The Inventor’s Shed

This term, we will be looking back and some of the most famous and influential inventors and scientists over the last few centuries, and how their inventions have changed the world we live in today. We shall be kick starting our topic off with a fascinating school trip to the STEAM GWR museum, Swindon, where the children will have the opportunity to explore and discover the iconic invention of early steam trains and railways and to learn about the railway pioneer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

In English, we be putting on the shoes of Victorian children about to go on a steam train for the very first time. We shall then use this to create some exciting diary entries about the experience. Tying in with our topic of inventors, we will also be practicing our non-fiction and biography writing when we look at our famous inventors; Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and Nikola Tesla to name a few! The children will be putting their poetry hats on and writing some personification poems based on the life and travels of a steam train. We shall then be putting these together to create a very special class anthology.

In Maths, we begin by focusing on multiplication and division. This will cover aspects such as the grid method, column multiplication, arrays, sharing and of course… times tables! We then move onto looking at area and perimeter before moving on to fractions after half term. Alongside this, the children will continue to work through their STOPS problem solving, and will continue to develop their mental maths and their times tables.

In Science, we will be focusing on sound and how sound travels. We shall be looking at pitch and volume and how these factors cause different vibrations and how this effects the soundwaves that reach us. After sound we then move onto electricity. The children we have the opportunity to make some simple circuits, including a Morse code machine where they will be able to send and decode messages to each other!

In computing, the children will be becoming film producers creating their own short movie clips using green screen effects and making movie trailers for our class book this term. As always, we will also be practicing our general computer skills such as using the internet, making Power Points, using Word and we will also have some special guests from a theatre company based on internet safety.

The children will be focusing on DT this term and will have the opportunity to design games featuring a simple electrical circuit. These will be designed and created over the upcoming weeks and, we hope, will be on display for parents to see and try out at the end of term.

Naturally, history forms quite a big part of our topic this term as quite a lot of the inventors and inventions we will be learning about happened a very long time ago! The children will be comparing life then to life now and looking at just how life changing and influential these inventions have been - can they imagine a life without electricity or internet!?

Mrs Winter and Mrs Erasmus