This morning in Maths we completed some more learning about volume. We learnt the word volume meant ‘how much room is inside a container’ and we measure it in litres and millilitres. We looked at a jug and found out that there are 1000ml in 1l. Miss Williams showed us how to fill the jug accurately with 1l then pour it into a container to find out whether the container has a volume of more than 1l or less than 1l. We practised using the < and > signs also.
We then worked together outside to sort some containers. We had to work together as a team and take turns sensibly. We filled our jug with 1l of water then tried to fit it inside the container. We found out that if we had more water left in the jug when the container was full, the volume of the container was < 1 l. If we had no water left over and there was still room inside the container, the volume was > 1l.

Some children thought they had found containers which held exactly 1l but when we checked they held less. Miss Williams found one she thought held about 1l and Nicholas explained how we could check. He said if we measured a litre then poured all the water into the container so the jug was empty and the container was full, we would have found it holds 1l. It turned out Miss Williams was right! But did she estimate or did she just look on the label?!

Today Year 2 visited Twycross zoo. It was a really, really fun day! First we went to visit the meerkats, leopards and siamangs. They were all very interesting. Next we went to the penguins. At first they were on the rocks and then suddenly they all splashed into the water at the same time! Some of us got wet! After that, we went to look at the flamingos. They were much pinker than we expected them to be, this is because they eat shrimp. That’s where they get their pink colour from. They can stand on one leg for a very long time.

Next we visited a Borneo longhouse. There were lots of birds and plants that might live in the rainforest. Then we went to see the elephants but they were down the other side so we went this afternoon instead. We also saw the tapirs. We have learnt about these as they live in the rainforests but it was amazing to see them in real life. They were very big and had funny nose-trunks!

After lunch we went to the butterfly forest. One butterfly landed on Mr Kempson for a very long time! Other butterflies landed on us too. They were so beautiful. Then we went to visit the pet part of the zoo. There were goats, rabbits and bearded-dragons. After that we played in the park – it was great fun!

Finally we visited all the different monkeys they have including the Orang-Utans. The large one was very shy because he kept hiding from the camera! The baby was funny because he kept covering himself with hay.

Overall we had a wonderful day, even the teachers had a great time! Shayla said ‘It was the best day of my life!’

Also a thank you to our Parent Governor Mr Kempson for taking some wonderful photos.

We continued learning about forces today in Science. We bought our scooters in and thought about what made them move. We observed our partners on the scooters and decided it was a pushing force that was needed. Nicholas then said he thought sometimes a scooter could move without a pushing force if it was down a hill. We experimented with this and found he was correct. We then came up with our own questions to experiment with. Some of us found out how to make a scooter go faster, slower or stop. Some of us found out what surface was best for a scooter to travel on. Why don’t you ask some of us what we found out?

In Science, Toucans have been experimenting with forces and materials. We focused on the properties of materials and what forces can be applied to them.

This is what we learnt about materials:

You can twist: elastic, paper, tin foil, fabric, metal, blu-tac, playdough, sponge

You can bend: elastic, paper, tin foil, fabric, blu-tac, playdough, sponge

You can stretch: elastic, paper, tin foil, fabric, blu-tac, playdough

You can squash: elastic, paper, tin foil, fabric, blu-tac, playdough, sponge

We also found out that you can’t do any of those things to these materials without them breaking: wood and plastic. We also predicted glass would go in this category but we didn’t test it as it would not have been safe!

In Science today we were introduced to pushes and pulls as types of forces.

We experimented by making a straw rocket with the following materials:
– A5 piece of white paper
– Pencil
– Paper straw
– Black card
– Sellotape

The idea was to put in the paper straw and blow, making the rocket launch into the air.

We then got into our row groups and experimented with whose would go the furthest.

We found out the following:
If we used a plastic straw it might have gone further.
If we made the stick of the rocket thinner it might have gone further.
You must make sure the top of the rocket is sealed properly so no air comes out of the top when blowing.

We had great fun! Some of us are going to make them again at home to see if we can get them to go further.