The Mysteries of Magnets...

Are all magnets created equal?

In 3V this afternoon we have been continuing our scientific work, investigating the properties of magnets.  We conducted an experiment to find out whether some kinds of magnet are stronger than others.  Using a ruler, a paperclip and three different kinds of magnet, we decided to find out.  We took care to record our answers in a table as we went, and to keep our experiment as fair as possible, we measured carefully, using the same paperclip for each kind of magnet.

Here are some photos of our experiment in action!

Red Nose Day Celebrations

The children in 3V celebrated Red Nose Day with a red-themed non-school uniform day today!  

Big Writing - w/b Monday 22nd March 2021

For next week’s Big Writing, we are going to be describing a Roman Battlefield scene.

We will be using the picture below as a stimulus for our writing. 

It would be helpful if you could discuss the following with your child in preparation for Big Writing...

1) This week’s word of the week is valiantly

2) Discuss the technical vocabulary of the Roman  soldier

3) Discuss what they can see in the picture below using positional language (above, beyond, in the distance…)

4) Talk about how they might feel if they were a Roman soldier on the battlefield.

Any work brought from home can be used in Big Writing on Friday.

Many thanks,

 

Mrs Vaqueiro

 

Mindfulness - Space Breathing

As part of our PSHE work since returning to school, we have been focusing on different ways to feel calm and let go of our day to day worries.  

The children really enjoyed taking a few minutes this afternoon to focus on their breathing and relax - we agreed that it would be great for them to try doing this at home before bedtime, to help them get a good night's sleep.  If you would like to try it at home, you can listen to a guided relaxation session here.

Marvellous Magnets!

As part of our science work this half term, the children in Year 3 have been learning about different forces. Today, we explored the amazing world of magnets!  

We learnt that magnets have an invisible force field around them, which pulls certain materials in and makes them stick.  We enjoyed watching paper clips jump across the desk to stick to our magnets!

We then watched an amazing video clip showing how magnets affect iron filings.  You can watch it here.  We were fascinated!

Then, we looked at how magnets are used in the real world.  We discovered that electro-magnets are often used in recycling centres to sort different materials.  

Finally, it was our turn for a 'Scrapheap Challenge.'  Each group had a tray of different materials to sort into magnetic and non-magnetic materials.  Most children predicted that the magnets would attract metals - but then some of the results turned out to be quite surprising!  

Can you guess which metallic objects didn't stick to the magnets - and can you work out why?

World Book Day

Last week, the children at Swan Lane enjoyed dressing as their favourite book characters as part of a belated World Book Day celebration.  Here are some of the photos of their costumes - don't they look amazing?