Bears@taddy

 The infants have been busy designing and making their taxis over the last few weeks.  They started by thinking about a criteria- they had to include: 2 axles, 4 wheels and it must be able to move.  Next, it was onto designing- they drew and labelled their taxi designs, making sure to include the features we discusses beforehand.  Finally, it was time to make our vehicles. The children:  measured and sawed dowel for the axel measured 5cm from the edge of the cab  punched holes to thread the axel through added wheels and rubber stoppers  painted and added the finishing touches The finished products look super and the children were delighted that they all moved!

We certainly have some star bakers in Bear class!  I was blown away with how well the children were able to work together to follow a recipe to make hot cross buns as part of our Easter week yesterday. They took on roles and listened well to one another, taking turns to carry out each task.  The children had some brilliant discussions about the symbolism of hot cross buns- drawing on their knowledge of the Easter story to help them.  They measured out the ingredients. Used the 'rubbing in method' to combine the flour, spices and butter together. Added sugar, egg and milk to form a dough.   Measured out and mixed together flour and water to make a paste to use for the cross on top of the buns. Finally, split the dough into 8 equal parts using their knowledge of halves and quarters. Then formed bun shapes with the dough and added crosses to the top of them. The hot cross buns smelled delicious coming out of the oven- we can't wait to tuck into them today!

 Tigers and Bears were given the challenge of making a taxis out of construction materials today. We started by looking at different vehicles and how they moved. Then the children identified the wheels, chassis and axles on each vehicle. The children then had chance to explore the different building materials, experimenting with axles, wheels and chassis to make their own taxi that could move.  Once we had finished, we evaluated our finished projects, discussing what went well and how we could improve next time. 

 Tigers and Bears joined together for their topic lesson today. We looked at arial photographs of and worked out where in the U.K they were taken. The children recognised lots of the landmarks and decided that they were arial photographs of London. We then went off into groups to annotate the photographs- labelling the human and physical features the children could spot in the photos.

During science this term, we have been learning about the seasons. This afternoon, we have been finding ways to measure the wind. The children followed instructions for how to make wind socks then we went outside to hang them and observe the wind. We then got together in groups and used the Beaufort scale to decide how to categorise the wind. The children decided that today was number 3 on the scale as tales on the windsocks were gently moving and the windsock moved up and down. We also noticed that we could feel the wind lift our hair.