Summer 2021 - Gallery and Work
Design Technology
Based on our topic of minibeasts and the story of Superworm we have created our own moving pictures. We explored books with moving parts, the levers that could be used and how they made pictures move. The children then had some time to experiment with levers and think about their design and moving part. They then made their own picture based on the story Superworm with a movable part. They look great!
Worms
After reading ‘Superworm’ by Julia Donaldson, we researched and found out facts about earthworms. Did you know worms do not have ears, eyes or noses? The children found it really interesting and we decided to create our own wormeries. We used pebbles, sand and soil to create the layers in the wormery and then we dug in the soil and stamped our feet to find earthworms. The worms were kept in our wormeries for 3 days, we then looked at how they have moved through the layers and created tunnels. We then released them back outside. We used the information we had to create our own set of instructions for how to create a wormery.
Butterflies
Linked to our topic of ‘Minibeasts’ and the story of ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ we have been looking after some caterpillars in Rainbow Room. We have watched them over several weeks grow bigger and bigger, by eating the special food they have in the container. We then were fascinated to see them climb to the top, hang in a ‘J’ shape and then turn into chrysalides. One of the caterpillars was a little smaller and did not turn into a chrysalis in time, so we released him into the wild. We made sure he was safe away from where the children play and hidden from birds. After several days, the butterflies emerged. We used sugar water and juicy fruits to feed them. We watched them for a few days and released them. The children loved watching the life cycle in action and have produced excellent pieces of work, using the knowledge they now have.
Art
Over the past few weeks we have been creating collages of different minibeasts linked to our topic. First we discussed the colours we would need for the minibeast we had chosen. Then we cut, collected and sorted these colours using magazines. Finally, we arranged and glued the pieces onto the outline of the minibeast. The finished pieces look great, they are so bright and colourful and match the colours of the real life minibeasts.
Science
Minibeast Hunt:
We went out on a minibeast hunt around the school grounds. We used our knowledge of minibeast habitats to look in different places. Looking in dark, damp places we found lots of woodlice and spiders. As the sun was shining, we also saw bees, wasps and butterflies flying around.
