tested our structures to see if they would rotate and that the frame stood freely. We also tested the pods when we rotated the wheel to see if they stayed in place to carry people safely. We will be evaluating our structures next week.
Well done Year 2! You have worked well as a team and understood how to make a structure with a moving wheel.
Literacy- Sharing our Monkey Puzzle Riddles
After completing our riddles, we discussed the type of audience for our riddles, agreeing that younger children would enjoy clues and rhyme alongside guessing the answers. We then discussed the tone of our voice and how our riddles should be read. We finally shared them with nursery and reception children who enjoyed guessing the different animals in our riddles.
Muddy Puddle Teacher- Science
We were lucky enough today to be joined by The Muddle Puddle Teacher, Sarah. We worked outside to consolidate our learning about plants, we enjoyed drawing plants and labelling them, using rope to work as a team to develop parts of a plant, considering seed dispersion and making our own plant guardians that would ensure plants in our area were provided with sun, water and nutrients. It was a great way to end our unit on plants and a fantastic time was had in the outdoors. Thank-you to Mr and Mrs Walker and their daughter Bethan who also took part in our activities.
PSHE- Our School Environment
In our PSHE lesson today we were first faced with quite a mess in our classroom. We talked about how the mess made us feel, we agreed it made us feel mad, unorganised, shocked and upset! We spoke about how a tidy classroom was important for learning and safety. We promptly worked together to put our classroom back together! After which we felt calm and able to work! We spoke about how it is important that school is kept nice for us to enjoy. We then became school ground inspectors! We went for a walk around parts of school. We were tasked with finding parts of school we liked, and those we thought we could improve. We pointed out the cleanliness of our school. tidy cloak rooms, the lovely flower pots outside of the entrance and our new play equipment. We agreed that some things could be improved like sweeping the bark up on the Key Stage 1 yard! We talked about who could help us improve our surroundings and agreed we already do a great job of this too!
History- What was Grace Darling's life like?
In today’s History lesson we completed a hot seating task. We worked in groups, one person in the group acted the role of Grace Darling, remembering what we had learnt about her so far. Other people in the group then took it in turns to answer questions, we had to think carefully about our answers. We discussed what types of meals she would have eaten, what she would have done with her day and what life would have been life for her living in the lighthouse.
