Willow wb 15.04.24

As part of our work in Science, the children designed their own space suit for an astronaut to visit Mars. We are lucky that the Earth’s atmosphere provides a shield, protecting us from some of the most harmful ultraviolet light. For the first astronauts to visit Mars, this will not be the case. Mars has no ozone layer, so astronauts will be exposed to higher levels of ultraviolet light. Even though Mars is much further away from the Sun than the Earth, astronauts will need to build a special habitat to protect them from long-term exposure to radiation from the Su. They wear spacesuits and visors to protect them when they are moving around on the planet. The class used what they had already learned about light to create their own design to protect an astronaut from the harmful UV rays. Take a look at some of our designs. We continue to observe our class caterpillars and watch them grow rapidly. Hopefully by next week they will begin to create their chrysalis ready for their transformation!

In English, the children have continued their work using the text ‘Escape from Pompeii’. We wrote a diary extract from a different characters perspective and used prepositions to add detail to our sentences. We explored different verbs and adverbs to improve our vocabulary in our writing. In maths, we have finished our work on fractions. The children used their knowledge of fractions to solve problems involving fractions of amounts of unit and non unit fractions. The class worked in groups to create their own fraction poster to illustrate everything they have learned.

We have also started our new topic all about Roman Britain which is very exciting. We 'met' Emperor Claudius in our role as 'advisors' exploring the reasons for and against invading cold and wet Britain. We were responsible for discussing the key benefits for invading and had to make informed decisions to guide Emperor Claudius. We took part in a conscience alley which involved persuading the Emperor of the best decision. Some of the children have also made roman shields after learning the important features of their armour. We learnt that eagle wings or lightning bolts were often used as symbols of victory and strength as well as the colours which would typically be used. 

Next week we will be learning more about the Roman invasion in Britain as well as exploring clay sculptures.