98

Changing SeasonsChanging Seasons

Young birds leave their nests.

Bluebells, primroses and daffodils grow.

Wild flowers grow.

Bees, butterflies and other insects fly around. You can hear lots of buzzing and humming!

Frogs lay frogspawn in ponds.

Birds build their nests.

Spring

Buds and unfolding leaves appear on trees. Trees are covered

in green leaves.

Spot the season!Look at all the things you can spot in the different seasons.

Summer

Changing SeasonsChanging Seasons

Some trees lose their leaves.

Leaves on some trees change colour from green to brown, orange, red and yellow.

There are very few flowers, but you will see holly, ivy and mistletoe growing.

Animals are hard to see because they hibernate. You might be able to spot their footprints in the snow!

10 11

Some birds migrate to other countries where it is warmer.

Things to doHow many other signs of the seasons can you find?

Autumn Winter

You will see spiders, ladybirds, bees and wasps indoors trying to find warm places to live.

17

Changing Shape

Things to doMake a list of all the materials you have touched today. Which materials change shape easily? Which materials do not?

Bending, twisting, squashing, stretching!Some materials change shape easily. Some materials don’t seem to change at all.

We can change the shape of materials by bending them, twisting them, squashing them and stretching them.

Living ThingsLiving Things

8 9

a baby and a woman a kitten and a cat

some frogspawn and a froga cygnet and a swan

an acorn and an oak tree a bulb and a plant

some seeds and a plant

Find outHow many types of animal babies are called pups?

That’s my mummySome living things look like their parents from birth. Others look very different. Sometimes even the names of the living things change when they grow up!

How are these parents different from their babies?

Find outWhat do these animals grow up to be?• Fawn• Squab• Leveret

7

Light and Shadows

Light sources and reflectors We are surrounded by sources of light from street lights to the Sun. Without light we wouldn’t be able to see. Some things like mirrors or the Moon reflect light. They look bright but have no light of their own.

Things to doName the sources of light and the reflectors in this picture. What would you see if it were night time in the picture?

Earth and SpaceLight and Shadows

8 9

Light and Shadows

Playing with shadowsLight travels in straight lines. It cannot go around corners. When light hits an object it is blocked and the object casts a shadow.

Opaque, transparent and translucentLight cannot pass through opaque materials. The shadow cast is strong and sharp. Transparent objects let nearly all light through. They cast almost no shadow. Some objects are translucent. They let some light pass through, but some light is scattered. The shadows they cast are weak and blurry.

Shadow puppets cast a shadow on a screen. The light is behind the screen. Where would you need to put the puppet? Which of these bowls will cast the best shadow?

Things to doFind out about silhouette pictures

from the 1700s. Try making

your own pictures. Cut out your

design on black paper and

mount it on white paper.

Try making an animal shadow using your hands.

Science SkillsPlan it!Some children wanted to find out how putting a piece of old carpet on a patch of ground for two weeks would change the things that lived on that patch of ground.

I’m going to look for living things when we lift the carpet up. I’ll take photos too.

I’ll make a sign that says ‘Science Experiment’ so that no-one will move the carpet.

I’m going to record which plants and animals I find on the ground before and after we put the carpet down.

I’m going to put some stones around the edge of the carpet so that it doesn’t blow away.

The children all had different ideas about what to do.

10 11

Things to doDiscuss the children’s ideas and make a great plan of your own!

Earth and Space Earth and Space

Galileo and his telescope

Did you know?

Galileo didn’t invent the

telescope but he made

one so powerful that his

observations could confirm

Copernicus’ ideas of a

heliocentric (Sun-centred)

universe.

Earth and Space

The Sun at the centreMany years later, scientists like Alhazen and Copernicus challenged the geocentric (Earth-centred) theory of the universe. They said that the Sun was at the centre of the universe and that the planets, including Earth, orbited around it. At the time, these ideas were very controversial but now we know that they are correct.

2 3

Find outFind out about Edwin Hubble and

The Hubble Space Telescope. What is

your favourite photograph taken by

The Hubble Space Telescope? What

does it show?

Our astounding cosmos Throughout history there have been lots of changing ideas about how our solar system works. Not all of them were right!

Changing ideas The Ancient Egyptians thought that the Sun god, Ra, travelled across the sky each day in a heavenly boat. These ideas came from their observations of the Sun as it appeared to move across the sky.

Later, the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, thought Earth was at the centre of the universe with the Sun and five planets orbiting around it. His evidence was that the Sun, Moon and stars appeared to circle Earth in the sky. Earth felt solid, so he thought it didn’t move.

Geocentric

Heliocentric

Earth and Space

Day and nightWe get day and night because Earth spins on its axis once every 24 hours. As Earth rotates, we move into and then out of the Sun’s light. We call this ‘day’ and ‘night’.

The International Space Station The International Space Station is the biggest object ever to have flown in space. It orbits Earth every one and a half hours; that’s 16 sunrises and sunsets in a day for them!

6

Half of Earth is always in darkness.

Things to doMake a daylight diary. Find out the

sunrise and sunset times for each

month. Work out the day length.

Plot your results on a graph. Do you

notice a pattern?

Find outFind out about a day in the life of a

scientist on the lnternational Space

Station. How do they eat, wash and

go to the toilet?

2 3

Classifying Living Things Classifying Living Things

14 15

Find outWhat else can you find out

about Carl Linnaeus’ life?

These mythical creatures are featured in Linnaeus’ work but are not included in today’s classification systems.

The plant kingdomLinnaeus identified two subgroups within the plant kingdom: flowering plants and non-flowering plants.

The animal kingdomLinnaeus identified two subgroups within the animal kingdom: vertebrates and invertebrates.

Carl Linnaeus

Invertebrates include insects, arachnids, worms and molluscs.

Vertebrates include mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians and fish.

Flowering plants include all types of flowering plant from daisies right through to horse chestnut trees.

Non-flowering plants include some trees that produce cones and mosses that produce spores instead of flowers.

The classification system Carl LinnaeusCarl Linnaeus was born in 1707 in Sweden. He was a highly respected scientist who suggested that all living things could be classified into large groups called kingdoms. He called two of the main kingdoms animals and plants. Today we know that some of the creatures in Linnaeus’ original work do not actually exist. He suggested that there was a group of creatures known as Paradoxa. This group included dragons, unicorns and the phoenix!

6 7

Classifying Living Things

18 19

Keep the third bottle the right way up and place it on top of the second bottle. Fasten both bottles together using sticky tape.

7

Place your composter in a warm, safe place.

8

Classifying Living Things

Using a large lump of sticky tack and a large needle, pierce several holes into the sides of the third bottle.

6

Place the compost material inside the second bottle. Add a small amount of water to lightly moisten your mixture.

5

Cut the first bottle in half. 1

Cut 5 cm off the bottom of the second and third bottles and remove the lids.

2

Cover the opening of the second bottle with netting and secure it in place using the elastic band.

3

Make a composter!You will need:• three large plastic bottles • sticky tack• scissors • needle• sticky tape • compost• netting/old pair of tights • elastic band• ‘browns’ (newspaper or wood shavings)• ‘greens’ (vegetable or fruit scraps).

Things to doMake your compost from

a mixture of ‘greens’ and

‘browns’. Your compost will turn

into a slimy mess if you use just

‘greens’ in your composter!

Turn the second bottle upside down and place it inside the bottom half of the first bottle with the neck pointing downwards.

4