At Durston House Junior School, the boys cover various topics in their curriculum. The Year 4 Summer term sees the boys learning about ‘Habitats’ and the Year 3 Summer term covers ‘Light and Shadows’.
Over the Summer term, many experiments took place which allowed boys to use their investigative skills and reason with Scientific facts. The transformation from boys’ hypotheses from the beginning of the year to now, is astonishing. Furthermore, the investigation skills learnt in Year 3 and Year 4 help build a strong foundation for their next upcoming years where they dive deeper into Science in Middle and Upper School.
Experiments, this year, which were investigated in Year 3 were measuring the shadows created by the passage of the sun and does light travel in straight lines. Furthermore, the Year 4’s experiment was on how woodlouse move around in a choice chamber. For example, do the woodlouse prefer light, dark, damp or dry conditions when place inside the choice chamber.
The Year 4 group recently ventured down to the London Wetlands Centre where they had the opportunity to study a specific habitat and see all the living organisms around there. The boys were fortunate enough to study the pond. This was known as the ‘pond life’. For further detail, see the ‘The Year 4 visit to London Wetlands Centre’ recap on the website.
The Year 3 boys trotted along down to the London Zoo. They were fortunate to see a variety of wild animals who were all well looked after. They also sat an ‘Endangered Animals’ workshop which was successfully run. It is always an eventful day and the boys really enjoy the sunshine, being with friends and learning more from the Year 3 curriculum. For further detail, see the ‘The Year 3 visit to the London Zoo’ recap on the website.
Overall, Science is a fun and interesting topic and it challenges boys’ thinking to a large extent. It is important for boys to learn about our daily world and how they can contribute to it to make it a better and sustainable place to live. At Durston, we take one day at a time and use every opportunity to learn.
Mr Coetzer, Junior School – Science Coordinator
