Room 13 gets Botanical!

This afternoon, we put science into practice by planning and conducting our own emprical, scientific experiment. This term, we have been learning more about the life of plants and how they grow. We learned that plants make seeds which are dispersed and when they have enough water, light, heat and minerals, they begin to germinate and grow into new plants. This afternoon we wanted to investigate this to see if it was true. So, we formed our own research groups and created a hypothesis (prediction) to record what we thought would happen if we took away one of the things that seeds are said to need, in order to grow. Most of us decided to make light the variable we would test. Using cress seeds (because they tend to grow quite quickly), we planted some seeds into two seperate cups, using damp kitchen roll/tissue to simulate the way soil soaks up water. To make it a fair test, each group put one cup on the window ledge (to give good access to light) and the other cup in the cupboard (to take away access to light).  We will measure the growth of each cup of seeds in a few days, to see how changing the conditions (light/no light) affects how the seeds grow.

Just about to put our cups of seeds
into the cupboard.

Each research group's cup of seeds in the no light (experimental) group, tucked away
from the light.

Each research group's cup of seeds in the light (control) group.

Santa's Super Saver Christmas Challenge:  Part 2!

Following this morning's pursuit of the best bargains around, this afternoon we made the most of having the iPads, to search online for the best deals.  We were surprised that some things costed a lot more in some shops online, than they did in the shop catalogue we checked this morning. However, we were able to find some items on sale for a much cheaper price on some online shops.  As usual, we loved using the iPads which, today, were under the careful supervision of Emma, one of our Elite Digital Leaders and Clark, our Pupil of the Week, who made sure they were given out and returned safely.

Santa's Super Saver Christmas Challenge!

Santa's workshop has been so busy this Christmas that he has had to call on the help of the boys and girls of P5/6, to help him find some of the presents he has to deliver! The only thing is, we have been given a budget of £20.00, so we need to find the cheapest source for each item, to see if we can buy more than one gift!