At Broughton CE Primary School, our aim is to deliver an inspiring, high-quality science curriculum which enables our pupils to achieve excellent outcomes and develop a lifelong love of science. We strive to nurture the natural curiosity of our children and encourage them to ask questions about and explore the world around them. We value the importance of science in an ever-changing world and want our children to be equipped with the knowledge they require to understand the uses and implications of science, today and in the future.

Have a look at the fantastic learning we have been doing in science across school.

Yew Class enjoyed looking at adaptations of finches on the Galápagos Islands. We discussed how Charles Darwin travelled there in 1835 and noticed that finches had different shapes of beaks. We investigated, using different utensils, which 'beak' was better at collecting which food type. The children travelled around the room collecting lentils, orzo, rice, marshmallows and strawberry laces to represent different types of food found on the Galápagos Islands. They counted how many they collected in 30 seconds to see which beak suited which food type

Year 6 conducted some fantastic research last week about animals and their adaptations for survival. This week they presented their findings, in a way of their choice, to their peers. They all did a fantastic job and everybody learnt lots of new facts!

In Oak class, our topic for this half term is Sound. The children conducted an experiment making a String Telephone. This examined how the sound vibrations travel along the string between the paper cups. We listened to our friends and even tried listening to them from a distance, we were testing to see if the vibrations still travelled along the string or if the distance affected the volume of the sounds.

In Holly and Fir Class, we had a very exciting visit from Zoo 2 U. We learnt a lot of facts about a variety of animals such as a stick insect, blue tongue skink, hognose snake, tenrec and a laughing kookaburra. We discussed what they eat and their natural habitats.

In Holly and Fir Class we have been learning about animals and their offspring and what they need to survive. We were very excited to hatch out our chicks and observe their development over the past two weeks. We have learnt how to care for our chicks and now know that they need food, water and shelter to grow. 

In Sycamore Class we have been learning about Earth and Space. Today we investigated the Earth’s movement around the sun and the effect this had on shadows. At different points throughout the day we went outside and measured the lengths of our shadows. We stood in the same spot and measured the same person so that we knew our results were consistent. We found that our shadows got shorter towards midday and then begun lengthening again.

In Yew Class we created periscopes to understand how mirrors reflect light. We began our learning by trying to see a picture our friends had stuck on our backs. We soon discovered that by using two mirrors we could reflect the image from one to the other and see the drawing. We used this knowledge to create periscopes to enable us to see around corners. We had to ensure our mirrors were placed on an angle so the light could reflect between them and to our eyes.

Year 3 and 4 had an exciting and informative trip to Brockholes Nature Reserve where they consolidated their learning from our last topic about the water cycle. They also took part in some fantastic workshops all about plants to kick start our new science topic! 

In KS1 we had a go at trying to free a bear from an ice prison. We were given salt, sugar and bicarbonate of soda and had to work out which material worked best to melt the ice. We learnt that salt gets in between the bonds that makes ice and makes it melt faster. This meant we could free our bear! We had such fun!

Oak Class had lots of fun creating their animal habitats!

In Science we loved making habitat dioramas. In Elm a class we focused on pond habitats. We worked hard to include dragonflies, frogs or toads, tadpoles, water lilies, insects, ducks, sea snails, pond weed and many other things to show our learning about pond habitats.

Elm Class loved manipulating materials. The children each had a ball of play dough and rolled a dice to see how they were allowed to manipulate the dough. They were trying to make a hedgehog! The children pinched, pulled, twisted, stretched and rolled the playdough until the game was done.

Yew Class- Materials

“My favourite science lesson was when we did a comparative water test because it was fantastic. We learned about the waterproof materials.”

Year 4F have been learning about the digestive system. They wrote about their favourite lesson. "My favourite lesson this term was the experiment of the human digestive system. Even though it was gross, it was still really fun. We used a banana and a cracker for the food, water for saliva and juice for stomach acid. Then we used tights for the oesophagus and a cup for the anus. It showed me the process of the system in a fun, clear way." "My favourite lesson this half term was the exquisite experiment of the extremely wonderous human digestive system. Even though it was revolting it was unbelievably fun. We used crackers and bananas for food."

Year 4B- Digestive System

Year 4B have loved learning about the digestive system this half term. “My favourite science lesson was writing in role as an apple. I enjoyed when I got to research a question and write it down. I learnt that some chemicals can be added whilst your food is in your stomach.” “Our favourite lesson was the one where we looked at our teeth. We enjoyed this because you got to see all your teeth. We learnt that all of our teeth do different things. We also learnt all the names for our teeth and how we get more teeth as we grow up. Finally we learnt that our teeth are called milk teeth when we’re kids and later called permanent teeth.”

Year 6 used Venn diagrams to show the similarities and differences in changes in the adolescent years of a human. 

Elm Class loved learning the names of the different parts of plants and flowers. They then had a brilliant time making their own flowers and labelling them.

Teddy’s loved exploring seasonal changes by looking at ice. They observed how the ice felt, how they could manipulate it and how it changed from a solid to a liquid.

KS1 had a wonderful visit from Zoo 2 U today. Nathan and Rosie brought a millipede, cockroach, doop (fat-tailed gerbil), tenrec and a snake for us to see. These are all African animals and it was fascinating to hear about animals from a place that we have been learning about! We enjoyed holding and stroking the animals, although some looked a little bit scary at first!

3D have been learning all about skeletons and they used their knowledge to create a skeleton out of natural materials. They thought carefully about what materials to use so that their models looked as close to a skeleton as possible. They also learnt about the three main roles of the skeleton and thought about what life would be like if we didn’t have a skeleton. 

Year 3 have been enjoying using their ‘lab coats’ to record any new vocabulary that they have learnt in their science lessons. 

Today in Oak Class, we learnt all the different parts that make a plant and a tree.  We then used the app ‘Skitch’ to take photographs of plants and trees around school and then labelled them.

Elm class enjoyed learning about the different parts of a plant. We went on a walk and found flowers and trees to take pictures of before labelling them on the Skitch app. The children had a fantastic time and learnt lots of new names.

This term in science year 3 and 4 have been learning all about rocks and fossils. They have tested the properties of different rocks, they have explored rocks being used for different purposes and they have created their own ‘fossils’. 

Elm class have also learnt about the 5 senses as part of their 'humans' topic. We went on a senses walk to see what we could see, hear, smell, touch and taste. We had a look in our allotment and thought about what we can normally taste from there in Summer! We then returned to class and wrote a senses poem about what we had discussed.

Elm class have been learning about humans. This term we have conducted a simple experiment  to see if taller people have bigger feet. We used cubes to help us measure, we started by making 10 sticks and then counting in 10s to measure our friends. We found that taller people do have bigger feet.

Congratulations Oliver and Elsie on winning the poster competition! Oliver created a very informative poster on Mary Anning and Elsie created a wonderful poster on Albert Einstein. We hope you both enjoy your slime lab kits! 

We have all had a fantastic Science Week this week! The children were visited by a dentist, a radiographer and a forensic scientist.  They learnt all about how these people use science in their jobs. They were also visited by pupils from Broughton High who talked to them about what it is like to study science at secondary school and they gave talks on past scientists who their form groups are named after. To end the week, the children thought about how their ideas of scientists have changed and if they had any aspirations to be a scientist in the future. 

I would like to say a huge thank you to those parents who came in and did a fabulous job of teaching the children about what they do.

“We’ve learnt about different jobs in science, we thought of astronauts, the radiographer turned bad cells into good cells, a dentist, who makes peoples teeth feel better and a vet, they make dogs and puppies feel better. Yesterday we made a poster on Isaac Newton he found out about gravity when an apple dropped on his head. When you’re in space there’s no gravity and you go up and when there is gravity you stay on the ground.” Georgie

In science club, the children have been learning about water tension and have use their knowledge to make paper fish ‘swim’. They have also been learning about gases and have created their own lava lamps. 

To finish their electricity topic, 3D created their own switches to solve different problems that they were given. They showed great perseverance, team work and creativity on this task.  

We had a great time in science club today making balloon rockets! The children tested which balloon made their rockets go the fastest and shared their results. 

Year 2 - Observing Plants

Yew Class have been practising their observation skills by observing plants with magnifying glasses. They then drew observational drawings of two plants and compared them. 

EYFS Wormery 
EYFS wanted to find out more about worms and what they do so they decided to create their own wormery. They are going to use their observation skills to learn more about them.

British Science Week

The children learnt about the 5 types of scientific enquiry using our new 'Super Scientists'. They then carried out investigations to answer scientific questions and thought about which 'Super Scientist' they were going to be. EYFS were 'Olivia the Observer', KS1 were 'Polly the Pattern Seeker', LKS2 were 'Charlie the Classifier' and UKS2 were 'Fiona the Fair Tester'. The children all had a fantastic time as well as demonstrating their super science skills! 

Science Competition Winners

Congratulations to the winners of the science competition:

Mia Green – Olivia the Observer

Henry Tracey – Ronald the Researcher

Diyan Jasim Bahar – Charlie the Classifier

Mollie Green – Polly the Pattern Seeker

Heidi Andrews – Fiona the Fair Tester        

I want to say a huge thank you and well done to everyone who entered – your cartoon scientists were amazing!

Plant Identification Sheets 

Yew Class made their own plant identification sheets today for the plants that you can find in the school grounds and churchyard. 

Zoo2U Visit 

Zoo2U visited KS1 today. They brought in a variety of animals from around the world and taught us lots of facts about them. They explained where they lived, how they were adapted to their habitats and what they liked to eat. The children loved watching the animals and handling them. 
“I loved the visit. I enjoyed seeing all the different types of animals. I especially liked learning facts about the kestrel.” Tilly Goodfellow

“I enjoyed learning about the animals and stroking them. I also enjoyed them crawling about and eating lots of different things.” Anya Patel

British Science Week - Rocket Launch

Year 2 and 5 had a fantastic time on Friday launching rockets. They thought carefully about the design of their rocket and investigated how changing the pressure affected how far the rocket went. 

Science Challenge

Thank you for all of the fantastic entries for our science challenge! Alex Latham made the best raft that held 717g without sinking. James Hibberd followed in a close second with his raft holding 700g. Jack Hart came 3rd with his great video of his raft which held 124g without sinking. It is wonderful to see the all of the super science investigations that are taking place at home!

British Science Week - Festival of Science

On Tuesday, some Year 5 children attended a Festival of Science at Broughton High School. The had a fantastic time carrying out a range of investigations and activities, including rocket launching.

KS1 Podiatrist visit

Key Stage 1 had an exciting visit from two podiatrists. They learnt lots of facts about feet and also how to look after their feet. They all loved getting their certificate at the end. 

Crime Scene Investigation

Year 5 became forensic scientists this morning as they had a murder mystery to solve! The children tested the properties of different powders found at the scene of the crime to find the culprit. 

Nature Club

Nature club have been identifying minibeasts and leaves that have fallen from trees. They have also been creating natural art in the style of Andy Goldsworthy. Next, they are planning to make a bug house!

Year 2 habitat dioramas

Year 2 had a fantastic time creating habitat dioramas today. They made models of animals and plants to go in the habitat that they recreated. They also thought about how the animals and plants were suited to the habitat.

Science week pupil comments

“We enjoyed doing Lego building because it was really exciting. We also enjoyed when Mr Andrews came in to teach us about safety equipment.” – Ellie Graham and Alexander Sturzaker

“Building the robots was really fun and I liked learning about the different equipment that keeps people safe.” – Jessica Wiper

“In Science Week, we really enjoyed the part where we learnt about how science is used in surgery and we had to try and get the equipment out of the jelly with chopsticks. Then we were set a challenge to create a tool to make it easier to get the equipment out.” – Isabella Pace and William Beesley

“I liked the building/engineering workshop because we got to create a picture and make it with bamboo sticks and blu tack.” – Euan Joyce

“I enjoyed trying to stop the structure from falling down. It was fun at the end because you could see how everyone else had built their tower.” – Sophie Mitchell

“I have really enjoyed Science Week because it was really fun trying all of the different experiments. I really liked how everyone was working together to make 3D models only using bamboo sticks and blu tack. When we were making shadow puppets, it was really cool when we found out that if you move the object further away from the light, it makes the shadow bigger but less clear. Science Week has also really help me improve my science knowledge.” – Finlay Delaney

Science Week - How science is used in surgery

Year 3 and 4 had a visit from four STEM Ambassadors who delivered an exciting workshop on how science is used in surgery. They started off by using chopsticks to see if they could extract objects (including marbles) from a tub of jelly. They then thought about how they could improve this tool for use within the body. Every group made a much improved tool and were able to pick up many more objects.

Science Week - Electrocity Lego Workshop

Year 3 and 4 used circuits to light up the buildings they had created using lego. The children particularly enjoyed completing the circuit which made the train move forwards and backwards.

Science Week - Lego workshop 

Year 1 and 2 had an exciting start to Science Week! They learnt all about the properties of the plastic Lego brick. Then they designed and built different robots with moving parts.